KudoZ home » English » Advertising / Public Relations

Competence or expertise

English translation: expertise (at least in this context)

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs
(or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	Competence or expertise
English translation:	expertise (at least in this context)
Entered by:	Christine Andersen

Options:
- Contribute to this entry
- Include in personal glossary

08:47 Sep 1, 2008

English to English translations [PRO]
Marketing - Advertising / Public Relations / What you have and what you advertise

English term or phrase: Competence or expertise

Am I just old fashioned, or does the word 'competence' sometimes have a ring of 'also ran' about it compared with 'expertise'?

"the quality of being competent" according to the dictionary.
"You can't run a business without competent employees"
Preferably highly competent... But somehow you need something more than just competence.

Compared with 'expertise', which is:
'great skill or knowledge in a particular field."

To succeed, you have to know how to apply comptetence...

Or am I just splitting hairs?

The context is a proof I am reading for a Danish client, in quite good English, but where 'kompetanser' sound fine to Danish ears, or some at least... and is a bit of a buzz-word, I would prefer 'expertise' in English.
It will eventually appear on the client's website.

The client writes, e.g.

"Our competences:
Consultancy
Sparring
Strategy
..."

Christine Andersen KudoZ activity Questions: 185 (none open) (9 closed without grading) Answers: 1603 Denmark
Local time: 21:45

expertise

Explanation:
Competence implies the ability to be able to do something, while expertise implies excellence. "Our areas of expertise" would be the better way to advertise their services

Selected response from:

Sarah Messeri
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:45

Grading comment

Thanks for a quick, but well-explained answer!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +8

expertise

Sarah Messeri

4 +1

Competencies

lindaellen

3 +1

expertise

Arnold007

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

4 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +8

competence or expertise

expertise

Explanation:
Competence implies the ability to be able to do something, while expertise implies excellence. "Our areas of expertise" would be the better way to advertise their services

Sarah Messeri
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:45
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

Thanks for a quick, but well-explained answer!

17 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

competence or expertise expertise

Explanation:
Expertise has to do with how much is known of a particular field of knowledge : electronics, physics etc.
Competence has to do with having both the knowledge and the skills to do a specific job or task.

For consultancy, "expertise" would be appropriate in this context.

Arnold007
Local time: 15:45
Works in field
Native speaker of:

French

15 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

competence or expertise Competencies

Explanation:
I can't say that I like the term, it is real "business-speak", but it is often used, and I have frequently used it in this context. See the wiki article for a more detailed explanation. I only copies part of it below.

Core competency versus competitive advantage
Core competencies are capabilities that serve as a source of competitive advantage for a firm over its rivals. Core competencies emerge over time through an organizational process of accumulating and learning how to deploy different resources and capabilities. Examples of capabilities include management (ability to envision the future of their industry, effective organizational structure), marketing (effective promotion of brand-name products, effective customer service, innovative merchandising), human resources (motivating, empowering and retaining employees), manufacturing, distribution, management information systems and research & development.

The criteria for determining whether a capability is a core competency is whether it is capable of producing sustainable competitive advantage. A capability can deliver competitive advantage without meeting all of the required criteria, but this will only be for a limited time.

Hanson uses an updated model with four criteria of sustainable competitive advantage:

Valuable: the capability allows the firm to exploit opportunities or neutralize threats in its external environment
Rare: capabilities that few, if any, of its competitors possess
Costly to imitate: capabilities that other firms cannot easily develop. Take note however, this does not simply mean it is expensive to imitate, it means it is difficult to imitate (i.e. the capability developed through unique historical conditions, the capability itself is ambiguous or the relationships that underpin the capability are complex to understand and imitate).
Non-substitutable: the capability does not have a strategic equivalent. One example is R&D, the objective of which is obtaining new technology. To obtain new technology you could develop it internally, or you could monitor the external environment for developments then acquire them (a strategy Nucor has followed) - these are strategic equivalents. [2]

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 mins (2008-09-01 09:06:16 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Perhaps you could use both, i.e. "Our competencies" and "To succeed, you have to know how to apply expertise".

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_competency

lindaellen
Switzerland
Local time: 21:45
Native speaker of:

English

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help
The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

Overview

Latest translation questions

Ask a translation question

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations

Competence or expertise

English translation: expertise (at least in this context)

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

Answers

Sign in to your ProZ.com account...

Or create a new account

ProZ.com ideas

KudoZ™ translation help
The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

Competence or expertise

English translation: expertise (at least in this context)

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

Answers

Sign in to your ProZ.com account...

Or create a new account

ProZ.com ideas

KudoZ™ translation helpThe KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

KudoZ™ translation help
The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.