Question

Executives emphasise the importance of resources and capabilities in different organisations.

The Australian Red Cross

To achieve the vision of improving the lives of vulnerable people, the Australian Red Cross emphasises the crucial role of capabilities in its strategic plan 'Strategy 2015'. 'Capabilities are integral to our overriding strategy to create one Red Cross, writes CEO Robert Tickner. The Australian Red Cross distinguish between technical competency and behavioural capability. The former refers to specialist skills and may include such competencies as project management, financial management, community development, social work, administrative or information technology skills. Capabilities at the Red Cross refer to the behaviours they expect its people to demonstrate in order to be successful in achieving the objectives. The organisation aims to increasingly invest in the capabilities and skills of Red Cross people and supporters including members, branches and units, volunteers, aid workers, staff and donors. For example, this involves investing in a diverse workforce and supporter base, with strong engagement of young people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and other culturally and linguistically diverse people'. The emphasis is on people who are engaged, dynamic, innovative, entrepreneurial and motivated to realise the vision and goals.

Royal Opera House, London

According to Tony Hall, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House : "World-class' is neither an idle nor boastful claim. In the context of the Royal Opera House the term refers to the quality of our people, the standards of our productions and the diversity of our work and initiatives. Unique? Unashamedly so. We shy away from labels such as 'elite', because of the obvious negative connotations of exclusiveness. But

I want people to take away from here the fact that we are elite in the sense that we have the best singers, dancers, directors, designers, orchestra, chorus, backstage crew and administrative staff. We are also among the best in our ability to reach outo as wide and diverse a community as possible.

Infosys

The Indian company Infosys is a global leader in information technology, outsourcing, system integration services and IT consulting. It is listed as one of the world's most reputable companies with close to 150,000 employees worldwide. The company's 'Infosys 3.0 strategy' is taking a further step to provide more advanced IT products and services, which requires investments in new resources and capabilities. According to Infosys CEO S. D. Shibulal: 'We continue to make focused investments in our organisational capabilities.

The strategy emphasises innovation and focuses on higher-value software. Innovation abilities are central for this, as stated on the website: 'The foundation of our innovation capability is our core lab network - Infosys Labs - and the new thinking that our team of over 600 researchers brings to the table. The strategy thus requires human resource and training capabilities including the ability to attract, employ, educate and retain new high-quality engineers. As Srikantan Moorthy, Senior Vice President and Group Head explains: "We are currently hiring and developing talent in the areas of cloud, mobility, sustainability, and product development. In addition, a key focus is consultative skills. All of these are in line with our Infosys 3.0 strategy. We place significant value on continuous learning and knowledge sharing.

Questions

1. Categorise the range of resources and capabilities highlighted by the executives above in terms of Physical; Financial; Human

2. To what extent and why might these resources and capabilities be the basis of sustained competitive advantage?

3. Imagine you are the general manager of an organisation of your choice and undertake the same exercise as in questions 1 and 2 above.

Answer 1

1. In the first organization, in the Australian red cross, the behavioral capabilities are highlighted by an executive which refers to the abilities of the person to perform a behavior with necessary skills for the achievement of the goal. There are human resources which are also highlighted that are members, volunteer, aid workers, staff and many more.

The second organization, the quality of staff members, high level of production standard and the work diversification are the common capabilities for the royal opera house.

The third organization, the ability to attract the employ for better results, educate them and hire new quality employees to increase services that are offered to the customers by the Infosys.

2 These are the basic needs of all the organizations to develop a competitive advantage in the market. The capabilities of the organizations are required to focus on meeting customers’ needs and preferences. This helps the company to develop the customer base in the market and increase its competitive advantage. The capabilities are also helpful in improving the business and differentiate from others in the market.

3 The main basic capabilities that an individual wants in an organization are customer orientation and leadership.

· Customer orientation: The first ability by which the organization will grow in the market is customer orientation. The customers are the kin of the market who create the demand in the market. All the organizations have to satisfy the customers to increase customer base and profitability in the market.

· Leadership: To focus on customers' needs, the staff have to be guided under the leadership for creative and innovative work. This helps the company to develop a new and unique image in the market.

When using customer orientation and leadership, it increases the competitive advantage as the company give a unique product to the customers and make them satisfied. This will increase the customer's presence in the company.