Strategic Trends of Organizations in the Context of New Perspectives of Sustainable Competitiveness

Abstract

The business that is not focused solely on short-term profits and takes sustainability principles into account can be called a sustainable business. In contrast, the sustainable competitive advantage is the basis of business performance. This article discusses the benefits of selected strategic trends for sustainable competitiveness. The sustainability approach has rarely been considered in the competitiveness studies examined. An appropriate framework for its sustainable competitiveness requires taking into account the economic, socio-cultural, and environmental dimensions on the one hand and the consideration of all stakeholders on the other one. While global corporations have been integrating sustainable business into their strategies, this important step to make still awaits Czech organizations. The main goal of the study was to identify strategic trends implemented by the selected Czech organizations aiming at ensuring competitive advantage and evaluating the orientation of organizations depending on the selected variables. The factor analysis was used (principal component method, varimax method), and the dependencies of the organizations´ orientation and the identifying variables from the questionnaire survey (n1 = 183) and focus groups (n2 = 8) were tested. The results from the questionnaire survey and focus groups have revealed six factors, namely, the integrated management system, employee development, CSR reporting, the organizational structure for innovation development, succession planning, and knowledge continuity.