Economic crisis and the competitiveness of transnational companies

AuthorLiviu Radu - Carmen Radu
PositionSenior Lecturer, Ph.D., Faculty of Social and Administrative Sciences, 'Nicolae Titulescu' University, Bucharest, Romania - Senior Lecturer, Ph.D., Faculty of Social and Administrative Sciences, 'Nicolae Titulescu' University, Bucharest, Romania
Pages154-162
154 Lex ET Scientia. Economics Series
LESIJ NO. XIX, VOL. 1/2012
ECONOMIC CRISIS AND THE COMPETITIVENESS
OF TRANSNATIONAL COMPANIES
Liviu RADU*
Carmen RADU**
Abstract
In crisis situations, the competitiveness of transnational companies becomes a particularly
complex concept, due to the fact that said business entities are continuously moving within the
context of internationalization and increasing use of global strategies. Given the current economic
context, one cannot merely assess the competitiveness level of any given transnational company from
a static standpoint, depending on the turnover, sales volume or number of employees of said
company, but such assessment needs to be made from a dynamic standpoint, in close connection with
the internal and international business environment in which that company carries out its activity.
Keywords: national competitiveness, transnational companies’ competitiveness, competitive
advantage, transnational level, economic crisis
Introduction
The concept of competitiveness is similar to that of economic efficiency and reflects a
conjuncture of the economic activity, determined by a certain consumption of resources for obtaining
goods and services. This approach presents the competitiveness from the efficiency of distributing
resources standpoint, bringing in the center of attention the existing relation between maximizing
effects and minimizing the efforts made by economic agents. The production of goods and services
reflects the competitiveness under the conditions of diminishing costs, while the production’s
distribution under competitiveness conditions must assure, on one hand, a concordance between the
volume, structure and quality of goods and services and, on the other hand, the market’s exigencies.
While studying competitiveness, this has been approached through the angle of competitive
advantage, when the competitiveness on a national level and similar with the term of competition
was taken in consideration, and when the competitiveness of an economic agent on an international
plan was being analyzed. At the same time, more detailed approaches were expressed by Kirsy
Hugues1 who considers competitiveness to be a problem of relative, static or dynamic efficiency, as
well as a reflection of firm’s performances in the international commerce (moderated performances),
either under the form of export mark shares, or under the form of import penetration degree.
In conclusion, competitiveness is the capacity of an economic agent, product or service,
individual or activity, to be susceptible to support the competition with the others participants to the
market. On each economic agent’s level, more categories of competitiveness can be identified:
global, financial, commercial, human, managerial, technical and organizational. On the economic
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* Senior Lecturer, Ph.D., Faculty of Social and Administrative Sciences, ”Nicolae Titulescu” University,
Bucharest, Romania, (email: lradu@yahoo.com).
** Senior Lecturer, Ph.D., Faculty of Social and Administrative Sciences, ”Nicolae Titulescu” University,
Bucharest, Romania, (email: cradu@univnt.ro)
1 Hugues Kirsty (1993), European Competitiveness, Cambridge University press, p. 5

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