FIVE1 Internal Competence

FIVE 2 §Core competencies are crucial to supporting competitive advantage §Goddard proposes competencies: Impossible for competition to replicate Embedded into organisation Limited to 2-3 key activities Source of customer value Flexible enough to respond to change Define unique market opportunities §Resource-based view of firm assumes knowledge exploitation leads to acquisition and ongoing enhancement of competencies

FIVE 3 FIGURE 5:1 A KNOWLEDGE ACCESS MODEL FOR SUPPORTING BUSINESS GROWTH Access to Knowledge to Support Innovation Access to Knowledge to Determine Market Opportunities Access to Knowledge to Determine Market Positioning Access to knowledge to Evolve an Appropriate Market Exploitation Plan Access to Knowledge to Support Optimal Utilisation of Financial Resources Access to Knowledge to Optimise Workforce Satisfaction and Motivation Access to Information to Optimise Provision of Product and Service Quality Access to Knowledge to Maximise Employee Productivity Access to Knowledge through Operation of Effective Information Systems STRATEGIC COMPETENCE FINANCIAL COMPETENCE OPERATIONAL COMPETENCE

FIVE 4 §Opportunity exploitation often vested in visionary knowledge skills of an individual (e.g. Richard Branson of Virgin; Anita Roddick of The Body Shop) §Strategic competence should be: Distinctive Sustainable Appropriate Usable Measurable §E-commerce has provided opportunities to use knowledge to create distinct strategic opportunities

FIVE 5 §Ghosh suggests these are: Establish direct link to customer Use technology to bypass supply chain members Develop new products Become dominant player in an electronic channel §Financial performance and resources are crucial for successful operation §Unfortunately widespread tendency not to make financial data available to all employees §Failure to understand financial data was one of the causes of the dot.com crash

FIVE 6 §Knowledge needs to be applied to support innovation §The workforce must have the knowledge to continue to find new ways of optimising performance §Places huge responsibility on HRM departments to embed a learning orientation into organisations §Knowledge is critical for sustaining drive to maximise employee productivity §Western firms can only survive Pacific Rim national threats by upgrading productivity

FIVE 7 §Quality is the driving force for sustaining customer satisfaction §Knowledge must be applied to identify and close any quality SAPS §Knowledge can only be acquired and exploited if firm has an effective marketing information system (MIS) §MIS brings together sources of internal and external knowledge to support decision- making

FIVE 8 Internal Data Systems Market Research Customer Data Market Intelligence Marketing Information System MARKET INFORMATIONMARKET INFORMATION MARKETDECISION MAKINGMARKETDECISION MAKING FIGURE 5:2 AN EXAMPLE MIS MODEL

FIVE 9 §External data from market research projects §Projects often too infrequent and/or not integrated into firm’s databases §Advent of IT and internet has revolutionised design and operation of MIS §Knowledge must be used—so regularly need to audit: Knowledge generation Knowledge dissemination Responsiveness to new knowledge

FIVE 10 Customer Needs §Recognition that can have transactional or relationship orientated customers §Different orientations have requirement for different forms of knowledge §Relationship orientation focuses on using knowledge to build long term loyalty of customers §Need to recognise that extreme view of “transactional marketing is dead” is a dangerous philosophy

FIVE 11 §Different customer groups have different orientations §Price orientated customers are more interested on knowledge provision about maximised product value §Product performance/utilisation customers usually seek more in-depth knowledge by forming relationship with supplier