Title: The competitive distance as a tool for competitiveness improvement

Authors: Wagner Cezar Lucato; Milton Vieira Júnior; José Domingos Filho

Addresses: Industrial Engineering Post Graduation Program, Universidade Nove de Julho – UNINOVE, Av. Francisco Matarazzo, 612, CEP 05001-100, São Paulo, Brazil ' Industrial Engineering Post Graduation Program, Universidade Nove de Julho – UNINOVE, Av. Francisco Matarazzo, 612, CEP 05001-100, São Paulo, Brazil ' Industrial Engineering Post Graduation Program, Universidade Nove de Julho – UNINOVE, Av. Francisco Matarazzo, 612, CEP 05001-100, São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to propose a management tool to identify actions and plans to enhance the competitiveness of a company. It starts by proposing the concepts of competitive variables, competitive profile and competitive distance as a basis for developing a model to measure the competitiveness degree of enterprises within the same industrial sector. This conceptual model can be used by company management as a tool to identify opportunity areas and related actions required to enhance competitiveness. To do that, it is required to compare the company competitive profile against a competitive standard to be established. The competitive standard should be a company that, according to some objective criterion, is considered a paradigm of competitiveness in the industrial sector where operates the company for which the degree of competitiveness is to be measured. The paper also presents a practical example that shows how the proposed model could be applied to a real-world situation.

Keywords: competitiveness degree; competitive profile; competitive distance; competitive variables; conceptual modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2015.068207

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2015 Vol.8 No.2, pp.181 - 196

Published online: 22 Apr 2015 *

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