Abstract
When a firm or economy realizes a competitive advantage, actually it possesses something which others lack, and does something which others cannot do, or do not know how to do it. Firms’ competitiveness, mostly, stems from knowledge and competency. Basically, it is the accumulation of capital in the form of knowledge, in most of the firms’ constitutive systems. Competitiveness determines the productivity level of an economy, whereas the productivity level determines the sustainable prosperity level of an economy. The knowledge economy offers virtually unlimited resources, as human capacity to create is boundless. Taking into consideration the abovementioned facts, the aim of this paper is to provide responses to the following questions: Why should contemporary firms and economies invest in new knowledge? What is the knowledge competitiveness level of the Macedonian firms and economy? What is the knowledge competitiveness of the Macedonian economy in comparison with the knowledge competitiveness of innovation-driven economies and the remaining effi ciency-driven economies? In order to obtain the answers to these questions, we will make use of some theoretical experiences, supported by a comparative empirical analysis which, in essence, is based on the composite indicators - Knowledge Index and Global Competitiveness Index.
Highlights
In an economy where the only certainty is uncertainty, the one sure source of sustainable competitive advantage is knowledge (Nonaka, 1991)
Following the previously stated logic used in The Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum, in relation with the classification of economies according to their stage of development, and taking into consideration the fact that Macedonia belongs to the group of economies which are in the second stage of development - efficiency-driven economies, in addition we provide a presentation of an attempt to compare the performances of the knowledge competitiveness of the Macedonian firms and economy with the performances of the knowledge competitiveness of firms and economies which belong to the second and third stage of development
The average values of Knowledge Index (KI) and Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) have been used for separate groups of economies
Summary
In an economy where the only certainty is uncertainty, the one sure source of sustainable competitive advantage is knowledge (Nonaka, 1991). Competitiveness determines the productivity level of an economy, whereas the productivity level determines the sustainable prosperity level of an economy. Improved processes and management practices i.e. the new knowledge and technologies, are the main determinants of productivity growth (making better use of available factor of production and resources). Contemporary firms which operate in the global surroundings and which are bolstered by the latest information technological devices, most frequently, make use of knowledge as a major means of achieving a competitive advantage. The speed at which knowledge is processed, as well as the speed at which market performance strategies are developed, in compliance with the received information, determine the successfulness of firms’ performance
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