COMPETITIVENESS OF SMALL AND MIDDLE SIZED COMPANIES IN THE INTERNATIONALIZATION PROCESS

conference paper

English

Considering competitiveness as a necessary condition of the internationalization process should respect that different levels of the competitiveness and different competitive advantages are required at different stages of the internationalization or for different internationalization forms. Pressure of the global competition influences even the company without any ambitions on international markets. That is why the SMEs are forced to reevaluate their competitive potential. Small firms in the Czech Republic are too much orientated to surviving with strategies, which will not be sustainable from the long-term view. The middle-sized companies seem to be better. Is the contemporary level of the competitiveness acceptable base for the future development and can be successfully confronted with global competition, which is connected with internationalization? Traditional approaches do not offer sufficient answer. Managerial model of competitiveness at least tries to explain competitive behavior of companies in the internationalization process from a little bit different view.

competitiveness, internationalization. SME

ZICH, R.

2003

1. 1. 2003

University of Karlsruhe

Karlsruhe, SRN

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