Core Competencies of Service Firms: A Framework for Strategic Decisions in International Markets

Core competency theory is used to develop a framework to analyse how firms' leverage their resources meets the demands of international competition. Key competencies for services differ from those used in product marketing and include nurturing, empowerment, operating, data management, new service development, alliancing, communication, and market sensing. A framework for strategic analysis using service competencies and a perceptual grid is developed and illustrated with data from an international market. The grid maps the current marketplace in terms of both positive and negative determinant resources and facilitates the development of new strategic moves. The paper yields fresh insights into strategic marketing for high-service industries with multinational competition.