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The purpose of this paper is to measure and analyze the competitive advantage of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) based upon the Porter’s diamond framework. The major objective is to contribute toward better understanding of various determinants of the diamond model in context within Indian MSMEs.

Extent review of the literature has been done to identify various critical factors contributing to developing a competitive advantage. Exploratory factor analysis and internal consistency tests were performed to verify scales validity and reliability of measuring instrument (questionnaire). In research design, a case study approach has been used, in which MSMEs operating in the pharmaceutical, electrical and electronics, automobile, food and textile sectors were considered.

Study findings indicate that the pharmaceutical sector is more competitive followed by food (112.491) as revealed by the high value of surface area i.e. 150.931. The competitiveness among MSME sectors is mostly affected by demand conditions followed by firm strategy, structure and rivalry. Moreover, the score of diamond axes indicates significant difference with respect to determinants. For instance, in the textile sector, the determinants such as factor conditions and related and supporting industries scored low, for example, 4.710 and 4.280, respectively, which indicates it needs to be strengthened as this sector stands at last position with minimum surface area, for example, 67.398.

Owing to the time and resource constraints, this study was conducted in MSMEs situated in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India, and thus generalizations of results are rather limited.

This study is one of the original being undertaken by authors which helps to underline the importance of various determinants which may help the MSME units to improve competitiveness by implementing effective competitive strategies. The study could be extended to other regions of the country.

This study is a result of extended research on competitiveness and provides an instrument to measure firm ability to be competitive. CEO’s, managers and policy makers from industries as well as government will be able to use this to evaluate their competitive positioning and identify key problem areas which required improvements.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the perceived implications of economic and monetary union (EMU) as a driver for changes in the hotel business environment and, consequently, on Portuguese competitiveness, in terms of the conceptual framework and methodology adopted and showing the way how it may contribute to help managers and decision makers to effectively manage their competitive strategies.

The paper adopted and adapted Porter's models (Diamond, Five Forces and Value Chain) as the basis for analysing the implications of EMU upon the hotel business environment (at national, industry and operational level). Those implications are the ones perceived by the stakeholders in that sector: public authorities, trade associations and hoteliers.

The findings indicated that EMU not only changed the hotel business environment at a national level, but also changed the competitive and operational environment. Nonetheless, as this study found, the hotel stakeholders had relatively different hopes and fears concerning EMU.

The paper offers a conceptual framework sufficiently versatile (regarding the context of the study) which can be used by decision makers or managers as a tool to understand their business environment and, consequently, to cope with potential challenges.

Two of the innovative features of this study are: the triangulation of perspectives on the implications of EMU on hotels and the use of a combination of Porter's models as a suitable tool for studying the implications of EMU in the services sector. This can be useful to service decision makers and managers that seek to cope with the business environment challenges.

The purpose of this paper is to map the cluster in the leather and shoes sector for improving the competitiveness of the firms. Toward this end, the study is organized to examine the impact of clustering on competitiveness improvement. The influence of competitive elements and performance (Porter’s diamond) and balanced score card was utilized.

A random sample of 131 respondents was chosen during the period from May 2016 to July 2016. A structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was applied to investigate the research model. This approach was chosen because of its ability to test casual relationships between constructs with multiple measurement items. Researchers proposed a two-stage model-building process for applying SEM. The measurement model was first examined for instrument validation, followed by an analysis of the structural model for testing associations hypothesized by the research model.

The main findings show that there is a unidirectional causal relationship between improvements of performance and achieve competitiveness and also reveal that the Palestinian shoes and leather cluster sector is vital and strong, and conclude that clustering can achieve competitiveness for small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Future research can examine the relationship between clustering and innovation. The effect of clustering using other clustering models other than Porter’s model is advised to be used for future research.

The relationships among clustering and competitiveness may provide a practical clue to both, policymakers and researchers on how cluster enhances economic firms such as a skilled workforce, research, development capacity, and infrastructure. This is likely to create assets such as trust, synergy, collaboration and cooperation for improved competitiveness.

The findings of this study provide background information that can simultaneously be used to analyze relationships among factors of innovation, customer’s satisfaction, internal business and financial performance. This study also identified several essential factors in successful firms, and discussed the implications of these factors for developing organizational strategies to encourage and foster competitiveness.

This paper aims to create a mapping of competitive advantage of nations (CAN) from research using some previous studies and recommend future research.

This paper applies a systematic literature review on the most recent studies of CAN. The research gap is analysed based on several categories: implication (strategy and policy, portrait); general characteristics (fundamental issues, indicators and patterns); solution methodology and strategic level (nation and industry). Then, the state-of-the-art analysis is used to develop future research.

The results of this study recommend future research of CAN based on the following CAN categories: implication (strategy and policy, portrait); general characteristics (fundamental issues, indicators and patterns); solution methodology and strategic level (nation and industry).

This literature review has important implications and gives direction for research and teaching, as well as for further investigation of CAN. The limitation lies in the classification of patterns, which requires further study to avoid the ambiguity of grouping.

This is the first literature review about CAN using categories. It is of value in building future research of CAN in different industries and nations.

Recent liberalization of the world's textile and apparel trade policies and the consequent changes in trade patterns posited threats to smaller textile‐ and apparel‐exporting nations, including Thailand. Thus it is important to understand how the new trade environment affects the competitiveness of Thailand's apparel industry. This study seeks to provide insights into how Thailand's apparel industry has responded to increasingly fierce global competition by drawing on Porter's theory of The Competitive Advantage of Nations.

To assess the competitiveness of the Thai industry, the study triangulated data from various sources, including secondary statistics, media reports, and relevant industry publications. In‐depth, semi‐structured interviews were also conducted, and participants included key executives from Thailand's apparel industry, government officials, and academics. The interviews were conducted at various locations in three Thai provinces: Bangkok, Nonthaburi, and Samutsakorn, over a two‐week period.

Findings revealed the existence of four determinants supporting the Thai apparel industry: basic v. specialized factors; sophisticated and demanding consumer market; the presence of interdependent economic agents; and strategies and structure of Thai companies and domestic rivals. These four determinants are identical to the “diamonds” outlined in Porter's theory of The Competitive Advantage of Nations and a new source of competitiveness. Furthermore, the Thai government was found to play an important role, by providing support to enhance the global competitiveness of Thai companies.

The study is among the first to attempt to provide insights into the competitive national advantage of the Thai apparel industry. Based on the findings, the outlook is positive for the continued success of Thailand's apparel industry in the global arena.

This study aims to develop an artifact to measure the level of manufacturing competitiveness of a country in the global context and provide a suitable interpretation mechanism for the measured values, and to provide prescriptive solution where necessary so that the country can develop an actionable plan of program to move from the current level of global competitiveness to another such that they could provide more economic opportunities for their citizenry.

A manufacturing competitive index (MCI) was developed which includes relevant variables to capture a country’s manufacturing activity level in an economy with a balanced perspective. Reliable international sources were used. Ward algorithm was used to identify clear clusters of performance upon which competitive gaps were measured and improvement projects were identified and prioritized to obtain the best value for cluster transitional plan.

This study shows that the case country is not doing as well as it wants to believe, even when the relevant technology import measures were included in the expanded metric, but also, the next level of competitiveness is achievable within the national budget if proper prioritization is done.

The paper presents a cocktail of indexes that is more exhaustive of MCI, including both research capacity and technology import variables. It also uses clustering mechanism to provide a proper context to interpret the MCI scores in the context of peer nations. It presents a gap determination methodology and shows how priority projects could be logically selected to close measured gaps based on anticipated value from budget expenses

This paper aims to evaluate Slovenian competitiveness by quantitative and by qualitative methods, and tries to explain why some countries develop faster than others.

By observing other economies, it is possible to learn how to improve the development base at home. Many indicators of national competitiveness have been suggested. Broadly speaking, competitiveness can be measured with some indicators: terms of trade, current account balance, per capital income, productivity growth, high‐tech export (percent), expenditure on R&D and openness of economy. In addition, the systematic competitiveness by International Institute of Management Development of World Economic Forum methodology can be measured. Questionnaire indicators give us a more qualitative view on competitiveness. The modern way of measuring national competitiveness is using questionnaires, which allows evaluation of the dynamic evolution of one economy, the qualitative competitiveness and the expectations of the business managers. Managers often evaluate the quality of business environment in which they operate. They also try to forecast the economic situation of the country in the near future. Therefore, the combination of statistical data and indicators from questionnaires is the best way to measure national competitiveness.

Countries with different infrastructures and economic‐policy measures are indirectly competing to attract the investments of multinational companies, or, what is most interesting, profit‐making industries. For small open economy like Slovenia, internationalization at all levels is essential for long‐term economic growth.

Slovenian enterprises neglect certain non‐price factors of competitiveness that constitute the key element in modern competition. Exports by Slovenian enterprises are thus still concentrated on non‐differentiated products and services with lower value added but with an adequate level of quality.

The competitiveness concept is introducing the benchmarking method on the economy level. As it is sometimes impossible to find the best solutions by analyzing only the home country, it is more common to analyze problems of the other countries to find solutions for our own problems. After the EU integration process, it can be seen that the benchmarking process is strongly implemented on the analytical as on the policy level.

This study aims to construct models to classify independent smallholder farmers’ (ISFs) plantation suitability and its competitiveness index. It proposes the models with the objective to accommodate ISFs as the main source of raw material for the palm oil industry. It was predicted that the supply of oil palm fresh fruit bunch would depend on ISFs’ plantations due to the government policy that restricts the expansion of the plantations.

The study was designed using a geographic information system approach and analytical hierarchy process for mapping the suitability of smallholder farmers’ oil palm plantation in the Kampar Regency. The competitiveness index was measured using a modified Diamond Porter framework and competitiveness index quantification. The model was conducted on 177 respondents from five districts in Kampar Regency.

The results indicated that it mapped 128,936.759 hectares area of ISFs’ oil palm plantation in the Kampar Regency. The results of plantation suitability showed that only 13.88% of plantations owned by ISFs were potential, 71.21% of them were in the developing category and 14.91% of plantations were non-potential. The competitiveness index showed there were only 7.91% of them at the developed competitive position, 73.45% at developing a competitive position and 18.64% at the least-developed position.

The paper includes implications for developing ISFs’ capacity building and best practice management for oil palm optimization, resulting in bargaining positions and social well-being.

The study had succeeded to visualize ISFs’ plantation area suitability and competitiveness at Kampar Regency, Riau Province. The model provides a brisk understanding and valuable information about ISFs’ conditions spatially. It offers specific outcomes and becomes important in optimize and develop the existing plantations at the right time and exact location.

This paper aims to assess the contribution of competitiveness factors in how small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) would access competitive advantage (CA) by focussing on industry structure and devise a conceptual model thereof.

The enterprises from three industries consisting of knowledge-based, single-use medical device producers and construction stone cutting each with different structures were assessed. The method is qualitative and quantitative where grounded theory and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) are applied. The initial survey involves 36 deep semi-structured interviews with some of the top managers of each of the three selected industries and a questionnaire distributed among 158 individuals with 46 structured questions.

The findings indicate that the micro-competitiveness factors are more contributive in achieving CA than macro factors as follows: in knowledge-based enterprises, customer relationship management (CRM), goods/services features and knowledge management are the most important variables. As to single-use medical device production industry, the sales force, sales promotion, and CRM are the most effective factors. Regarding construction stone-cutting industry, quality of the stone, sales promotion, and advertisement play the same role. The results of the EFA indicate that the three impressive factors, including capabilities of the enterprises, strategies of the enterprises and macro factors, are the extracted factors.

The findings here would assist SMEs’ managers in identifying the most essential factors in accessing CA.

The innovation of this study is that although there exist many studies on SMEs and their CAs, this study seeks the models of CA among SMEs in industries with different structures.