Acquiring competence to create and sustain competitive advantages a study of four small high technology firms

Abstract: The research questions addressed in this licentiate thesis are; How can small firms acquire competence? What factors can be identified as important for understanding how competence is acquired in small firms? Why are these factors important? Three factor groups are included in building a preliminary model of competence acquisition; the entrepreneur, the business concept, and the competence base which are identified in the literature as affecting competence acquisition. The surrounding environment is seen as a platform for the acquisition of competence. Three different modes of competence acquisition are discussed; internal, social network, and market. The entrepreneurs of four small firms were interviewed where competence acquisition processes were in focus. The processes in each firm are, first, analyzed separately. Second, a between-process analysis is conducted in each firm and, third, a between-firm analysis is carried out where aspects of the factor groups are brought out. The phenomenon concerning competence acquisition is very complex. The factor groups do not only, per se, affect acquisition of competence. Aspects of the factor groups may, in fact, express a more complex picture of how the factors affect acquisition of competence. The modes of competence acquisition appear in combinations and sequences. Competence acquisition processes are built in sequences over time. Strategies in competence acquisition emerge in patterns that develop.