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The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between a number of variables pertaining to core capability, competitive strategy and performance of construction small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) in China.

The paper consists of a quantitative survey. It involves mainly the development of instrument and testing of the hypotheses.

Core capability and competitive strategy are found to influence construction SMEs' performance. Moreover, there are positive relationships between core capability and competitive strategy. This suggests a need to align core capability and competitive strategy as a precondition for superior performance.

The paper has limitations as a result of data collection. A somewhat larger sample would obviously permit firmer conclusions to be drawn from the results of the statistical analysis.

This paper will contribute to the literature on SMEs, strategic management and resource‐based theory. This integration of scope is particularly new to the context of the Chinese construction industry. Similarly, this research will have implications for practice. The research findings help SMEs' managers to understand the impact of the unique resources of their enterprises and competitive strategy.

This work examines the relationship between internal and relational capabilities and the creation of value to the end consumer in the case of the process of receipt, manufacture, and delivery of orders within the supply chain. This work develops a methodology to identify operations that generate core competences and those that do not, with the aim of improving the management of the supply chain.

This work analyses the order fulfillment process in a representative sample of firms operating in a region of Spain. To accomplish the research objectives, a personal survey was conducted using a questionnaire to evaluate 13 activities of the order distribution process in the supply chain.

The results of the study reveal that internal and relational capabilities explain the creation of value to the consumer. They also identify two groups of operations in line with their ability to be sources of relational or internal competitive advantage. With regard to the activities, it was shown that there are some activities that form part of the core competences, while others constitute non-core competences. This work demonstrates that the core activities generate higher value to the end consumer; however, it also shows how important the non-core activities may be to the creation of value.

The work offers orientation as to how the analyzed process should be redesigned to obtain a competitive advantage. Thus, this higher value to the end consumer will enable the firm to reduce prices or at least maintain them, in which case the firm will be able to offer additional services that differentiate it from the competition.

Finally, although the literature contains some works that analyze capabilities or relational performance, none to date have used variables such as activity simplification, integration and relational competitiveness in the framework of relational capabilities in the order fulfillment process. Another significant innovation of this work is the analysis at operation level, in which 13 activities belonging to an important process in the supply chain are analyzed.

This study aims to investigate purchasing manager’s core competencies during supplier collaboration and explain the mechanism through which these competencies can affect purchasing firm’s innovative performance.

The authors conducted 22 semidirective interviews with managers in diverse functions such as purchasing, supply-chain management and product development across industries and across nations (mostly India and France), which allow to formulate the propositions.

Through open coding, the authors identify three path-dependent, causally ambiguous and socially complex core competencies of purchasing managers: relational and emotional, communicational and creative and cognitive competencies; and through axial coding, the authors explain how these intangible core competencies support implementation of market orientation. To provide supporting arguments for the propositions, the authors use the resource-based view of the firm and dynamic capability theory.

The first theoretical contribution of this study is focusing on the impact of competency–capability dyad in terms of performance. The second theoretical contribution of this study is to identify market orientation as a flexible and dynamic managerial capability.

The first managerial contribution is that the authors have identified and described three sets of a purchasing manager’s core competencies during supplier collaboration that affect the firm’s performance: relational and emotional, communicational and creative and cognitive competencies. The second managerial contribution relates to the mechanism through which purchasing managers’ core competencies during supplier collaboration affect firms’ outcomes.

The value of the results is in the explanation of the mechanism, i.e. market orientation dynamic capability, through which the competencies of purchasing managers can affect purchasing firm’s innovative performance.

Both the military and non-military organizations (NMO) bring assets, skills, and capabilities to a humanitarian crisis, however, their capabilities and competencies are very diverse. Identification of the specific competencies and capabilities that are core to these types of organizations can enable better planning by both military and NMOs, allowing them to achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency in the humanitarian response. The purpose of this paper is to explore the core capabilities of the military and NMOs engaged in humanitarian operations.

The work builds on existing literature on the core competency of the corporation. The authors extend the concept of the ability to identify, cultivate, and exploit the core capabilities in the private sector to the organizations that want to respond efficiently and effectively to disasters. The authors develop a core competencies test for such organizations.

The research identifies the competencies and capabilities that are core to the US military and NMOs for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. By identifying such abilities the authors establish a vein of research for exploring the role of such organizations to facilitate greater understanding among academics, policy makers, and decision makers in public administration, public health, and international aid.

Existing literature in humanitarian logistics does not adequately address identification of those competencies and capabilities that are core to the military organizations and NMOs and are most needed during the operational life cycle of a humanitarian crisis. In addition to identifying them, the authors compare the core capabilities of the military and NMO.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of top executive audits (TEAs) as part of hoshin kanri (policy management) at Nissan South Africa (NSA). It relates these to the emerging importance of core competencies in the resource‐based view of strategy to discuss “nested” sets of dynamic capabilities and superior performance.

The case study of NSA is considered in terms of how the firm defines its core areas, evaluates its business methodologies and management philosophies, and conducts its diagnosis of management. This was through real time internal company observation during an intensive phase of organizational change and documentation supplied by a senior manager.

The style of TEAs at Nissan is related to the concepts of “core competency” and “dynamic capability.” The core business areas of NSA are organization‐wide competencies necessary for competitive success, and the management of these is shown to be most effective in the form of a TEA, which in the hoshin kanri form, is arguably a nested set of dynamic capabilities.

The paper concludes that hoshin kanri and TEAs are used at Nissan as a higher order dynamic capability to develo0p both core competences in key areas of the business, and core capabilities in terms of its corporate methodologies and business philosophies. The recovery of Nissan during the East Asian Crisis of the late‐1990s was the result of improved productivity practices, such as the uses of hoshin kanri and TEAs, and not just of economic recovery.

The purpose of this paper is to outline a model that is conceptually and empirically applicable by practitioners in contexts extending beyond mere core competence identification.

This paper presents a conceptual review of a model.

This paper demonstrates that the associated concepts (competence, capability, and resources) have characteristics that differ both conceptually and empirically. The findings also indicate that competencies are central to core competence matters; it is possible to distinguish them analytically by three criteria. Furthermore, the notions of hierarchy suggested in previous research could not be verified which implies that the associated concepts all reside at the same hierarchy level.

The findings advance core competence theories that better serve the needs of practicing managers and consultants, by initiating a specific research agenda in conceptual and empirical reviews and discussions. By proposing a model, the study provides a point of departure for core competency research that goes beyond matters of identification.

The dissimilar characteristics of the associated concepts offer great opportunities to core competency management, by means of the different influences they have on core competencies. Their influence makes organizational change and rejuvenation not only comprehensible, but also manageable. This is of particular importance to organizations that need ongoing renewal of core competencies, for example, when facing dynamic business environments. Competence improvements manage and change core competencies; capability supports reinforce and create structure before, during, and after a change process; resource utilizations are operative, and need daily attention.

The paper initiates a new research agenda for core competency matters by acknowledging specific features of the concepts associated with core competence. This makes a significant contribution to the existing literature in terms of practical and scholarly applicability.

To outline a core competence model by exploring links between core competence and the associated concepts of competencies, capabilities, and resources, and by proposing refinements to the characteristics of these concepts.

A case study based primarily on personal interviews.

The findings suggest that competencies, capabilities, and resources are all linked to core‐competencies; the first two continuously, and the third intermittently; motivate refinement of the competence concept, by adding adaptation competence as governing customer loyalty, and transfer competence as managing transcendental integration; and motivate refinement of the capability concept, by adding capacity as a quality characteristic, and communication as a characteristic that can actively initiate organizational change.

The paper outlines a core competence model and propose refinements of the characteristics and links of the concepts, contributing to both core competence theory and resource‐based theory.

This work informs managers of the details of the core competence concept, of particular interest to managers with a customer‐focused standpoint. An empirical core competence exemplifies the importance of knowing the characteristics of competencies, since they encapsulate the power of organizational development. Managers also need to pay attention to the influences of capabilities, since they not only support organizational processes (if up‐to‐date), but also initiate change.

The development and specification of the core competence concept.

This paper provides remarkable insight into the structural components of a firm's core competence and its development via research and development (R&D) activities for innovation and exporting activities.

The authors have used a positivist design and a deductive methodology. The authors have examined the extant literature developing a theoretical framework to empirically investigate the relationships between a firm's core competence, organisational learning (OL), tacitness, dynamic capability and R&D activities. To carry out this investigation, the authors have collected stratified sample data from 330 firms operating in North East England, a peripheral region of England.

The authors have found that there are indeed significant statistical relationships between these structural components, R&D activities and a firm's core competence, and this nexus is pertinent to innovation and exporting. Furthermore, it is found that North East England is significantly constrained by the lack of finance, technological capability, experts and brain drain. Based on these findings, the authors propose a cooperative R&D framework to narrow down these constraints to assist firms in developing core competencies for innovation and exporting in peripheral regions.

There is an urgent need to investigate the incidence of knowledge-driven activities, R&D, the extent of innovation and exporting activities of firms operating in North East England, a peripheral region of the United Kingdom (UK).

This study provides an original and systematic investigation of the firm's core competence and its formation via key structural components for innovation and exporting within an empirical framework.

The paper seeks to combine the uses of the balanced scorecard and hoshin kanri as integrative dynamic capabilities for the entire strategic management process. It aims to posit a model for the combination of these long‐ and short‐term organisational activities as a framework for a senior level to manage a firm's strategic fit as an integrated organisation‐wide system that links top management goals to daily management.

The resource‐based view of strategy is explored for its relevance to how a combined balanced scorecard and hoshin kanri approach serves as a high‐order dynamic capability. Examples are given from Canon, Toyota and Nissan, of how core capabilities are managed to show how strategy is executed cross‐functionally across a firm's functional hierarchy.

The study finds that strategic management of the organisation should consider the long‐term strategy as well as the short‐term capability. Important to this are core capabilities and core competences, cross‐functional management, and top executive audits, which, when managed properly, explicate a new view of strategic fit, as a form of nested hierarchies of dynamic capabilities.

The paper is the first exposition of how balanced scorecard and hoshin kanri practices may usefully complement each other in strategic management. It is a useful framework for dynamically managing sustained competitive advantage.

The purpose of this paper is to explore that relational capability plays a mediator role in the relationship between focal enterprises' control on knowledge transfer risks in R&D network.

The paper reviews the related literature from which it proposes a theoretical hypothesis and conceptual framework which is tested empirically adopting regression methodology by mathematical statistics software.

The results reveal that focal enterprises' control (core technological capability and network position) have a positive effect on knowledge transfer risks without the mediation of relational capability. Moreover, relational capability mediates the positive relationship between core technological capability and knowledge transfer risks.

The cross-sectional data of this research has difficult in testing causality between the variables, and future research should take account of the potential factors that can impact on knowledge transfer risks.

The results provide more valuable information to managers in alleviating knowledge transfer risks in R&D networks. For one thing, the study indicates how focal firms' control (core technological capability and network position) can be taken advantage of improving R&D efficiency and reducing the knowledge transfer risks. For another, the results emphasize that relational capability plays an important role in interacting with cooperative enterprises in the process of R&D activities.

Few studies present a theoretical discussion on focal firms control as the important determinants of knowledge transfer risks especially in the R&D network. Moreover it expands the related risk management theory by relational capability that mediates the relationship between focal firms control and knowledge transfer risks.