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This paper aims to examine the competitiveness trends and rankings of the Irish dairy sector at the farm and trade levels, relative to selected European Union (EU) Member States, in the context of the removal of the EU milk quota in 2015.

Competitiveness indicators including partial productivity measures and accountancy-based indicators were used for farm competitiveness, and net export market share and normalised revealed comparative advantage (NRCA) were used for export competitiveness.

Amongst the countries examined, Ireland had the highest growth in partial productivity indicators and was ranked first with the lowest total costs and cash costs per kg of milk solids post-quota. However, the total economic cost sub-components showed that Irish dairy farmers had high opportunity costs for owned land and labour. While Irish dairy products such as butter and powders have demonstrated growth potential in competitiveness post-quota with Irish butter and whey ranked in top three relative to other countries, other products, i.e. cheese and liquid milk have declined in competitiveness according to key export competitiveness indicators used.

The challenge for Irish dairy farmers is how to mitigate relatively high land and labour costs, which can limit farm competitiveness in the long run. The key players in the Irish dairy industry can now better position themselves in the global dairy market, recognizing the competitiveness dynamics of the different dairy products and their competitors. Policy implications and further areas of research have been identified to help improve the overall competitiveness position. It is surprising that Irish butter is a leader in the EU, yet not much research has been done to understand the market dynamics of this sector.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to use both farm and export competitiveness measures to analyse the Irish dairy industry relative to other countries in the context of quota abolition. Unlike previous studies on dairy export competitiveness, this study has disaggregated the processed dairy products, which allowed for the ranking of countries and comparability across countries using NRCA.

The agribusiness sector has long been acknowledged as a major source of livelihood to many people in developing countries. Hence, determining the resources and capabilities influencing farm-level competitive advantage are vital to better understand and formulate appropriate strategies to increase the competitiveness ofminor export crops farms. This study aims to understand of the link between resources-capabilities-competitive advantage for appropriate measures to be recommended to enhance the competitive position of the smallholding farms.

This study adopts the resource-based view in combination with dynamic capabilities. The scope comprises owners of farms who possess experience in commercial cultivation of minor export crops in Sri Lanka. A self-administrated structured questionnaire was used to collect data.

Based on the responses from 456 farm owners, results of the multiple regression analysis indicate that variables representing resources such as human assets, physical assets, financial assets, institutional capital, collective action and entrepreneurial identity; and dynamic capabilities such as organisational learning, relationship building, quality management and marketing are significantly associated with competitive advantage of the minor export crops farms. Reputation and farm process management capability are the only two insignificant variables. Taken together, the resources and dynamic capabilities investigated explain 89.3 per cent of the variation in competitive advantage, in which 82 per cent is contributed by resources.

The findings provide useful insights not only in terms of understanding the link between resources, dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage but also how resources and capabilities can be channelled and leveraged to bring about competitive advantage to the minor export crops farms. Theoretical and practical implications as well as future research directions are provided.

The objective of this study is to investigate how country risk, different political actions from the government and bureaucratic behavior influence the activities in industry supply chains (SCs) in emerging markets. The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of these external stakeholders’ elements to the demand-side and supply-side drivers and barriers for improving competitiveness of Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industry in the way of analyzing supply chain. Considering the phenomenon of recent change in the RMG business environment and the competitiveness issues this study uses the principles of stakeholder and resource dependence theory and aims to find out some factors which influence to make an efficient supply chain for improving competitiveness. The RMG industry of Bangladesh is the case application of this study. Following a positivist paradigm, this study adopts a two phase sequential mixed-method research design consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. Qualitative field study is then carried out to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. A survey is carried out with sample of top and middle level executives of different garment companies of Dhaka city in Bangladesh and the collected quantitative data are analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling. The findings support eight hypotheses. From the analysis the external stakeholders’ elements like bureaucratic behavior and country risk have significant influence to the barriers. From the internal stakeholders’ point of view the manufacturers’ and buyers’ drivers have significant influence on the competitiveness. Therefore, stakeholders need to take proper action to reduce the barriers and increase the drivers, as the drivers have positive influence to improve competitiveness.

This study has both theoretical and practical contributions. This study represents an important contribution to the theory by integrating two theoretical perceptions to identify factors of the RMG industry’s SC that affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. This research study contributes to the understanding of both external and internal stakeholders of national and international perspectives in the RMG (textile and clothing) business. It combines the insights of stakeholder and resource dependence theories along with the concept of the SC in improving effectiveness. In a practical sense, this study certainly contributes to the Bangladeshi RMG industry. In accordance with the desire of the RMG manufacturers, the research has shown that some influential constructs of the RMG industry’s SC affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. The outcome of the study is useful for various stakeholders of the Bangladeshi RMG industry sector ranging from the government to various private organizations. The applications of this study are extendable through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.

For Small Island Developing States (SIDS), achieving export manufacturing competitiveness is a major challenge. This paper aims to provide a framework that can be used to study the export competitiveness for food manufacturers.

The revealed comparative export advantage (RXA) and the constant market share (CMS) measures are used in a case study set in the Trinidad and Tobago’s food and beverage sector to study export manufacturing competitiveness.

When using the RXA and CMS measures to assess the current state of export manufacturing competitiveness in SIDS, specific product groupings should be used in the analysis to obtain a more accurate assessment of competitiveness than that provided when using aggregate commodity groups. Furthermore, the export market section of the conceptual framework provides a structured approach towards studying the distribution effect element of the CMS analysis.

Trade data are heavily used, which is subject to a number of well-documented limitations. In addition, there is no mandatory registration for companies operating in the case country, which results in under-reporting of industrial activity, and so limits the use of the framework in studying the exporting companies and the export products. Finally, a single case study limits the generalizability of the findings.

In particular, policymakers responsible for designing interventions for increasing export manufacturing competitiveness can use the framework to consider specific strategies as they relate to the exporting companies, the export products and the export markets.

This paper brings together three basic elements that contribute to export manufacturing competitiveness in the form of the conceptual framework.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the pattern, duration and country-level determinants of global agri-food export competitiveness of 23 major global agri-food trading countries.

A large panel data set is compiled to facilitate assessment of the pattern, duration and country-level determinants of global agri-food export competitiveness using a revealed comparative advantage index.

The results suggest that the duration of revealed comparative advantage is heterogeneous at the agri-food product level. Long-term survival rates as revealed by the comparative advantage indices are among the highest for the Netherlands, France, Belgium, the USA, Argentina and New Zealand. The level of economic development, the share of agricultural employment, subsidies to agriculture and differentiated consumer agri-food products increase the likelihood of failure in the duration of comparative advantage, while the abundance of agricultural land and export diversification reduce that likelihood.

The framework is conceptually innovative in how it models the likelihood of failure in the duration of comparative advantage and assesses implications. Export competitiveness is a crucial factor in long-term global farm business survival as it fosters opportunities for business prosperity on global markets.

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework and set of propositions to analyze competitiveness of India's agrifood chain. Nine components constitute the framework. These are identified on the basis of theoretical studies and expert consultations. Each component leads to at least one proposition.

The framework is dependent on two major streams of management – value chain analysis (VCA) and strategic competitiveness. Porter's diamond at the industry level and Momaya's asset‐process‐performance (APP) model at the firm level provide the base for competitiveness discussions.

The framework comprises of “human” and “non‐human” components. They are more like members of a network where action of each has an impact on the other. By examining the roles of human components like national government, producers, processors, etc. and non‐human components like food quality, regulatory scenario, etc. side‐by‐side, this study breaks new grounds in exploring the synergy of VCA and competitiveness management.

Journal papers based on Indian food industry's competitiveness or supply chain are very limited. There is also a dearth of literature on India's agrifood sector. This has reduced the scope for published references from India.

The paper can serve as a reference point for researchers/students and other stakeholders interested in Indian food and retail industry. The framework has implications for developing countries like India that are exploring opportunities in global retail diffusions. It is also of use to researchers from developing economies where the role of “national government” can be significant in the development of an industry. The framework is built as a flexible and adaptable tool, which can suit other industry sectors with minor modifications.

The paper has attempted to create a common ground where the two theories of VCA and competitiveness are able to meet. An empirical validation of the framework can encourage more future research on this topic. This paper can also be used by researchers as a reference point for studies on Indian agrifood sector. The proposed framework can be used as an analytical tool by researchers to study similar industries from developing economies like textiles, leather, etc. that are unorganized.

Claims that by most conventional input cost measures, the Danish pork industry looks very uncompetitive when compared to its rivals in international markets, yet Danish exports account for between 20 and 30 per cent of global pork trade. Explores the reasons for this success, finding answers in the organisation of the Danish pork supply chain. Four farmer‐owned co‐operatives account for virtually all pig slaughtering and processing in Denmark which is highly technologically advanced. The pivotal role of the umbrella organisation, Danske Slagterier, in co‐ordinating market research, genetic and meat processing research is explored. Finally, an assessment is made of the competitive strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the Danish pork supply chain.

The nature of international markets and the challenges with respect to the competitiveness of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) makes it imperative to examine government support. This study aims to assess the role and effectiveness of government and the export promotion agencies in supporting exports by non-traditional horticultural SMEs in Ghana.

The study used a qualitative research design, which involved semi-structured interviews with senior managers of six export facilitating institutions to gain an understanding of the services offered to SMEs with respect to exports of non-traditional horticultural products.

The findings reveal inadequate cost-efficient sources of non-traditional horticultural export financing for SMEs. This is a hindrance to the international competitiveness of exporting SMEs in developing countries such as Ghana. In addition, effective and coordinated support from export promotion agencies was found to be critical.

The study highlights the importance of government’s role in policymaking and implementation of export-led programmes for horticultural exporting firms in Ghana. Despite their strategic importance, this area of research has not attracted the attention of researchers, with little or no information on the horticultural international competitiveness of non-traditional horticultural products.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.