ANALYSIS OF COMPETITIVENESS OF LATVIAN ENTERPRISES

Year 2012, Volume: 4 Issue: 1, 191 - 200, 01.06.2012

Zarina Vita Strele Iveta Fogelmanis Kaspars Vanags Andris

Abstract

Competitiveness of enterprises is one of business and national economic growth
factors. Business theories which imply gathered business experience in a range of
countries and across different time periods do not make it clear why some
enterprise always would be more competitive over some other. Competitiveness
of enterprises is exposed to particular factors as much as to combined factors
which depend on further range of other factors such as external environment,
time, and also luck. Competitiveness is hard to define, yet it is also difficult to
measure: as it is known, the know-how having brought success to some company
might not be that useful to other companies due to various additional influential
aspects. Nevertheless, business researches conducted in different countries have
identified a set of factors affecting competitiveness of enterprises.
The objective of the study is to identify the most significant factors to ensure
competitiveness of Latvian enterprises, based on survey data of 530 various
business managers.
The work task is to analyse theoretical justification of competitiveness; to assess
competitiveness in Latvian enterprises; to analyse the obtained results.
The study addresses and analyses availability and usage efficiency of resources
including human resources, tangible resources, and financial resources, business
strategies, internal and external communication networks, external environment
effect on competitiveness, and comparison of financial performance among
companies.
The study applies monographic method, survey and graphical methods.

Keywords

competitiveness, efficiency, external and internal environment, innovations, price leadership.

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