MAPP Working Papers,
University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, The MAPP Centre

Abstract: 1. The point of departure of this study is that every company acquires competences which enables it to carry out various activities that are necessary for the company to be able to fulfil market demands. The study shows how successful Danish food companies have structured the competences that the companies are good at compared to their competitors. These competences are called distinctive competences.

2. In total, the participating five food companies pointed at 11 different distinctive competences of which the competences product development, customer relations and quality management are the three competences mentioned by most of the five food companies.

3. The study shows that each company has its own portfolio of competences with its own strength. It indicates that there is not one single way of building up a portfolio of distinctive competences but that there are many roads to company success. Furthermore, in those cases where more than one food company has pointed at a particular competence as a distinctive competence, it is evident that the companies have structured the competence very differently. This also indicates that there is "room" for building up a particular competence in different ways and still – or rather therefore – be successful with the competence.

4. The study reveals that competence structures are complex entities that are made up of six different competence elements that are interrelated and interdependent. The six competence elements are 1) activities, 2) management and control, 3) routines and procedures, 4) values and culture, 5) individual understanding and qualifications, 6) organisational structure. Four of the six competence elements are related to different kinds of knowledge in the companies. It is especially these four knowledge elements that are decisive for the strength of the competences. Also, the four knowledge elements make it impossible for other companies to imitate the case companies’ competences as these knowledge elements are company specific and accumulated over a long period of time. Finally, it is characteristic of all 11 distinctive competences that it has taken the five food companies a long time to reach the current level of excellence.

Keywords: Competitive power; Food industry; Denmark

73 pages, September 1, 2000

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