Organizational Competencies: Clarifying the Construct

Abstract

This article presents the results of research examining the composition and internal dynamics of
organizational competencies held by four major technology corporations. The research used
content analysis of corporate documents and in-depth interviews with corporate professionals to
reveal that these competencies draw upon corporate understanding of phenomena related to
communication networks, documents, and integrated circuits.
The competencies identified contain seven component categories. Five involve understandings of
core phenomena, intellectual disciplines, various technologies, and classes of products and
services. Two involve functional, technological, and integrated skills. Importantly, during their
use, the understandings and skills within competencies dynamically interact with one another,
powerfully supporting corporate competitiveness.
Interview results reveal organizational competencies to be intermediate term knowledge. They
are developed by applying more enduring corporate capabilities, such as strategic vision, and
they enable the creation of more transient knowledge, such as familiarity with specific customers.
Key Words: Core competencies, Distinctive competencies, Dynamic capabilities, Organizational
capabilities, Organizational competencies, Organizational competitiveness, Skills