Competing on Competence: A Knowledge Perspective on the Management of Strategic Innovation

The resource-based strategy paradigm emphasizes the importance of firm-specific assets and knowledge, variously referred to as core competencies and distinctive capabilities. This perspective on sources of competitive advantage is complemented by knowledge and learning perspectives on strategic innovation. We explore conceptual links between knowledge development and the management of strategic innovation. We argue that the management of strategic innovation is the purposeful orchestration of organizational knowledge development and application and we highlight a variety of managerial dilemmas associated with this view.