核心竞争力和教育【外文翻译】

外文翻译

原文

Core competence and education

Material Source: Higher Education 40:247-258, 2000

Author: Gary Holmes & Nick Hooper

Abstract. Core competence is a managerial concept used to analyse and develop key elements of business strategy. This article outlines the concept and applies it to post-compulsory education in the UK. After considering educational characteristics which might be considered to delineate core competence, an economic approach is adopted. The educational perspective suggests accreditation as the core competence of Universities. The economic approach suggests that the market trend toward lifetime learning might best be met by institutions developing a core competence in relationship marketing. The article concludes by considering the implications for the institutional structure of post-compulsory education.

Keywords: accreditation, business strategy, core competence, educational characteristics, institutional structure, relationship marketing

The concept and implications of core competence

Th e term ‘core competence’ is used in the literature of education and in that of economics and management. The two disciplines use the term to convey very different concepts. This article briefly reviews the concept of core competence as it is used in education, before focusing on the application of the economic and management concept to post-compulsory education.

In essence, the phrase core competence in the literature on education defines a set of learning outcomes (skills or competencies) which each individual should acquire during or demonstrate at the end of a period of learning. It is one of a number of associated concepts, including core skills, core competency, generic skills and key qualifications. There are differences between all of these concepts, but they all relate to learning outcomes which support further learning, employment, personal development and socialisation.

In the context of lifelong learning, the acquisition of core educational outcomes

is not hierarchical or sequential (Nijhof 1998). Socialisation, occupational and transition skills are acquired throughout life. The timing and rate of acquisition and the nature and classification of core or key learning outcomes are discussed at length in the literature. Nijhof and Streumer (1998) provide a comprehensive discussion of the concepts and their application. It is not the aim of this article to re-visit the debate around the educational core competence and its associated concepts. Rather, the objective is to explore the implications of the economic and managerial concept of core competence to the business of post-compulsory education.

The economic and managerial concept of core competence

Core competence as a managerial concept is at the centre of the development of business strategy. As such, it is the fundamental basis of the competitive position of an organisation in the market. Business strategy development is concerned with matching customers’ requirements (needs, wants, desires, preferences, and buying patterns) with the capabilities of the company, based on the skills and resources available to the business. This leads to the concept of core competence, defined as ‘something that the company does as at least as well as, and preferably better than, any other company in the market’. Produ cts based on such core competencies define the company’s value proposition in each target market and the company’s business strategy (Webster 1994).

Core competence defines what business a company is in, in terms of products, markets and activities. It focuses on customer benefits and identifies what attributes form the basis of success in current markets and which may form the basis of success in new markets, and what those new markets may be (Prahalad 1997). Businesses success can be based on a number of factors, including raw materials, patents, product differentiation and customer loyalty. Success may not be based on a physical product. It can be dealing with large numbers of small consumer transactions (Tesco), marketing (NIKE), or simplifying a complicated service (Virgin).

Competitive advantage can be developed by a business, and often transferred between or extended into new markets. The concept is directly linked to the idea of the market as a search process, with core competence being seen as one of the tools of competition. Competitive strengths exist where a business has something unique, relevant and potentially lasting to offer (Prahalad and Hamel 1990). To be true core competence a capability should meet four criteria: