Chapter 15
Measuring Competence and Resource Development
15.1 INTRODUCTION
SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) is still one of the most widely used strategy tools. In our experience, most companies develop their strategy based on the opportunities and threats they perceive in the marketplace. The internal view, the strengths and weaknesses, is often ignored. If you are to develop a balanced strategy you need to embrace both views.
Resource-based theory of the firm has a long history, but more recently ideas such as ‘core competences’ have attracted considerable attention. However, many of these developments have been conceptual rather than practical and have been difficult to implement.
This chapter builds on the previous chapter about process measurement and presents a practical framework for examining the relationship between competence, resources and performance. We will start by defining the terms we are using and will go on to explain why it is so important to measure competence and resource development. Then we will present a framework for doing this and finally illustrate how this framework is used by way of a case study.
15.2 DEFINING TERMS
Different writers use different definitions for competences, capabilities and resources, so we will start by explaining what we mean by the terms.
15.2.1 What is a competence?
A competence is an ability to do something. When applied to businesses you could say:
A company has a strength or a high competence ...
