FACTORS OF SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVENESS AT COMPANY LEVEL: A COMPARISON OF FOUR GLOBAL ECONOMIC SECTORS

Built on the premise that a company’s competitiveness is given by its robust financial performance and the strength of its position on the market, but only under conditions of sustainability, this study aims to investigate the key factors of company competitiveness while considering sustainability i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of business economics and management Vol. 24; no. 3; pp. 449 - 470
Main Authors Șerban, Radu-Alexandru, Mihaiu, Diana Marieta, Țichindelean, Mihai, Ogrean, Claudia, Herciu, Mihaela
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Vilnius Vilnius Gediminas Technical University 18.08.2023
Subjects
ANOVA
economic sectors
EFA
Efficiency
ESG scores
financial ratios
Global economy
Sustainability
sustainable competitiveness
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Summary:Built on the premise that a company’s competitiveness is given by its robust financial performance and the strength of its position on the market, but only under conditions of sustainability, this study aims to investigate the key factors of company competitiveness while considering sustainability issues. The two research objectives were: (1) to identify and analyze the key factors of sustainable competitiveness at company level (2) to find sector-related discrepancies regarding the identified factors. To achieve them, a horizontal analysis covering ten financial years (2012–2021) was performed on a sample of 1,449 companies from four global economic sectors (Consumer Cyclicals, Energy, Health Care, and Technology) – using Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and ANOVA. Nine factors (both financial and non-financial) were found: liquidity, profitability, revenue efficiency, inventory management efficiency, ESG performance, receivables management efficiency, R&D efficiency, book value, and market value. Of them, ESG performance has emerged as an independent factor based on non-financial variables, its introduction into the research model being one of the study’s novelties. Significant mean differences were found between the nine factors, depending on the sector, which allowed the ranking of sectors in terms of sustainable competitiveness, in descending order: Health Care, Technology, Consumer Cyclicals, and Energy.
ISSN:1611-1699
2029-4433
DOI:10.3846/jbem.2023.19478