The Distinctive Competence Development at the Firm Solving Problems of Competitiveness in the Socioeconomic System

Abstract

Competitiveness results from factors beyond structural conditions and organizational boundaries, such as cooperation. Evidence gathered in credit unions suggests there is a social process in the firm for generating capabilities and economic goods to satisfy the needs established by social structures in charge of resolving market failures and structural deficiencies in the productive system. An exploratory and descriptive multiple case study with longitudinal qualitative data supported by a computer-based Process Tracing method leads to the refinement of a mathematical model of social phenomenon based on a set of decision-making rules of deterministic nature. Two case studies reveal that the firms maintain relations of cooperation and contribution with partners and social structures in their organizational and environmental surroundings every time their economic performance is constrained by competitive problems of systemic nature, for which there is no solution based on mechanisms of market price and state intervention.