In assessing the value of a senior health-service manager or council chief, for example, the line between core competence and bonus-worthy brilliance might be hard to define.

ECONOMIST: Public-sector pay

But as long as the House of Windsor plc remains in the head-of-state business, it has to keep an eye on its core competence: being born, being non-political, and simply being there.

ECONOMIST: The monarchy

The core competence of tomorrow's e-commerce successes will be the ability to change quickly, a skill perhaps even more valuable than knowledge of any particular market.

ECONOMIST: In one form or another, electronic commerce is here to stay