The introduction of digitalization and the promotion of eco-innovation, the move towards financial development, and the appearance of alternative financial practices such as crowdfunding as well as ...the adoption of freer economic systems represent plausible enablers of the sustainable transition and potentially help to increase nations’ sustainable competitiveness. However, knowledge is scarce about their contribution. The present study fills the gap in the sustainability literature by proposing a complexity theory lens to a dataset spanning four years from 2015 to 2018 for 18 countries which captures the possible configurations of the chosen factors that allow countries to achieve two outcomes: sustainability transitions and sustainable competitiveness. The findings show three configurations for each outcome. High levels of digitalization, crowdfunding, and financial development are present in all configurations showing their important contribution to sustainable competitiveness and sustainability transitions. High eco-innovation and economic freedom are present in four out of six solutions, while they are present in negation (low levels) in the remaining two solutions. Overall the results offer insights to policymakers, individuals, and businesses on how to use these findings to understand the complex interactions generating high sustainability transitions and sustainable competitiveness.
Los niveles de competitividad de los países de Latinoamérica se encuentran en un proceso de desarrollo lento para alcanzar a empresas situadas en economías más modernas, por tener dificultades en ...algunos pilares fundamentales de competitividad como los niveles de innovación tecnológica en base a inversiones inteligentes de infraestructura, capital intelectual, que tengan un impacto importante en la productividad multifactorial. El objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar la situación competitiva de las Pequeñas y Medianas Empresas (PYMES) en la ciudad de Trujillo, evaluando los factores claves para la productividad que tendrán una asociación con la competitividad sostenible. Se realizó un estudio empírico aplicado a 152 empresarios en diversos sectores de la ciudad de Trujillo, recopilando información de tipo cualitativo y cuantitativo. Los resultados obtenidos fueron que el 70% de las empresas del sector calzado están preparados para responder a las cinco fuerzas competitivas de Porter, para el sector metal mecánica el 89% de las empresas, y el 70% de las empresas para textil son competitivas. Se identificó que la calidad, capital humano, finanzas, plan estratégico, comercialización y las alianzas estratégicas, tienen una relación positiva con la competitividad; sin embargo, al integrarse con las TICs no se aprecia la sinergia del negocio. Los hallazgos son de utilidad para mejorar el conocimiento en las decisiones estratégicas de los Gerentes de las PYMES para responder a la Globalización y al proceso intensivo de la digitalización. || The levels of competitiveness of the countries of Latin America are in a process of slow development to reach those companies located in more modern economies, because they have difficulties in some fundamental pillars of competitiveness such as the levels of technological innovation based on intelligent infrastructure investments, intellectual capital, that have a major impact on multifactor productivity. The objective of this research was to analyze the competitive situation of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the city of Trujillo, evaluating the key factors for productivity that will have an association with sustainable competitiveness. For this, the first step was to develop review of the fundamental literature for the hypotheses and the empirical study applied to 152 entrepreneurs in various sectors of the city of Trujillo, compiling the opinion of qualitative and quantitative type and statistical processing. The results obtained were that 70% of the companies in the footwear sector are prepared to respond to the five competitive forces of Porter, for the mechanical metal sector 89% of the companies, 70% of the textile companies are competitive. Through linear regressions, we identify that quality, human capital, finance, strategic plan, marketing and strategic alliances have a positive relationship with competitiveness, however when integrated with ICTs, the synergy of the business is not appreciated. The findings are useful to improve knowledge in the strategic decisions of SME Managers to respond to Globalization and the intensive process of digitalization.
Successful outsourcing strategy is a key enabler of sustainable competitiveness of established firms engaged in technology-intensive business. This study proposes a research framework of a successful ...outsourcing process composed of resources, dynamic capabilities and created values, from a review of relevant literature and in-depth case study of four leading medical device firms. The research results specify four outsourcing types according to the characteristics of outsourced resources, and their alignment with resources owned by the outsourcer. Each type of outsourcing is positively affected by the outsourcer’s dynamic capabilities, namely sensing, integrating capability, absorptive capability and technology transfer capability. In addition, the significance of the outsourcee’s size according to each outsourcing type is also found. As a result of successful outsourcing experience, the outsourcer can reap the benefits of enhanced dynamic capabilities, i.e., market-oriented innovation, strategic flexibility, agility and increased efficiency, thereby creating a virtuous cycle of sustainable competitiveness in a volatile environment.
Service companies in developed countries represent 70–80% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In Spain, within the service sector, tourism is the main contributor and is growing annually. This is ...obviously an opportunity for the country due to its benefits and economic effects but at the same time a well-structured, sustainable and competitive model for its continued development is needed in order to adopt best practices and reference innovative models from other sectors. A qualitative approach using Case Study, Grounded Theory and Delphi Method has been conducted to study the tourism sector in the city of Gandia, Valencia (Spain). Results show that a tourist destination with its different components and stakeholders involved in its value chain can be interpreted as an ecosystem and so reference ecosystem models could be adopted to boost the development of a region. Considering the results obtained, this study can contribute to the development of a tourist destination in a sustainable and innovative way.
Purpose. The purpose of this paper was to highlight the results of the study of the influence of the balance of organic carbon in soil and fertilizer systems on the formation of sustainable ...competitiveness of Ukrainian agricultural enterprises. Methodology / approach. To achieve the purpose, we used such methods: balance (to assess carbon balance in the soil); correlation analysis (to identify and assess the close relationship between the balance of organic carbon in the soil and the Sustainable Competitiveness Index – SCI); econometric modeling (to develop a mathematical model of the dependence of the balance of organic carbon in the soil from the yield of by-products (straw) and the volume of organic fertilizers applied in agricultural enterprises); economic-statistical and monographic (for the assessment and analysis of the influence of the balance of organic carbon in the soil and fertilizer systems on the formation of competitiveness of enterprises); abstract-and-logical (for theoretical generalization and analysis of the research results). The economic database of the 5597 agricultural enterprises located in Ukraine was used as the empirical basis. Results. It was found that one third (33.0 %) of the studied agricultural enterprises of Ukraine had a deficit balance of humus (on average -0.273 t/ha), the rest (67.0 %) had a positive balance of humus, in particular 15.9 % of business entities provided a balance of humus more than 1 t/ha (an average of 1.608 t/ha). This group of enterprises reached an average level of sustainable competitiveness (SCI = 1.296) and was a good example of the formation of competitiveness on the basis of rational land use. The influence of the humus balance on the level of sustainable competitiveness of agricultural enterprises in the markets of three main crops – winter wheat, corn for grain and sunflower – was assessed, which allowed us to identify the industry-specific features of its formation. Originality / scientific novelty. As a result of the study it was identified and quantified, for the first time, the impact of the balance of organic carbon in the soil on the formation of sustainable competitiveness of agricultural enterprises. For the first time, a two-factor linear mathematical model of the dependence of the balance of humus in the soil from the yield of by-products (straw) and the volume of organic fertilizers applied in Ukrainian agricultural enterprises was developed. The provision on the features of the formation of sustainable competitiveness of agricultural enterprises under various fertilizer systems was further developed. Practical value / implications. The main results of the study can be used for (i) rapid assessment, regulation and prediction of the balance of organic carbon in the soil; (ii) identification of reserves for increasing sustainable competitiveness of agricultural enterprises; (ii) improving soil protection policy for regulating the reproduction of organic carbon in the soil.
Competitiveness and sustainability are multidimensional concepts that are often measured using multiple indicators. In this paper, we are going to measure sustainable competiveness using a unique ...index. To do this, we work with the European Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI), which provides an overall but summarised view of territorial competitiveness for each of the NUTS 2 (Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics) regions of the 28 European Union Member States. Although the RCI is a complete competitiveness index, it presents some limitations, as it does not take into account any aspect of an environmental character. In order to assess the sustainability of the NUTS 2 regions, several environmental indicators have been added to the RCI (emission of CO
2
, waste generated per capita, environmental investment of the public and private sector, among others). The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution permits aggregating these indicators to a new unified measurement of the regional sustainable competitiveness, the European Regional Sustainability Competitiveness Index, henceforth RSCI.
In today’s uncertain climate, competitiveness and sustainable development have become milestones of both advanced and emerging countries. Since competitiveness and sustainable development are ...interconnected, an extensive vision of competitiveness should be available for both the economy and the society. The definition, measurement and analysis of both concepts taken into consideration, competitiveness and sustainable development, is thus an important issue for policy-makers. Thus, the goal of this paper is to research the interconnection between the competitiveness and sustainable development factors for two emerging countries, Romania and Bulgaria, based on the existing literature and the most recent studies in this area. Using extensive data over a period of 10 years, this study explores and tests the sign of the relationship between national competitiveness and sustainable development indicators for the cases of Romania and Bulgaria. The dataset includes the Global Competitiveness Index values and the sustainable development indicators for both countries and covers the period of 2004 – 2013. Our findings are the basis of developing new models describing the relationships between competitiveness, economic growth and sustainability, justified by the need of sustainable economy’s development to increase the national competitiveness, in order to attract financial resources necessary for financing the growth of the economy and economic entities.
Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the results of the study of zonal features of the formation and reserves of increasing the sustainable competitiveness of Ukrainian agricultural ...enterprises. Methodology / approach. In this study, we used such methods: discriminant analysis (to develop a mathematical model for classifying enterprises by the Sustainable Competitiveness Index – SCI); econometric modeling (to develop an econometric model of the dependence of the SCI of agricultural enterprises on the main sub-indices); economic-statistical and monographic (for the assessment and analysis competitiveness of enterprises); abstract-and-logical (for theoretical generalization and analysis of the research results); grapho-analytic (for the visual representation of the obtained results). The economic database of the 5597 agricultural enterprises located in Ukraine, which represent all the soil-climatic zones, was used as the empirical basis. Results. This study presents empirical evidence on the zonal features of the formation of sustainable competitiveness of agricultural enterprises in Ukraine. The level of sustainable competitiveness of agricultural enterprises of the country in the context of three soil-and-climatic zones – the Steppe, Forest-steppe and Polissya was assessed, which allowed us to identify the zonal features of its formation and taking into account this data to determine the priorities for its increase. A discriminant analysis is made based on the results of assessing the competitiveness of agricultural enterprises, which allowed us to build a mathematical model for classifying entities depending on its level. Originality / scientific novelty. The provision on zonal features of formation of sustainable competitiveness of agricultural enterprises on lands of different quality was further developed. As a result of the discriminant analysis it was developed, for the first time, a mathematical model of classification of enterprises for each group, depending on the level of competitiveness. For the first time, a multi-factor linear econometric model of the dependence of SCI from the main sub-indices was developed, the testing of which allowed us to quantify the SCI growth reserves of Ukrainian agricultural enterprises by improving the level of management and/or use of resources and to develop a forecast for increasing the sustainable competitiveness of enterprises in the medium term (until 2025). Practical value / implications. The results of the study can be used for (i) identification of reserves for increasing sustainable competitiveness; (ii) estimation and forecasting the level of competitiveness of agricultural enterprises; (iii) assessment of the relative level of effectiveness of the management of formation of competitiveness.
PDF
