core competency

or core competence

noun

1. a skill needed in order to be successful at a job or other activity:

   Several core competencies have been identified as critical to the success of every student.

2. a particular area of knowledge or expertise that gives a business a competitive advantage:

   The automaker's core competency is sports cars.

Word History and Origins

Origin of core competency¹

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

It further offers the potential to focus on core competencies while collaborating to explore new and adjacent opportunities.

From MIT Technology Review

Each session is designed to tackle one of the many core competencies any startup needs to be successful.

From TechCrunch

That’s a core competency at Intuit, which has stayed independent by disrupting itself over the decades to meet the advent of the Windows operating system, the Internet, mobile devices, and cloud computing.

From Fortune