They also define the unique opportunity set available to the firm, being those market openings or knowledge gaps that the company is uniquely qualified to fill. As such, they serve to narrow the focus of the firm’s forward strategy (Goddard, 1997). In particular manufacturing managers need to increase their knowledge and understanding of core competencies. To be more competitive they need to operate more in an outward/strategy driven way and develop a strategic architecture to enable their organisation to develop the necessary core competencies