Abstract
Sustainable competitive advantage is a widely explored topic at the organizational level. Although, regions care about competitiveness as much as organizations, because it leads to improved welfare and economic performance. However, sustainable regional competitiveness is still an ambiguous concept. On the one hand, it considers long lasting economic growth and on the other hand, it focuses on the sustainability and well-being of upcoming generations. This paper considers both aspects. Intellectual capital, considered to be the foundation for competitive growth, is selected as a basis for the analysis. It is evaluated as a factor involved in regional competitiveness. Sustainable regional competitiveness in this paper is defined based on the World Economic Forum framework, the Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index, and the Global Green Economy Index. The aim of the paper is to identify the interlinks between intellectual capital and sustainable regional competitiveness. The paper is based on a literature review and index analysis. The findings show that intellectual capital is involved in almost all factors influencing regional competitiveness and it is even more important for sustainable regional competitiveness. It can be concluded that the interlinks between intellectual capital and sustainable regional competitiveness are strong and inseparable.
Highlights
Competitiveness is today’s most popular slogan and aspiration of nations, regions, cities, organizations, and even people
The theoretical background is divided into three subchapters: (1) “Regional competitiveness”, which outlines major definitions and accepted concepts of competitiveness; (2) “towards sustainable regional competitiveness” provides systematic analysis of the three sustainable regional competitiveness frameworks; and the (3) “regional intellectual capital framework” provides a literature review of the most influential authors in the field and describes six different approaches to measure regional intellectual capital
This paper is based on a systematic literature review of intellectual capital papers, competitiveness literature, and three sustainable competitiveness frameworks to define sustainable regional competitiveness
Summary
Competitiveness is today’s most popular slogan and aspiration of nations, regions, cities, organizations, and even people. We all compete in the global market and look for our place in this vast world. The true meaning behind the concept of competitiveness is still not fully understood. Different authors and organizations define competitiveness in different ways [1,2,3] and this leads to the meaning getting lost between the lines. Is competitiveness defined through GDP (Gross Domestic Product) or other financial indicators? Is competitiveness defined through well-being and better life quality? Whereas underdeveloped countries seek for today’s success and better life in the present. It seems that the focus depends on what we are looking for Where should we focus on? It seems that the focus depends on what we are looking for
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