The Difference Between a Core Competence and a Distinctive Competence

Multiple Choice

The difference between a core competence and a distinctive competence is that

A) a distinctive competence refers to a company's strongest resource or competitive capability and a core competence refers to a company's lowest-cost and most efficiently executed value-chain activity.
B) a core competence usually resides in a company's base of intellectual capital whereas a distinctive competence stems from the superiority of a company's physical and tangible assets.
C) a core competence is a competitively relevant activity which a firm performs especially well in comparison to the other activities it performs, whereas a distinctive competence is a competitively relevant activity which a firm performs especially well in comparison to other firms with which it competes.
D) a core competence represents a resource strength whereas a distinctive competence is achieved by having more resource strengths than rival companies.
E) a core competence usually resides in a company's technology and physical assets whereas a distinctive competence usually resides in a company's know-how, expertise, and intellectual capital.