The Focal Faculties of the Firm: Using Knowledge Power for Global Leadership

Thomas P S and T. Madhavan

IIMA Working Papers from Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department

Abstract: There is indubitably more to the sources of sustained competitive advantage of corporations than meets the eye. Among the most promising of these are the focal faculties of the firm, the areas of expertise ingrained in organizations over long periods of time. If properly developed and managed these focal faculties can be mixed and matched, both internally as well as externally, to pioneer promising lines of business that can sustain the firm from one generation to the next. Previously many firms succeeded by combining the best features of the family, the school and the military which minimizing bureaucratic proclivities. In future, firms may also have to adopt the recognized strengths of the collegiate approach, fundamental to which is knowledge creation, dissemination and use in a truly democratic manner. What a firm produces will always be important. Increasingly, what it knows will be even more important. This knowledge will basically be about its environment, about itself and about creative strategies which combine the two for success over the long term. If crystallized meaningfully into focal faculties, the foregoing knowledge may help the firm not only to perform well currently but also to adapt to changing circumstances and to seize the opportunities which appear from time to time on distant horizons.

Date: 1996-12-01
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