Edge Over the Others

I have not witnessed the growth of the organization and the stories it went through. But the length it stayed in the business I know for sure it had undergone waves and calmness.

For more than 20 years, the company had survived the trials and celebrated triumphs. Of what I knew, it had a different name in the past. It could have been that the company failed in some ways, be it the competition in the market or internal sustainability in the financial crisis and human resources. True, competing in the U.S market is a great challenge.

But what makes a company survive for long? Is it profitability? I thought so, until I heard about core competencies during the report. I said, yes that was logical. The company may be gaining a lot in years but this doesn’t mean that it will survive for long for as long as there is competition, management should not just wait and receive, but to constantly strive for survival.
“Uhmm, what are the core competencies I think we have in the company?”, I asked. I do not know if these should be formally written for the employees to know what they are working for but I think it should. Well anyway, we had not defined this in the company. But I know that we are striving to have these.

First and foremost, a company in business should have strong knowledge and specialization of the business it is offering. Who would want to go into business, invests money, and doesn’t even know how to work on it? It is always basic and general to open a business that is of interest to you, fits your budget, and sure hit in the market. If you are the owner, and you have no skills on the business but you know someone with the great skills that you trusted and you know well the market, this is possible.
The owner of the company is not an IT professional but has been in a network of educators. He saw the need and created the business. He knows the market very well and hired skilled people to work for him. I know that it was tough to start the business and I am pretty sure that the owner has encountered different trials, ups and downs. But these difficulties, as we all know, are just helping tools to make better or fix the business.

The company went through creating web applications but gradually, found the product that had lifted the company, a suite of web applications used by the academe. Clients have more options which product can fit their needs and they can use from the suite the company offers. Or better yet, they can have the whole suite and other 3rd party integrations. Knowing this is the right product, the company hired more people to create and maintain it. This is one of the core competencies that I think we have.
Another core that I think made us on the edge is the great customer service we have. I always hear from our clients that we have the best service over their old system vendors. Clients are given utmost care, attention and accommodation. Support people are pushy on clients’ issues and concerns that are submitted to the technical team for fixing and testing. Sometimes we are overwhelmed with reports from them but we try to always give them the fastest response and service. This is a standard operational procedure in every company I believe and we always make sure to live to this.

It is advisable that in each unit of the company there are core competencies and work together with the company’s core. Right now, we don’t have any in our own department but I will try to create one to bring one goal and good coordination with the team.