The authoress aims to identify the state of competitiveness of the Polish fruit and vegetables sector in comparison to the European Union countries, especially taking into account the new member states. The production potential and trade in fresh and processed fruit and vegetables were analyzed. The analysis of competitiveness was made on the basis of selected market and trade indicators, labour productivity and average turnover of processing enterprises. The determinants of competitiveness of Polish horticulture were also discussed
Membership of the European Union has a many-sided influence on the operation of the agricultural sector and rural community in Poland. The most significant changes stem from inclusion in the uniform market and subordination to the common agricultural policy. Owing to the substantial and not fully utilised competitive potential of Polish agriculture the reforms implemented so far, which separate support for agricultural incomes from decisions concerning production, have strengthened the sector's position on the common market. Although the intervention system applied within the common organisation of markets has not proved effective in all the segments its general assessment is positive. Consecutive reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy are not only a chance for its adjustment to the specific expectations of Poland but also a challenge - it is necessary to constantly improve effectiveness in promoting Polish goals in this process.
Representatives of the European Union as well as particular countries realize that quality has become a decisive factor of competitiveness. Therefore, they intensively support the care for quality at the micro-economic level. It is provided through corporate quality management systems. It is a tool allowing companies to grow constantly through suitable application of modern methods applicable in the corporate management. One of the methods contributing to increasing the quality provided as well as to efficiency of actual processes is the Quick Response method. It is an approach enabling to increase the speed of response to the customers' demands, with reasonable costs spent. Implementation of this method should contribute to fulfilling the basic principles of the quality management and higher competitiveness of the company
In the paper, the results of research into the competitiveness of Hungary's economy in 1995-2002 were presented. The competitiveness of the economy was determined on the level of the manufacturing sector with special regard to the impact of foreign direct investment on the automotive industry and the electrical and optical appliance industry. The above industries that in the 1990s had enjoyed priority governmental support in the form of investment incentives, showed the strongest penetration by the foreign capital. The foreign direct investment (FDI) companies established in these industries made the quickest adaptive structural transformations in the sphere of production and marketing, increased the export volume and decidedly improved the quality of their product offer, thus integrating Hungary into the European production and sales chain. This has been not without influence on the profitability of the FDI companies in the above industries. Thus, the adaptability of the Hungarian economy and its sales and profit making capability in the industries under review have proved to be high, thanks to the foreign direct investment companies. However, at the same time the economy's capability of attracting foreign investment has been considerably weakening, as the volume of foreign investment in the manufacturing sector has been approaching the limit of this sector's absorption capability.
Corporate reengineering with its philosophy of 'process management' qualitatively evaluates effectiveness and efficiency of recent business structure processes. It is valid not only for the company itself but also for its particular outlets (plants, subsidiaries, workshops, operating units, etc.). The article gives reasons for the use of particular methodology, application of methodology of well-known consulting firms such as Andersen Consulting, Bain, BCG (Boston Consultancy Group) and McKinsey & Company. The aim of this paper is to compare reengineering methodologies of selected consulting companies and institutions from abroad and Slovakia and to stress advantages of their methodology and possibilities of its application in Slovak firms in order to increase their competitiveness.
Logistics tasks have accompanied human beings sińce the beginning of time - the only thing that has changed is the perception of those tasks. In the market economy most companies face the problems of competitiveness. Companies compete with one another in order to hold the position of the strongest player on the market, achieve a better position and gain comfortable profit. In the competitive battle the tools and techniques of logistics that contribute to the improvement of the competitive position of a company, are of prime importance.
Nowadays, the concept of competitiveness has been become modern usage in some measure, used and accepted by broad public. Definition and explanation of this term is not simple and unambiguous as well. During the 90´s a lot of types of development zones entrenched in the Czech Republic area and became economic and social phenomenon of today. The main objective of this contribution is to analyse and assess competitiveness of development zones on the basis of regional-economic approach. The authors take advantage of both hard statistical data and information based on quality with emphasis on modern behavioural concept of classical localization theory.
The problem of the Polish economy is low factor competitiveness. The businesses are commonly believed to be of great importance in creating competitive economy, whereas the aims of businesses are greatly regulated by consumers. Consumers, being the least significant yet the most numerous section of economy, are the entity which both entrepreneurs and different business groups must recognize. New conditions and socio-economical phenomena, resulting from the process of transformation of the Polish economy, show distinctive growth of importance of market consumption. The lack of relatively solid and harmonized attitudes in mutual exchange of economic subjects on goods and tangible and intangible services market on the one hand and the lack of them on the employment and financial markets on the other hand do not condition creating a stable and homogenous system of behaviour in a widely conceived intra-economical cooperation. Not downgrading the role of businesses in building competitive economy it may be argued that consumers, through their participation in widely conceived market game (social), initiate the processes shaping directly and indirectly the (present and future) competitive capability of economy.
This article presents a thorough analysis of the concept of virtual organisation, allowing an examination of the virtualisation process to be carried out in a comprehensive manner while also taking into account its complexity and multidimensionality. The methodology for measuring the level of organisational virtualness has been effectively applied to a wide range of businesses, both large and small, representing the traditional and high-technology sectors. Statistical analysis confirmed that virtualisation has a positive impact on a company’s competitiveness. The results and conclusions of the examination provide a new perspective for the scientific exploration of virtual organisation, and form a starting point for future studies in this area of research.
The article uses triangulation of methods, meaning the combination of quantitative analysis of official statistical data with own qualitative analyses. The condition and dynamics of the Polish fruit and vegetable sector were analysed and results of qualitative studies on competitiveness of selected companies from the sector were presented. The resources and competence, forms of competition and rivalry of selected companies from the sector were evaluated. The entrepreneurs' opinions concerning the domestic and export markets were analysed using descriptive measures of qualitative features interrelations. The concurrence of entrepreneurs' opinions demonstrated the convergence of market conditions at home and abroad. However, the entrepreneurs assessed that their position on foreign markets as being relatively weaker than on the domestic market. The weaker position of analysed enterprises on foreign markets results from low level of concentration of the companies from the fruit and vegetable processing sector and their relatively low innovativeness.
The main aim of this paper is to characterize the circumstances under which high economic growth, that was achieved in 2005, was reflected in the different segments of the supply side of the economy. The paper analyzes the development of GDP from the perspective of its branches, trends in the development of the main branches, changes in the financial positions of corporations. The last part of the paper focuses on the dynamics of the Slovak foreign trade, especially the changes in the technological competitiveness of this sector.
Slovak accession to the European Union presented a challenge connected with deep structural changes in the Slovak economy including analysing food industry and its three processing branches - dairy, meat and poultry industry. The integration into the single European market has brought many advantages and opportunities to Slovak businesses, but simultaneously it has brought an increased competition as well. The main aim of this article is to diagnose the conception of the competitiveness at the food industry level and consequently to formulate some recommendations for the company practice with the aim to preserve and strengthen its competitiveness in the period of Slovak accession to the EU.
The objective of this paper is to contribute to the explanation of globalization's impact on the decisive changes in the structure of the competitiveness relations and based on this, to argue for a need of a new understanding of the competitiveness. The main issue is to identify the basic areas in which processes determining the character of globalization - and thus also character of the changes in structure of the competitiveness relations and criterions of competitiveness - are formed and progressing. The identification involves multilevel net of a global competitiveness, shifts in role of state and multidimensional character of a competitiveness. Based on this identification, the framework of the global competitiveness strategy is being outlined.
This paper is devoted to the problems of the transformation of the enterprise sphere in the SR. It concentrates on three fundamental problems which are: the course of the transformational process of the enterprise in the SR, competitiveness of the Slovak enterprises and the transformation in the sectors of the national economy. The transformational process of the enterprise sphere is unprecedented and spontaneous succession of the procedures resulting in the change of the enterprise behaviour of the market subject. The aim of this process is the increase of the competitiveness. Very important role in the transformation of the enterprises has the business environment.
The paper analyzes the need to invest in human capital in order to increase firm competitiveness. Considered based on the benefits of investing in human capital for the three main stakeholders: employees, businesses and the state. The dynamics of investing financial resources in human capital Ukrainian enterprises and the main deterrents of investment growth. Also stipulates that domestic enterprises are reducing costs by budget, primarily due to savings in staff costs. In particular, the low level of domestic enterprises investing in human capital due to the following reasons: lack of available funds in enterprises, inefficient incentives from the government to businesses, understanding the leadership necessary for such measures. Also, the article analyzes the main achievements of developed countries in the field of labor stimulating growth potential.
Competition is a way of coordinating the market, whereas competitiveness is an asset in the rivalry between companies. All market players benefit from competition. On the demand side of the market, consumers receive a product that can better satisfy their needs. On the supply side, competitive conditions of economic environment force enterprises to enhance their economic activity (stimulation effect) as well as to develop cooperation based on specialisation (specialisation effect). Tangible benefits of competition are also expected as a result of intensification of the effect of production scale (optimalisation effect). Competitiveness is a notion that estimates the behaviour of the participants of market competition, mostly from the point of view of the results of their activities and their capability to generate a financial surplus (or other benefits). With regard to the competitiveness of the Polish economy, we can observe a steady improvement in its competitive position. However, the pace of change is far from satisfactory. There are still numerous segments whose prospects are not optimistic. These include, for example, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, innovativeness or the efficiency of economic environment institutions. In order to assess the chances of boosting the competitiveness of the Polish economy one must determine the relevant factors of economic growth. It seems that more weight should be given to direct factors affecting the dynamics of growth processes. It is the efficiency of human capital that determines what, how and where will be manufactured and in what proportions economic effects will be distributed. We should search for factors which determine the growth dynamics of the competitiveness of economic aggregates (enterprises, economic branches) in the long term.
This study focuses on higher education and attempts evaluate the competitive potential of higher education institutions of Podlasie against other participants in the Polish education market. These days one can observe increasing efforts on the part of higher education institutions to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. In order to successfully compete against numerous educational institutions, universities have to undertake steps to raise their level of competitiveness. A key role in this process is played by the human capital of higher education institutions, particularly the quality of academic staff. Academic teachers are a driving force of higher education, but they are not readily available. Raising the qualifications of academic staff is determined by a number of factors, which are also crucial for the competitive position of educational institutions. This is clearly observable in Podlaskie Voivodeship, whose universities, apart from having to ensure a suitable number of highly-qualified staff, are also forced to strive to maintain their competitive edge over institutions from other regions. The paper also discusses the role that higher education plays in the economy as a whole. Moreover, the author indicates the consequences of inadequate financing of higher education institutions.
Facing the globalized and increasingly competitive environment, the manufacturing sector of each economy is forced to its own continual competitiveness growth. Along with the intensifying competitiveness more attention is given to the industrial policy measures assigned to enhance the performance of the domestic firms. The raising attention to the European industrial policy could be connected with the problems linked to de-industrialisation and to the fears of de-localization (the European Union's manufacturing base moving out of Europe) as well. The first part of the presented article analyses the relationship between industrial policy and competitiveness. The following two parts are focusing on EU industrial policy, its development and the latest trends.
In the article describes of innovations is investigational, going is distinguished near their determination and classification, and also direct dependence is reasonable between innovations and competitiveness.
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