COMPETENCE-BASED MANAGEMENT AND STRATEGIC FLEXIBILITY: THE CASE OF AIR LIQUIDE

During the 1990s, new theories emerged in the field of strategy. In particular, the resource-based and competence-based views of the firm developed in reaction to Porter and the entire current derived from the industrial economy. However, these approaches have their own limitations: they are difficult to put into practice and are partially similar to the industrial approach.

This article has two aims: (a) to make a clearer distinction between the classical approach on the one hand, and the resource- and competence-based approach on the other hand; and (b) to overcome the opposition between these two models in order to grasp their complementarities. First of all, a critical analysis of the literature is presented, in order to understand how these two approaches fit into thinking. This theoretical framework is then illustrated by a case study of Air Liquide, which, in some of its activities, adopted a competence-based strategy and structure. The case study clearly identifies the points of divergence such as the complementarities between the two approaches, thereby showing how one can overcome their oppositions as well as their respective limitations.