Canon: Competing on Capabilities

Canon has sustained a very high growth rate by continuously building new capabilities and exploiting these capabilities. In particular, the case focuses on the company's organizational structures and management processes that support its ability to build and leverage competencies.

The case examines the resource-based (or core competency-based) view of strategy; it illustrates how such an approach differs from, and complements, the more traditional conceptualization of strategy focused on industry structure; to discuss the organizational attributes necessary to manage a company as a portfolio of capabilities.