One of the "trade secrets" of first-rate strategic management is consolidating a company's technological, production, and marketing know-how into competences that enhance its competitiveness. A core competence is something a company does especially well in comparison to its competitors. In practice, there are many possible types of core competences: manufacturing excellence, exceptional quality control, the ability to provide better service, more know-how in low-cost manufacturing, superior design capability, unique ability to pick out good retail locations, innovativeness in developing new products, better skill in merchandising and product display, mastery of an important technology, a strong understanding of customer needs and tastes, an unusually effective sales force, outstanding skill in working with customers on new applications and uses of the product, and expertise in integrating multiple technologies to create families of new products. The importance of a core competence to strategy-making rests with (1) the added capability it gives an organization in going after a particular market opportunity, (2) the competitive edge it can yield in the marketplace, and (3) its potential for being a cornerstone of strategy. It is easier to build competitive advantages when a firm has a core competence in an area important to market success, when rivals do not have offsetting competences, and when it is costly and time-consuming for rivals to match the competence. Core competences are thus valuable competitive assets.