Bridging the gap between the country and the factors of competitiveness of enterprises

Abstract

Enterprises desiring to be competitive have to continuously improve and react to the current trends. It is important, therefore, to know consumers' opinions and needs to remain competitive, especially as consumers' behaviour arises from a range of factors and conditions, both macro- and microeconomic. Revenue and the prices of consumer goods, undoubtedly the key determinants that have a direct impact on consumer conduct, decide the market demand, and supply determines the real framework of consumption. Geographical, natural, civilisational, and cultural conditions are among the factors affecting consumers' decisions, influencing consumers' cultural preferences on the one hand and having an impact on consumer behaviour, on the other hand. This paper identifies the factors of enterprise competitiveness in the opinions of Czech, Slovak and Polish consumers. Specialist literature is reviewed, and descriptive statistical methods and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) are applied. The results are analysed on the basis of a survey of a consumer group using STATISTICA 13.0 software. The survey questionnaire relates to an assessment of significance of competitiveness factors used by enterprises. The research carried out can influence the development of theories of business competitiveness, and the results obtained can provide guidance to managers on the selection of key factors of enterprise competitiveness.