What does ’’competitiveness’’ mean at the country level? How can it be defined and measured?
What does ’’competitiveness’’ mean at the country level? How can it be defined and measured?
“Take someone who doesn 't keep score, who 's not looking to be richer, or afraid of losing, who has not the slightest interest even in his own personality: he 's free.” Maybe Rumi (Persian poet born in 13th century) was right, maybe the key to true freedom and probably to happiness is to stop trying to be the best, stop competing with each other. But the feeling of competitiveness has existed in man since the beginning of his history. The continuing effort for predominance and higher performance shape our society as we know it today. The following essay examines the concept of competitiveness, not at an individual, but at a country level. If that concept actually exists, how can it be defined and how can it be measured?
But as the above concept is fairly complex I will start by trying to yield the concept of competitiveness at company level first.
There are many definitions of firm competitiveness. The Industrial organization school notes that a company acquires competitive advantage when it responses effectively to the pressure imposed by the industry .Porter believes that location is considered a very important factor of being competitive. He explains: ‘’A firm located in a certain industrial cluster is likely to benefit from being part of a network for its resources, revenues, and trade related information’’ .For example, a store that is located inside a mall is more likely to have higher sales than an isolated store. Barney and Peteraf shift the focus from the profits and the outputs of a firm, as crucial factors to its competitiveness, to the input of this firm. Barney believes that if the company possesses rare and valuable resources, it is likely to have competitive advantage. For example, oil companies. Peteraf elucidates this point, explaining that a company has a larger possibility of being competitive if it possesses heterogeneous and imperfectly
“Take someone who doesn 't keep score, who 's not looking to be richer, or afraid of losing, who has not the slightest interest even in his own personality: he 's free.” Maybe Rumi (Persian poet born in 13th century) was right, maybe the key to true freedom and probably to happiness is to stop trying to be the best, stop competing with each other. But the feeling of competitiveness has existed in man since the beginning of his history. The continuing effort for predominance and higher performance shape our society as we know it today. The following essay examines the concept of competitiveness, not at an individual, but at a country level. If that concept actually exists, how can it be defined and how can it be measured?
But as the above concept is fairly complex I will start by trying to yield the concept of competitiveness at company level first.
There are many definitions of firm competitiveness. The Industrial organization school notes that a company acquires competitive advantage when it responses effectively to the pressure imposed by the industry .Porter believes that location is considered a very important factor of being competitive. He explains: ‘’A firm located in a certain industrial cluster is likely to benefit from being part of a network for its resources, revenues, and trade related information’’ .For example, a store that is located inside a mall is more likely to have higher sales than an isolated store. Barney and Peteraf shift the focus from the profits and the outputs of a firm, as crucial factors to its competitiveness, to the input of this firm. Barney believes that if the company possesses rare and valuable resources, it is likely to have competitive advantage. For example, oil companies. Peteraf elucidates this point, explaining that a company has a larger possibility of being competitive if it possesses heterogeneous and imperfectly
References: Chandrashekhar, G. R. 1. (2013). unraveling firm competitiveness: An evolutionary perspective .Advances in Competitiveness Research, 21(1/2), p5-13. Retrieved from http://www.dundee.ac.uk/library/ Collignon, S Delgado Ketels Porter Stern, M. C. M. S. (2012, July).The determinants of national competitiveness. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w18249 Garelli, S Herring, M. (2010, Aug 5th). Industrial policy is back in fashion. have governments learned from past failures?. The Economist. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/16741043 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook , ( Krugman, P. (1996). Pop internationalism. (pp. 3-25). London: The MIT Press. Mayer Ottaviano, T. G. (2007). The happy few: the internationalisation of european firms.new facts based on firm-level evidence. (Vol. 3, pp. 8-29). Brussels: BRUEGEL BLUEPRINT SERIES. McKinsey Company Porter Stern, M. S. (2001). Innovation: Location matters. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved from http://ibr.hi.is/sites/ibr.hi.is/files/out.pdf Porter, M Yanyan Zhibiao Shunfeng Jianghuai, G. L. S. Z. (2013). Technological capacity, product position, and firm competitiveness. Chinese Economy, 46(1), P55-74. . Retrieved from http://www.dundee.ac.uk/library/2012) Words:2832