6. Competence

Up until the 1980s, concepts associated with optimising organisational performance were usually based upon the premises that (a) marketing strategy formulation required ways of exploiting the opportunities available within the external environment and (b) marketing tactics are determined by the nature and structure of the industry of which the organisation is a part. This emphasis on environmental orientation is exemplified by Porter’s (1980) ‘contending forces’ model. Critics of environmentalism have expressed concern that excessive emphasis on the external market can be detrimental to organisational performance. This is because reliance on a purely market-orientated strategy without regard to the internal competences necessary to support delivery of products or service performance may lead to an organisation being overtaken by competitors who have developed more advanced internal competences and are therefore able to offer a superior benefit proposition.