Amir Khalilsanjani, Jonas Šaparauskas, Abdolreza Yazdani-Chamzini, Zenonas Turskis, Alireza Feyzbakhsh
{"title":"Developing a Model Based on Sustainable Development for Prioritizing Entrepreneurial Challenges Under a Competitive Environment","authors":"Amir Khalilsanjani, Jonas Šaparauskas, Abdolreza Yazdani-Chamzini, Zenonas Turskis, Alireza Feyzbakhsh","doi":"10.7441/joc.2021.03.05","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2021.03.05","url":null,"abstract":"In the post-recession period, the business environment in developing countries is still relatively undesirable. Based on the reports published, the number of closed entrepreneurs are significantly more than the number of those newly established. These statistics also reflect that the development of entrepreneurship faces several challenges. However, a strategic management program must be accurately conducted to effectively control entrepreneurial challenges based on the limitation of time and financial resources. On the other hand, the program should provide an appropriate opportunity for competitiveness by producing better quality goods and services successfully marketed to consumers. The aim of this paper is to propose a robust model with a high potential for evaluation of entrepreneurial challenges in order to identify and control the most critical ones. To achieve the aim, the most critical parameters should be identified to prevent wasting the resources. Likewise, the analytical network process (ANP) method, a branch of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) techniques, is a powerful tool that can consider all interrelationships and interdependencies between criteria. On the other hand, neutrosophic sets are among the most widespread approaches in coping with vagueness and unknown environment. The methodology employed in this paper uses a combination model based on ANP and neutrosophic sets using sustainable development indicators to prioritize the challenges of entrepreneurship. The results show that the proposed model has a high potential to provide a process for decision-making under a vague environment.","PeriodicalId":46971,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Competitiveness","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46414900","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How Do the Determinants of New Product Development Matter in the International Context? The Moderating Role of Learning Orientation","authors":"Michael Yao-Ping Peng, Lijin Shao","doi":"10.7441/joc.2021.03.08","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2021.03.08","url":null,"abstract":"New product development provides a resource for enterprises to gain competitiveness, especially for enterprises that are exploring the international market. It is necessary to understand how the strategic behaviors, cultures, and capabilities of international enterprises are critical factors in improving innovation and new product development. From an external perspective this study argues that firms can facilitate the development of dynamic internationalization capabilities through knowledge acquisition in the organizational learning literature via social networks. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship among relational embeddedness, export market orientation, dynamic internationalization capability and new product development, as well as the moderating effect of learning orientation. This study empirically verifies its research framework from 217 Taiwanese internationalized enterprises. Partial least squares structural equation modeling is used to detect the relationships between the variables in the model. Many items must be taken into consideration regarding specific facet scales. Our research results confirm previous studies that indicate positive correlations between relational embeddedness and international exploration as well as export market orientation. The results also suggest that international exploration and international exploitation have positive effects on new product development. Learning orientation plays a moderating role in terms of the relationships among relational embeddedness, export market orientation, international exploration, international exploitation, and new product development. Based on the empirical results, research conclusions and theoretical implications are proposed.","PeriodicalId":46971,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Competitiveness","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47222920","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Technology Sharing and Competitiveness in a Stackelberg Model","authors":"Junlong Chen, Zihan Wei, Jiali Liu, Xiaosong Zheng","doi":"10.7441/joc.2021.03.01","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2021.03.01","url":null,"abstract":"The existing literature has made great achievements in technology sharing (licensing patents) contracts, which has defects in the selection of oligopoly models, the setting of innovation subjects, the consideration of product heterogeneity, and production costs. This paper aims to reveal the competitiveness strategies of leaders and followers for innovation, technology sharing, and sharing fees in a Stackelberg market. The three-stage sequential game method is used to achieve the objective. The results are as follows. First, whether an enterprise uses innovation or shares technology is related to the fixed cost of innovation, the return on innovation, and product differentiation. It will hinder innovation activities if the fixed cost of innovation is too high, the return on innovation is too low, or the products are too homogeneous. A relatively low return on innovation makes it possible for the two enterprises to engage in sharing. However, with a relatively high return on innovation, only a high level of product differentiation can ensure technology sharing. Second, the optimal sharing fee is dynamic, showing an upward and then downward trend as the return on innovation grows. Product differentiation has an uncertain impact on the cost. Third, either the leader or the follower is likely to be the optimal bearer of social responsibility depending on the returns on innovation and product differentiation. This study has theoretical significance for optimizing technology-sharing decisions, improving competitiveness for enterprises, and formulating effective industrial policy for the government. And it provides some practical guidance for competition and cooperation between enterprises with technological innovation behavior.","PeriodicalId":46971,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Competitiveness","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43606997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Škare, Małgorzata Porada-Rochoń, Saša Stjepanović
{"title":"Testing for Convergence in Competitiveness and Growth in Selected Economies from 1994 to 2020","authors":"M. Škare, Małgorzata Porada-Rochoń, Saša Stjepanović","doi":"10.7441/joc.2021.03.09","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2021.03.09","url":null,"abstract":"Competitiveness on a small and large scale is necessary for growth. A definitive link between the level of competitiveness and growth has been difficult to prove. One of the primary objectives of economic planning is to promote price and exchange rate stability. Entrepreneurialism and productivity also increase the country’s export competitiveness. The aim of this study is to test for the convergence in competitiveness and convergence club existence in selected economies. No previous research had tested for convergence in competitiveness using a nonlinear timevarying factor model. This paper provides an overview on convergence in competitiveness and convergence clubs’ existence for 42 countries using quarterly data from 1994q1 to 2020q4 testing on competitiveness. Convergence log (t) test results show differences in competitiveness between classified convergence clubs. Russia, Brazil, and Turkey are the clubs (groups of countries) that show a transitional path (convergence in competitiveness) that differs entirely from the rest of the sample. Countries with more natural resources and exogenous monetary policies follow a unique development path to competitiveness. We find no evidence of divergence in countries within the clubs. However, we find a club (group of countries) following a clear divergence path from the other countries (Russia, Brazil, and Turkey). Our findings could potentially explain the increase in divergence in competitiveness across countries after the financial crisis of 2008.","PeriodicalId":46971,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Competitiveness","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46085100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Implementation of Voluntary Instruments by Czech Enterprises to Meet Sustainability and Competitive Growth","authors":"P. Vrabcová, H. Urbancová","doi":"10.7441/joc.2021.03.10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2021.03.10","url":null,"abstract":"A responsible business reflects the fundamental values of a society and is important for all enterprises. It can improve their economic, environmental, and social characteristics from a short- and long-term perspective through innovative products and services, new capabilities, and stakeholder involvement. This study aims to identify the common convergent factors of voluntary instruments in management systems to achieve sustainable business and competitive growth. There are several tools aimed at achieving sustainability and competitiveness, an important component of which is the subject of this study: the voluntary approach. To determine the key factors of this approach, we used the online questionnaire technique of data collection (n = 183). We also conducted exploratory analysis with factors estimated by the principal components and orthogonal rotation using the varimax method. Relevant driving forces are identified in the development of the business models of sustainability and competitiveness, including the integration of quality, environment and occupational safety and health management systems, the environmental profile of the organisation for economic and social affairs, voluntary reporting of environmental activities, and evaluation of environmental impacts. These factors make a significant contribution towards improving environmental sustainability while ensuring competitive business. The ability to move quickly and successfully to these business models is an important source of sustainable competitive advantage.","PeriodicalId":46971,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Competitiveness","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48534541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zdenka Musová, H. Musa, Jennifer Drugdová, G. Lazaroiu, Jehad Alayasa
{"title":"Consumer Attitudes Towards New Circular Models in the Fashion Industry","authors":"Zdenka Musová, H. Musa, Jennifer Drugdová, G. Lazaroiu, Jehad Alayasa","doi":"10.7441/joc.2021.03.07","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2021.03.07","url":null,"abstract":"The fashion industry ranks among the most resource-intensive and environment-polluting industries. Circularity has been discussed as a solution to these problems. However, the transition towards a circular economy (CE) requires fundamental changes in the behavior and actions of all market entities. Consumer interest in sustainability and circularity can stimulate businesses to become more responsible and to offer circular solutions, and thus create a significant competitive advantage for these firms in a globalized market. This paper examines consumer attitudes towards the new circular models in the fashion industry (e.g. slow fashion, swapping, clothes rent, etc.). Consumer knowledge of these models, consumer willingness to support them as well as a correlation to selected demographic characteristics will be described along with consumer attitudes towards textile products made of waste and recycled material. Results will be introduced from a questionnaire survey carried out in October and November 2019 using the sample of 468 respondents in Slovakia. The obtained data were evaluated using statistical methods (Pearson Chi-Square, Wilcoxon test, Spearman’s correlation coefficient). While generally a low awareness of Slovak consumers of new models in the fashion industry was confirmed, the willingness of consumers to engage and support circular solutions was shown, especially among the younger generations. These results show that businesses that react to consumer expectations regarding circularity by offering products and services with environmental benefits may increase their competitiveness.","PeriodicalId":46971,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Competitiveness","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44837058","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Impact of Financial Innovation Investment Support on SME Competitiveness","authors":"A. Lewandowska, Y. Bilan, Grzegorz Mentel","doi":"10.7441/joc.2021.03.06","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2021.03.06","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines financial support (especially EU Structural Funds as the main tool of cohesion policy) for investments as a lever for the development of SME innovativeness in Poland. The European Commission strongly stresses the importance of their cohesion policy and support for SMEs. European enterprises have suffered significantly from the credit crunch, and the situation could worsen as banks engage in restructuring to eliminate impaired assets from their balance sheets. Supporting SMEs and promoting entrepreneurship is essential for economic development and competitiveness, especially in less developed regions. The main aim of this study is to establish the impact of financial support for investments, especially from EU Structural Funds, on SME competitiveness in Poland. We have analyzed empirically the data drawn from CATI carried out among 805 firms. We have learned how SMEs assess the financial support from different sources along with the resulting impact on the competitiveness of SMEs. The main statistical test for relationships and dependencies was the chi-square independence test and Cramer’s V. The results of our research show that SMEs have not used financial support efficiently. Moreover, micro-enterprises were shown to be the least effective after receiving financial support from EU funds. This support often has a demand-driven effect, but it does not improve firm competitiveness.","PeriodicalId":46971,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Competitiveness","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44382463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
B. Gavurová, Andrej Přívara, Jana Janikova, Viliam Kováč
{"title":"Quantification of Tourism Sector Parameters Related to Competitiveness of Countries According to Macroeconomic Indicators","authors":"B. Gavurová, Andrej Přívara, Jana Janikova, Viliam Kováč","doi":"10.7441/joc.2021.03.04","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2021.03.04","url":null,"abstract":"The paper investigates the relations of the macroeconomic indicators related to the competitiveness of the tourism sector among the explored countries. The tourism sector plays an important role with the purpose of contributing to the economy of each country and, thus, its competitiveness among the other countries. The fundamental aim of the paper is to investigate the relations between the macroeconomic indicators related to tourism and their influence on the economy of the countries. The data set comprises the eight macroeconomic indicators, of which the four ones are related to the gross domestic product, the two ones to employment, the penultimate one to investment, and the last one to expenditure. The observed period covers the years 1995 to 2019. The Euclidean distance is employed to evaluate the similarity of the countries and the cluster analysis to group them successively. There are several patterns visible in the analysis outcome. Firstly, the countries that behave differently for both groups of the indicators with Mexico at the top position. Secondly, the countries with considerable change throughout the observed period where Greece stands at the most extreme position for the gross domestic product indicators and Hungary in the case of the other economic indicators. Thirdly, Chile remains at the evenest position throughout the whole explored period for the first group of the indicators and the United States for the second group of the indicators. Finally, Australia has almost the same development for both groups at the evenest tendency.","PeriodicalId":46971,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Competitiveness","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46516648","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Human and Cobot Cooperation Ethics: The Process Management Concept of the Production Workplace","authors":"F. Chromjaková, D. Trentesaux, M. Kwarteng","doi":"10.7441/joc.2021.03.02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2021.03.02","url":null,"abstract":"The competitiveness of modern companies depends today on the ability to implement digitised technologies into production processes in human-friendly ways. The aim of this paper is to analyse ethical aspects of human-cobot cooperation in industrial production and to design a process standard aimed at ensuring an ethically stable cooperative workplace. The scientific contribution of this study lies in the identification and definition of standardized parameters of the ethics of the production process in the workplace. Based on the analysis of cooperative workplaces in 250 industrial companies, a code of ethics has been defined, i.e. a process standard that determines the navigation of the design by selected optimization criteria necessary for setting up a hybrid workplace defined as human and cobot (collaborative robot) with the support of digitised technologies. In the presented results and the final discussion attention is devoted to the need to radically change the philosophy of workplace standardization in the sense of equal access to workload settings by humans and robots. In the process of standardization, it is necessary to consider the difference in the standardization of human jobs and cobot jobs: the thinking process. In modern industrial companies the need has arisen to create working standards that take into account the adaptive ability of cobots and adapt the cobots’ workflow to human needs concerning performance and productivity. The presented results include recommendations for industrial companies to develop an ethical and stable production workplace based on an adequately defined form of cooperation.","PeriodicalId":46971,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Competitiveness","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48854424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P. Durana, R. Ginevičius, M. Urbański, Ivana Podhorska, M. Tumpach
{"title":"Parallels and Differences in Earnings Management of the Visegrad Four and the Baltics","authors":"P. Durana, R. Ginevičius, M. Urbański, Ivana Podhorska, M. Tumpach","doi":"10.7441/joc.2021.03.03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2021.03.03","url":null,"abstract":"Earnings management is a legal and widely preferred phenomenon of business finance that financial managers use to maintain and improve the enterprise’s competitiveness. Managers purposely manipulate business earnings to achieve the required status of the enterprise. The consequence of these activities is to provide a positive perspective for the owners, encourage the profitability for the creditor and the investors as well as demonstrate economic strengths to competitors. This article aims to identify parallels and differences in earnings management of enterprises in the Visegrad Four and the Baltics in terms of competitiveness for the nineyear period 2010-2018. The research uses a final sample of 4,543 observations from the EBITs of Slovak, Czech, Hungarian and Polish enterprises as well as 1,633 observations from the EBITs of Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian enterprises. Time-series methods with all necessary assumptions have been run for the analyzed financial dataset. The results of the econometric modeling of unit roots show significant parallels in these groups of countries. The enterprises from the Visegrad group and the Baltics group use the apparatus of earnings management to be competitive. The obtained results confirm the systematic but legal manipulation from the side of management. A quantitative analysis of homogeneity tests using 1,000,000 Monte Carlo simulations indicates significant time differences of manipulation in these emerging countries. The year 2014 signaled a radical “accelerando” in earnings management for the V4, and the year 2016 is highlighted for the Baltics.","PeriodicalId":46971,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Competitiveness","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42142628","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}