CORE COMPETENCIES OF FIVE COMPANIES

By
ABHAY KUMAR ROLL NO 03

What does the Core Competence Achieve?

Provides potential access to a wide variety of markets
The key core competencies here are those that enable the creation of new products and services.

Example: Why has Saga established such a strong leadership in supplying financial services (e.g. insurance) and holidays to the older generation?
Core Competencies that enable Saga to enter apparently different markets: - Clear distinctive brand proposition that focuses solely on a closelydefined customer group - Leading direct marketing skills - database management; direct-mailing campaigns; call centre sales conversion - Skills in customer relationship management

About Saga
Saga (from Social Amenities for the Golden Age) is a British company focused on serving the needs of those aged 50 and over. It has 2.7 million customers. The company has six call centers. All are in the UK, four in Folkestone, Kent at Middelburg Square, Enbrook Park, Cheriton Park and Ross Way; the fifth at the Eurokent Business park in Ramsgate, Kent, and the newest at Priory Square in Hastings. The director general is Dr Ros Altmann. Saga Holidays provides package holidays and tours across the globe, it owns and operates the cruise ships Saga Pearl, Saga Sapphire and Saga Ruby and also owns and operates the Bel Jou Hotel in St Lucia, as well as the Spirit of Adventure cruising brand. Saga Insurance provides a wide range of Insurance products (Motor, Home, Travel, Caravan, Commercial Van, Pet, Private Medical, Life Insurance, Motorhome) Saga Personal Finance provides savings accounts, credit cards, travel money, financial advice, equity release, share dealing, annuities, life assurance & long term care funding advice

What does the Core Competence Achieve?

Makes a significant contribution to the perceived customer benefits of the end product
Core competencies are the skills that enable a business to deliver a fundamental customer benefit Example: Why have Tesco been so successful in capturing leadership of the market for online grocery shopping? Core competencies that mean customers value the Tesco.com experience so highly: - Designing and implementing supply systems that effectively link existing shops with the Tesco.com web site - Ability to design and deliver a "customer interface" that personalizes online shopping and makes it more efficient - Reliable and efficient delivery infrastructure (product picking, distribution, customer satisfaction handling)

About Tesco
Tesco.com is an electronic commerce website operated by Tesco. As well as being the world's largest online grocery retailer it offers a wide range of other products, including electronic goods, books, broadband and financial services. Tesco has operated on the Internet since 1994 and started an online shopping service named 'Tesco Direct' in 1997. Tesco.com was formally launched in 2000. Tesco claimed in its 2005 annual report to be able to serve 98% of the UK population from its 300 participating stores. In the financial year ended 24 February 2007 it recorded online sales up 29.2% to 1.2 billion and profit up 48.5% to 83 million, with over 250,000 orders per week.

Tesco.com acts as a portal website to its other major on-line business areas: Tesco Grocery, Tesco direct, Club card, Bank, Clothing, Wine By The Case and Tesco Entertainment.

What does the Core Competence Achieve?

Difficult for competitors to imitate
A core competence should be "competitively unique": In many industries, most skills can be considered a prerequisite for participation and do not provide any significant competitor differentiation. To qualify as "core", a competence should be something that other competitors wish they had within their own business. Example: Why does Dell have such a strong position in the personal computer market? Core competencies that are difficult for the competition to imitate: - Online customer "bespoking" of each computer built - Minimization of working capital in the production process - High manufacturing and distribution quality - reliable products at competitive prices

ABB Group
ABB is a Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zrich, Switzerland, operating in robotics and mainly in the power and automation technology areas. It ranked 143rd in Forbes Ranking (2010). ABB is one of the largest engineering companies as well as one of the largest conglomerates in the world. ABB has operations in around 100 countries, with approximately 145,000 employees in June 2012, and reported global revenue of $40 billion for 2011. ABB is the world's largest builder of electricity grids and is active in many sectors, its core businesses being in power and automation technologies. The company has one corporate division and five production divisions since reorganization in January 2010. ABB has secured an order worth more than Rs 4,000 crore from Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd for an ultra high-voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission system