Linking core competencies to customer needs: strategic marketing of health care services.

Firms often are encouraged to develop expertise, or core competencies, that lead to innovative products and services. The authors present a market research study that enabled a health care service provider to link its core technological competencies to customer needs. Although potential customers did not explicitly value the technology itself, links could be made between technological competencies and more valued service dimensions such as communication flows, meeting deadlines, and staff responsiveness. Improving strategic marketing and service quality delivery can be realized through market research linking customer needs to a firm's core competencies.