In a previous blog, I talked about innovating at the edge, the concept of looking at how your products are being used beyond the core purpose in an effort to discover new ways to deliver value. The core-edge relationship has another opportunity. In many cases, we can find capabilities, at the edge of our business, that are under appreciated and under exploited. For example, Coca-Cola has a core competency of delivering soft-drinks and related beverages. But you can’t argue with their ability to manage their brand through advertising. While brand management is not a core competency, it is an edge competency, or something they do very well that is far removed from their core. In yet another article, we reviewed ICICI Bank and how they are using their Information Technology department to deliver new products and services, thereby turning IT into a profit center. This is another great example of exploiting an edge competency. Other companies that have exploited their edge competencies:

• UPS moving from package delivery into supply chain management.
• Caterpillar is selling logistics services.
• IBM offering services to manage data centers and IT help desk operations.

So what are the edges of your business and how can you exploit them? Or better yet, are their ways to integrate your edge competencies with your core to create new markets or new business models?