Core competencies of the new industrial organization

Abstract

PurposeThe contributions proposed in this paper are motivated by principles of incompatibility, and non‐equilibrium states, existing between the continuous growth in the level of environmental complexity and the insufficient cognitive capacity of the organization. From such a view, the purpose of this paper is to ask: what are the core competencies of the new industrial organization in the twenty‐first century?Design/methodology/approachFirst, the paper examines the characteristics and limitations of past and current industrial organizations; second, it contributes by extending their frontiers and by proposing technological, managerial and organizational core competencies of the new enterprise.FindingsFrom such analyses, this paper introduces the features of customer‐centric systems (CCS) which represent new industrial organizations in the pursuit of high degrees of organizational cognition, intelligence and autonomy, and consequently, high degrees of agility and flexibility, in order to manage high levels of environmental complexity and uncertainty, to operate through intensive mass customization, and to provide customers with immersiveness.Research limitations/implicationsFor further research, this paper suggests the investigation of practical implementation of the features of the new enterprise of CCS. In such a direction, it recommends additional reading on the concept and design of computational organizational management networks.Practical implicationsThis paper emphasizes that CCS are firm types which strategically organize their resources and competencies around customers' values and needs, in order to involve customers into their business. By involving customers into their task environments and business, CCS‐based firms have the chance to understand their clients' real needs and to produce the appropriate goods and services.Originality/valueThe uniqueness of this paper lies in its attempt to master, analyze and integrate technological, managerial and organizational perspectives of past and current manufacturing organizations, which contribute to illuminate features and to identify core competencies of future industrial firms, which are in the pursuit of innovation and sustainable competitive advantage in the twenty‐first century.