Top Core Competencies of a tech company

The three top core competencies of my company includes research and development, finance, and marketing.  These three things were the things that helped the company the most.  Research and Development helped the company to use the technology that would lead to the production and selling of the products that was produced.  Finance helped the company due to the cash flow and not showing any negative cash flows and not having to use an emergency loan which is always a nice thing to have.  Marketing helped the company by making consumers aware of the product that was being produced.  The company was more successful with the low tech end.

In the summary, the competitive advantages that the company has include size, performance and finance.  The size of the product meets with the low tech customers more than the high tech customers, but the growth rate of the high tech was in the top half compared to the other companies.  The finance part is the company continues to make a profit and still hasn't had to use an emergency loan.  

The positioning strategy that the company should use is to continue to use the advantages and keep working striving to reach out to the high tech group.  If the company can get a great mix of customers then the company will be successful.  The other thing that the company needs to do is to work on the things that the company doesn't do really well.  The customer awareness and trying to have more of a positive cash flow.  The company needs to concentrate on getting their liabilities better since the company is last in this category.  The company needs to concentrate on fixing the negatives while maintaining the positives.

Prahalad and Hamel stated there are three tests that one should use to determine if something is a core competence:  Does the competence provide a potential access to a wide variety of markets; does the competence make a significant contribution to the perceived customer benefits of the end product; is the competence difficult for the competitors to imitate because it is a complex harmonization of individual technologies and productions skills  (Prahalad & Hamel, 1990)?  In the description from above the core competencies will benefit the company and will make the company continue to grow and be prosperous.  There is a lot of work that will be needed to make the company to rise above the competition, but that can be done.

Porter describes competitive advantage as the leverage that a business owner has over its competitors.  Porter also described three determinants in creating a competitive advantage.  These determinants are benefit, target market, and competition.   Porter asked the questions that goes with the determinants. 

What is the real benefit you product provides?  Who are the customers?  Have you identified the real competitors (Amadeo, 2018)? 

The company needs to answer these questions to see if the company will be successful in all of its ventures.  It also keeps a company relevant in dealing with competitors and customers.  When the company can get a true grasp on where it is heading and who the company will be concentrating on will be a plus.  This company has concentrated on the low tech customers and continues to work towards getting their technology upgraded.  This will allow the company work towards the high tech customers and competing with their competition.

The position of the company is that the company needs to be able to keep the positives and work on the negatives.  What that means even though the company has some competitive advantages, there is a need to extend those advantages while correcting the disadvantages that other companies have.  This will take time and money that will need to be invested into the company.  With the direction of the company staying positive and continuing to make money, the outlook is good and the company is headed in the right direction.

RESOURCES:

Amadeo, K. (2018, October 19). What is Competitve Advantage? Three Strategies That Work. Retrieved from The Balance: www.thebalance.com
Prahalad, C., & Hamel, G. (1990, May-June). Core Competence. Retrieved from Harvard Business Review: www.hbr.org