Measuring competitiveness through the global competitiveness project framework: the Brazilian experience

Author(s):  
Linda Jessica De Montreuil Carmona ◽  
Giancarlo Gomes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to validate the global competitiveness project (GCP) framework in the Brazilian context; second, to describe the competitiveness levels on a sample of Brazilian firms, searching for heterogeneities of size, age and industry. Design/methodology/approach The study used the theoretical-empirical GCP framework, comprising the dimensions: human capital, product, domestic market, networks, technology, decision-making, competitive strategy, marketing, internationalization and online presence (Lafuente, Szerb and Rideg, 2016; Lafuente et al., 2019) and applied descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and cluster analysis, on a survey data set of 55 Brazilian firms from different sizes, ages and industries. Findings The GCP framework was found robust, reliable and useful in emerging economies as the Brazilian. Three clusters of competitiveness were identified. Heterogeneities were detected in knowledge-intensive business services results. This work allows a better understanding of competitiveness through the identification and measurement of dimensions, which can help managers to identify/audit capacities to plan/improve firm performance. Practical implications Findings may support managers to identify, estimate and manage their competitiveness pillars, and thus increase their competitiveness levels with a focus on strategic long-term goals. Originality/value This paper contributes to knowledge production in two ways: to the validation of the framework in the Brazilian scenario and the understanding of the dynamics of competitiveness of firms.

Author(s):  
Jorge Moreno-Gómez ◽  
Diana Escandón-Charris ◽  
Ana Moreno-Charris ◽  
Luis Zapata-Upegui

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of the process innovation on export propensity in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) firms and non-KIBS firms in Colombia. Design/methodology/approach For the empirical application, the authors use a unique primary data set drawn from the Global Competitiveness Project (GCP: www.gcp.org) that includes information for 57 Colombian KIBS for 2019. The authors use a binary choice model to test the proposed hypotheses on the relevance of KIBS and process innovation in explaining export propensity. Findings The results showed a positive relationship between KIBS and business size with an export propensity, but this relationship is non-meaningful. Also, the findings showed a negative and non-significant relationship between a process innovation and business age with the probability to export. On the other hand, the evidence state that KIBS firms encourage the relationship between propensity to export and process innovation, which is to say that they are highly effective to increase the propensity to export. Finally, the industry increases the probability of export propensity. Originality/value This study offers a new insight relating to KIBS, process innovation and their contribution to increasing export propensity. The findings of this paper offer relevant information to government policymakers to design strategies that promote export activity in Colombia.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 586-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajneesh Narula

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new theoretical framework called the “extended dual economy model”. Based on the seminal work of Lewis (2014), the author uses it to explain the sectoral specialisation of home countries and their firms and MNEs. Design/methodology/approach The paper is multi-disciplinary and entirely conceptual, with cool ideas but very few numbers and equations. Findings Emerging economies exhibit a “duality” in their economic structure that reflects itself in two largely different sets of location (L) characteristics. They are simultaneously home to both “traditional” sectors, which are resource and labour intensive, as well as “modern” sectors, which are knowledge and capital intensive, each of which can be analysed as having two sub-economies. These different sets of location advantages shape the firm-specific advantages of EMNEs and their FDI. Research limitations/implications This analysis helps to underline what shapes the ability of home countries to “emerge”, and the ability of their firms to grow and their MNEs to become internationally competitive. Few EMNEs can thrive in international markets without concurrent growth in their domestic markets. Maintaining the appropriate location assets to optimally support both types of sectors is costly. Each type of sub-economy requires different kinds of support sectors, infrastructure and policies, with little overlap. Weaknesses in its home country L advantages hinder the long-term competitiveness of their EMNEs. Practical implications Few EMNEs can thrive in international markets without concurrent growth in their domestic markets. Weaknesses in its home country L advantages hinder the long-term competitiveness of their EMNEs. Originality/value The extension of the Lewisian dual economy model allows a number of interesting new insights because it allows us to consider firms, non-firms, informality and the bottlenecks associated with promoting knowledge-intensive sectors in a globalised world. It emphasises structural change, and the need to manage pathways and effectively channel growth.


foresight ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Douglas Miles ◽  
Veronika Belousova ◽  
Nikolay Chichkanov

Purpose The substantial growth in literature on knowledge-intensive business services (KIBSs) has thrown light on their contributions to innovation and innovation systems. This paper is the first of a set that examines major debates and conclusions to have emerged from this growing body of evidence. Design/methodology/approach This is a review essay, which also presents relevant statistics. It addresses definitional issues and controversies, and sets out basic trends and characteristics of the KIBS industries. The focus is mainly on KIBS firms, though the production of similar services in other types of organisation is also considered. Findings Many of the conclusions of an earlier (2005) review in this journal remain valid, though difficulties in capturing these activities in official statistics mean that there are many issues that demand closer inspection. Understanding the role and future prospects of KIBS will also require looking beyond the literature that focuses just on KIBS industries. Research limitations/implications This study involves literature review and statistical analysis. Future work would benefit from involvement of practitioners and users of KIBS. Practical implications More explicit consideration of KIBS in statistical frameworks is still required, and novel approaches to data conceptualisation and production should be explored. Originality/value The growing literature on KIBS, and its implications for understanding the roles and future development of the firms and their relationships to innovation systems, requires systematic analysis. Available statistics have been brought together, and this paper also reflects critically on the trajectories of research on these topics.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gbemi Oladipo Olaore ◽  
Bimbo Onaolapo Adejare ◽  
Ekpenyong Ekpenyong Udofia

Purpose Betting games have become a global industry worth billions of dollars providing employment to millions and contributing to the gross domestic product (GDP) of several countries. While there are debates and controversies surrounding betting games discourse, a growing body of literature shows that it has been exacerbated by growing unemployment rates. This paper aims to examine the nexus between the increasing involvement of youth in betting games and unemployment from the Nigerian perspective. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts simple random and stratified sampling techniques to select participants for the study. Three hypotheses were tested for this study and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses. Findings The three hypotheses tested in this study were coined from previous literature. The study established a direct link between technology advancement, promises of winning big coupled with bonuses while unemployment was not significant to youth involvement in betting games. The study also showed that playing betting games provides another source of income to the youth, who are already engaged in one form of work or another. Finally, youth involvement in betting games has created awareness regarding different sports in the world, while contributing to Nigeria’s economy. Practical implications As betting games centre as a business in Nigeria has contributed substantially and positively to unemployment in Nigeria; the Government of Nigeria are encouraged to streamline and regulate the activities of the sector such that they can contribute significantly to the country GDP and provide employment opportunities to the youths. Originality/value The research shows that the reason why betting games have a massive turnaround of youths in Nigeria is not majorly because of unemployment but as another means to a substantial financial individual/family income. Thus, Nigerian youths see betting games as an avenue to make more money. The study is the first of its kind to examine the nexus between betting games, technology and unemployment hence, its contribution to knowledge.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-303
Author(s):  
Marta Mori ◽  
Ronan McDermott ◽  
Saut Sagala ◽  
Yasmina Wulandari

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how culture, including traditions and social structures, can influence resilience and how culturally sensitive relief operations can put affected people and their context at the core of any interventions. Design/methodology/approach A case study of the Mt Sinabung volcano area in Indonesia was undertaken. As part of the case study, an analysis of interventions was conducted, which was complemented by semi-structured interviews with Karo cultural experts and humanitarian organisations. Findings Culture influences the manner in which the Karo people react to volcano eruptions with varying implications for recovery. In addition, relief organisations which understand people’s actions through a cultural lens have better managed to tailor programs with long-term impact, thereby avoiding aid dependency. Practical implications Practical examples of disaster management activities that adequately account for the beneficiaries’ way of living prior to the eruptions are provided. Aid actors are provided with guidance concerning how to better tailor their activities in line with a cultural lens. Originality/value The study provides empirical grounding for claims concerning the role of culture in planning interventions in Indonesia and other similar contexts.


2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 809-823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Seiberling ◽  
Simone Kauffeld

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to seek a better understanding of the role of volition in the learning transfer system beyond the well-established concept of motivation to transfer. Design/methodology/approach Participants of a two-day leadership training were asked to complete two online questionnaires (t1 directly after training, t2 eight weeks after training). In total, 891 managers answered the first questionnaire, 465 the second. Findings Confirmatory factor analysis suggests that motivation and volition to transfer are perceived as two different constructs. Hierarchical linear regression shows that additional variance in training transfer can be explained when volition to transfer is taken into account. Structural equation models and bootstrap analysis suggest that both motivation and volition to transfer mediate effects of supervisor support and trainer performance on training transfer. Research limitations/implications The results imply that besides motivation to transfer, volition to transfer may be a relevant construct in the transfer of training. It remains to be tested how far these findings can be generalized to other training settings beside leadership trainings. Practical implications Organizations aiming at improving training transfer should focus on enhancing the participants’ motivation and volition to transfer. Both trainers and supervisors seem to promote transfer of training by influencing a trainee’s motivation to transfer and volition to transfer. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to systematically examine the role of volition in training transfer.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mojtaba Maghrebi ◽  
Ali Shamsoddini ◽  
S. Travis Waller

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to predict the concrete pouring production rate by considering both construction and supply parameters, and by using a more stable learning method. Design/methodology/approach Unlike similar approaches, this paper considers not only construction site parameters, but also supply chain parameters. Machine learner fusion-regression (MLF-R) is used to predict the production rate of concrete pouring tasks. Findings MLF-R is used on a field database including 2,600 deliveries to 507 different locations. The proposed data set and the results are compared with ANN-Gaussian, ANN-Sigmoid and Adaboost.R2 (ANN-Gaussian). The results show better performance of MLF-R obtaining the least root mean square error (RMSE) compared with other methods. Moreover, the RMSEs derived from the predictions by MLF-R in some trials had the least standard deviation, indicating the stability of this approach among similar used approaches. Practical implications The size of the database used in this study is much larger than the size of databases used in previous studies. It helps authors draw their conclusions more confidently and introduce more generalised models that can be used in the ready-mixed concrete industry. Originality/value Introducing a more stable learning method for predicting the concrete pouring production rate helps not only construction parameters, but also traffic and supply chain parameters.


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-74
Author(s):  
Yufeng Ma ◽  
Long Xia ◽  
Wenqi Shen ◽  
Mi Zhou ◽  
Weiguo Fan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is automatic classification of TV series reviews based on generic categories. Design/methodology/approach What the authors mainly applied is using surrogate instead of specific roles or actors’ name in reviews to make reviews more generic. Besides, feature selection techniques and different kinds of classifiers are incorporated. Findings With roles’ and actors’ names replaced by generic tags, the experimental result showed that it can generalize well to agnostic TV series as compared with reviews keeping the original names. Research limitations/implications The model presented in this paper must be built on top of an already existed knowledge base like Baidu Encyclopedia. Such database takes lots of work. Practical implications Like in digital information supply chain, if reviews are part of the information to be transported or exchanged, then the model presented in this paper can help automatically identify individual review according to different requirements and help the information sharing. Originality/value One originality is that the authors proposed the surrogate-based approach to make reviews more generic. Besides, they also built a review data set of hot Chinese TV series, which includes eight generic category labels for each review.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Domenico Campisi ◽  
Paolo Mancuso ◽  
Stefano Luigi Mastrodonato ◽  
Donato Morea

PurposeThis paper aims to provide an analysis of the productivity evolution of a sample of 18,459 knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) firms operating in Italy over the period 2012–2018. The interaction between productivity heterogeneity firm localization and firm sector of business are also analyzed.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical setting is based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure the multifactor productivity index (MPI) and on the multilevel models to investigate if the source of productivity heterogeneity among the Italian KIBS are due to the geographic location and/or to the specific business sectors in which firms operate. Data have been gathered from the AIDA database, which contains financial data of all Italian firms.FindingsThe empirical results show that MPI heterogeneity in the Italian KIBS firms' is sensitive to the regional context in which firms operate to the specific KIBS sector and above all at the interactions arising between region and sector.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to identify the source of productivity dispersion in the Italian KIBS.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xujia Wang ◽  
Billy Sung ◽  
Ian Phau

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate how exclusivity and rarity (natural versus virtual) influence consumers' perceptions of luxury. Further, it examines whether exclusivity and rarity can function as distinct marketing strategies in today's luxury market environment.Design/methodology/approachOnline questionnaires were administered by adapting developed scales from prior research. Research stimuli were chosen from three luxury categories including bags, wine and cruise. Confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regressions were used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results confirmed that exclusivity, natural rarity and virtual rarity were perceived as relatively distinct constructs among our sample. Findings also highlighted that perceived natural rarity (PNR) has consistently emerged as a positive and significant contributor to consumers' perceptions of luxury across all three luxury categories. The influence of perceived exclusivity (PE) on perceptions of luxury has also shown to be significant for two product categories (luxury bag and luxury wine), whereas perceived virtual rarity (PVR) did not show any significant effects across all three categories.Practical implicationsThe results indicate that consumers perceive natural rarity, virtual rarity and exclusivity as relatively distinctive marketing strategies. This suggests that luxury businesses can adopt each strategy independently to achieve desired marketing outcomes.Originality/valueThis study offers theoretical support for the proposition that exclusivity and rarity may have different functions in luxury marketing implementations. It provides empirical evidence showing the distinctiveness of perceived exclusivity and perceived rarity, which have not be done in previous research.


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