Complementarity and Competence-knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, and Behaviours

The core competence of the organisation and the individual competence of its workforce will determine how and to what level complementarities are achieved. Organisational competences refer to the effective integration of technologies, specialised knowledge, skills, techniques, and experiences in a way that delivers differentiated advantage against competitor organisations- the collective knowledge about how to coordinate multiple and diverse production skills and technologies. However, organisational competence is made up of the sum total of the core competences of individual members of the workforce. Here, competences are those things that are demonstrated by individuals and causally related to the organisation’s performance. They consist of knowledge- the retention and utilisation of information, skills- the ability to demonstrate a sequence of behaviour towards a goal- and attitudes and behaviours- the social manifestations of how a manager undertakes a role. The core competence of the individual can therefore be defined as a ‘specific, identifiable, definable, and measurable knowledge, skill, ability, and/or other deployment related characteristic (e.g., attitude, behaviour, physical ability), which an individual may possess, and which is material to the performance of an activity within a specific business context.’ Contemporaneously, these competences will contribute to organisational success not only by singularity- discreet interventions based on a leader or manager’s specific responsibilities or objectives in relation to an organisation, a business unit or a department- but also complementarity- interventions that are connected to a broader purpose. Complementarity means organisational constructs and actions that are collaborative, multi layered, multi- faceted and most of all add to the competitiveness of the whole organisation.