Destination competitiveness has become a critical issue in today's increasingly challenging tourism market. Many studies have indicated that tourists and their needs stand as the ultimate driving force which influences competition and competitiveness in the tourism destination. Today, destinations eventually compete on the quality of tourism experience offered to visitors. However, limited research has been undertaken to examine destination competitiveness from the tourists' perspective. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of quality of tourism experience on tourists' perception of destination competitiveness. A destination competitiveness model based on the perceptions of tourists and a measurement instrument to assess the constructs of the model were developed for this study. The model proposes that tourists' perceived destination competitiveness is affected by the quality of tourism experience, which includes the experience in pre-trip planning, en-route, on-site, and after-trip (reflection) phases. Furthermore, tourist involvement, as an important salient dimension of consumer behavior, is introduced into the model as a moderating factor in the relationship between quality of tourism experience and perceived destination competitiveness. The sample population of this study consists of residents of Virginia who are 18 years old or above and took at least one leisure trip away from home in the past 18 months. Three hundred and fifty-three usable questionnaires were utilized in the data analysis of the study. Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis were performed to test the study hypotheses. The results indicated that the quality of tourism experience and tourists' perception of destination competitiveness do relate to each other as substantiated by the existence of shared common variances between these two major constructs. The study also revealed that tourists' perception of destination competitiveness is positively influenced by the quality of tourism experience in terms of different phases (pre-trip planning, en-route experience, on-site instrumental experience, on-site expressive experience, and after-trip reflection). Furthermore, tourist involvement appears to have a moderating effect on the relationship between pre-trip planning experience, en-route experience, on-site expressive experience, and perceived destination competitiveness. The study also provided managerial implications to destination managers and marketers based on the research findings. / Ph. D.

Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) has long been recognised as a potentially viable means for promoting and sustaining corporate competitiveness (Covin & Miles 1999). Turbulence and rapidly changing knowledge - especially in the Information and Communications Technology sector (ICT) - has forced companies to become more entrepreneurial in order to capitalise on new business opportunities and to create value. The research study was quantitative and data was collected through an online survey, which used closed-ended questionnaires. The questionnaires entail assessing the degree of CE in an organisation in relation to its performance. The analysis had 114 samples of companies in the ICT sector. The study indicated that there is a strong positive association between level of CE and company performance. Companies that sustain their businesses and are able to prosper are likely to have a high level of CE. The most important contribution of this study is the testing of CE theories in the South African context. The ICT managers can contribute to entrenching CE by being the champions in creating the environment that stimulates entrepreneurial behaviour.

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Rail transport refers to the transportation of various commodities, goods and services traded as cargo and freight within South Africa and out of South Africa for export to the other Southern African communities (SADC region), the rest of Africa and other continents of the world. It also refers to the imports into South Africa from the regions mentioned. Competitiveness relates to a country or company’s available resources and supporting policies and regulations in place which allow them to compete and do business locally, internationally and globally while improving the country’s economy and the company’s profitability. There are different criteria that can be used to determine the level of competitiveness, depending on each company or country’s capabilities. In the past years, the progress and development of the South African rail industry has been neglected and this has resulted in the rail transportation not being used. Railway line maintenance has become a challenge and service delivery is below customer expectations. Road transport has better availability and reliability, which has led companies to prefer road transport for freight. The main objective of this study is to reach a detailed understanding of the views of freight rail transport consumers and the impact of rail transport on the economic competitiveness of South Africa. Another important objective is to present the study in a format that is easily understandable. The approach adopted for this study is quantitative and uses a survey research questionnaire which was distributed to freight rail transport customers and providers. The data collected from the questionnaire was submitted to a statistical consultant service at North-West University. The statistical consultant analysed the data using the SPSS statistics computer programme to arrive at the results presented in this study. The overall findings from this study are that companies that use roads to transport freight do so because of the unavailability and unreliability of the freight rail transport provider Transnet Freight Rail and that these companies opt for road transport because they use a ‘just in time’ (JIT) system whereby a small quantity of stock is transported continuously which Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) does not accommodate. These factors have resulted in TFR’s poor service delivery. Therefore, a market demand strategy has been initiated by TFR to improve the performance of the company. It is important to note here that freight rail transport should concentrate on improving service delivery and not only on increasing capacity. The research participants indicated that the TFR objective to move freight back to rail could be accomplished. This will lessen the burden and damage to South African roads and reduce traffic congestion and accidents caused by trucks on the roads. It will also increase employment opportunities and the country’s economic competitiveness while reducing transport costs. All these aspects will make a significant impact on the economy of the country. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Rail transport refers to the transportation of various commodities, goods and services traded as cargo and freight within South Africa and out of South Africa for export to the other Southern African communities (SADC region), the rest of Africa and other continents of the world. It also refers to the imports into South Africa from the regions mentioned. Competitiveness relates to a country or company’s available resources and supporting policies and regulations in place which allow them to compete and do business locally, internationally and globally while improving the country’s economy and the company’s profitability. There are different criteria that can be used to determine the level of competitiveness, depending on each company or country’s capabilities. In the past years, the progress and development of the South African rail industry has been neglected and this has resulted in the rail transportation not being used. Railway line maintenance has become a challenge and service delivery is below customer expectations. Road transport has better availability and reliability, which has led companies to prefer road transport for freight. The main objective of this study is to reach a detailed understanding of the views of freight rail transport consumers and the impact of rail transport on the economic competitiveness of South Africa. Another important objective is to present the study in a format that is easily understandable. The approach adopted for this study is quantitative and uses a survey research questionnaire which was distributed to freight rail transport customers and providers. The data collected from the questionnaire was submitted to a statistical consultant service at North-West University. The statistical consultant analysed the data using the SPSS statistics computer programme to arrive at the results presented in this study. The overall findings from this study are that companies that use roads to transport freight do so because of the unavailability and unreliability of the freight rail transport provider Transnet Freight Rail and that these companies opt for road transport because they use a ‘just in time’ (JIT) system whereby a small quantity of stock is transported continuously which Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) does not accommodate. These factors have resulted in TFR’s poor service delivery. Therefore, a market demand strategy has been initiated by TFR to improve the performance of the company. It is important to note here that freight rail transport should concentrate on improving service delivery and not only on increasing capacity. The research participants indicated that the TFR objective to move freight back to rail could be accomplished. This will lessen the burden and damage to South African roads and reduce traffic congestion and accidents caused by trucks on the roads. It will also increase employment opportunities and the country’s economic competitiveness while reducing transport costs. All these aspects will make a significant impact on the economy of the country. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Konkurencingumas, kaip tyrimo objektas svarbus tiek užsienio, tiek Lietuvos mokslininkams. Taip pat konkurencingumo sąvoka plačiai naudojama tarp valdžios, verslo ir mokslo atstovų, bei kitų visuomenės veikėjų. Konkurencingumas, mokslo ir technologijų plėtra – svarbi šalies plėtros strategijos dalis. Globalėjantis pasaulis, ekonominė rinka atneša daug naujų galimybių bei grėsmių. Tiek didesnė įtaka, tiek didesnis konkurencingumas padeda šaliai siekti užsibrėžtų tikslų, bei stiprinti savo pozicijas tarptautiniu mastu. Objektas – teritorijų konkurencingumo skatinimas. Tikslas - pagrįsti europinių paramos instrumentų svarbą siekiant paskatinti subnacionalinių teritorijų konkurencingumą. Rašant darbą atlikta dokumentų analizė ir kokybinis tyrimas, paremtas struktūruotais interviu su penkiais respondentais, atstovaujančiais verslo, mokslo ir valdžios interesus. Aptarta konkurencingumo samprata, išanalizuotos strategijos, įvairių lygmenų institucijų strategijų svarba konkurencingumo skatinimui, tinklaveika ir jos sąsajos su konkurencingumu. Parodyta, kad Europos lygmeniu kuriami strateginiai dokumentai, kurie numato ilgalaikes ir trumpalaikes priemones, tikslus ir dotacijas išsikeltiems uždaviniams pasiekti. Valstybė šių strategijų rėmuose priima nacionalinę strategiją, programavimo dokumentus ir eilę priemonių tikslams pasiekti. Europinių strategijų sėkmė ir panaudojimas priklauso nuo nacionalinių valstybių, jų įvairių lygių valdžios ir viešųjų institucijų, įmonių, švietimo ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Competitiveness as a research object is important for foreign and Lithuanian scientists. Competitiveness concept is widely used by government, business, and science representatives as well by other social characters. Competitiveness, science and technology development is very important part of country’s development strategy. More and more global world, economical market brings new opportunities and danger. Thus bigger influence and bigger competitiveness helps for country to reach its goals and to strengthen its positions in international sphere. Object – competitiveness stimulation of territories. The Aim – to justify the importance of European support which helps to stimulate competitiveness of sub national territories. This paper reveals the analysis of documents and quality research, which is based on structural interviews with five respondents, who represent business, science and government’s interests. It also discusses about the concept of competitiveness, analyzed strategies, and the importance of various levels of institutions’ strategies for stimulating competitiveness, also networking and its links with competitiveness. It is shown that in European level created documents foresees long-term and short-term tools, aims and subsidies to accomplish tasks. Country in the frames of these strategies adopts national strategy, schematic documents and a wide range of tools to achieve goals. The success of European strategies depends on national states, their various levels... [to full text]

Darbo objektas: kaimo turizmo sodybų konkurencingumą lemiantys veiksniai. Darbo problema: kokie yra kaimo turizmo sodybų konkurencingumą lemiantys veiksniai? Tikslas – ištirti kaimo turizmo sodybos konkurencingumą lemiančius veiksnius. Uždaviniai: 1. Apibūdinti ir palyginti konkurencingumo sampratą ir jos reikšmę; 2. Išskirti pagrindinius konkurencingumą lemiančius veiksnius; 3. Išanalizuoti kaimo turizmo sodybų konkurencingumo ypatumus; 4. Identifikuoti kaimo turizmo sodybos „Svajoklių slėnis“. konkurencingumą lemiančius veiksnius. Metodai: literatūros analizė, pusiau struktūruotas interviu ir anketinė apklausa, turinio kontent analizė, statistinė duomenų analizė. Darbe suformuluotos išvados: 1. „Konkurencingumas“ tai sąvoka, kuri turi daug apibrėžimų, nėra prieitos vieningos nuomonės apibūdinant konkurencingumą. Tai labai plačiai naudojamas ir skirtingus apibūdinimus turintis žodis, kuris labiausiai atitinka įmonės gebėjimą greitai reaguoti į skubius rinkos pokyčius ir išlaikyti savo poziciją joje. Konkurencingumas reikšmingas sėkmingam verslo plano sudarymui ir vykdymui. 2. Pagrindiniai konkurencingumą lemiantys veiksniai: vidiniai (Tai veiksniai susiję su firmos veikla ir yra daugiau ar mažiau jos pačios kontroliuojami) ir išoriniai (sąlygos, kurių firma paprastai negali pakeisti, tačiau privalo įvertinti, nes jos daro įtaką įmonės ekonominiams rodikliams) lemiantys veiksniai. 3. Analizuojant kaimo turizmo sodybų konkurencingumo ypatumus, nustatyta, kad kaimo... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Object: rural tourism competitiveness determinants. Problem: What is rural tourism competitiveness determining factors? The aim - to explore rural tourism competitiveness determinants. Objectives: 1. To characterize and compare the competitiveness of the concept and its implications; 2. Extract the key competitive factors; 3. Analyze the competitiveness of rural tourism peculiarities; 4. Identify farmstead “SVAJOKLIŲ SLĖNIS“ determinants of competitiveness. Methods: A literature review, semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey, content analysis, statistical analysis of the data. The paper conclusions are formulated: 1. "Competitiveness" is a term that has many definitions exist as unanimous in describing competitive. It is very widely used and different profiles with the word that best meet the company's ability to respond quickly to urgent changes in the market and maintain their position in it. Competitiveness important for a successful business plan formation and execution. 2. The main determinants of competitiveness: internal (These are the factors related to the activities of the company and are more or less the same control) and external (the conditions which the company can not usually change, but must be assessed as they affect the company's economic performance) determinants. 3. The analysis of rural tourism competitiveness characteristics showed that the rural homestead to be competitive and profitable need to focus on service, strategy and environment... [to full text]

The need for government organizations to become competitive is growing with the huge instability in the economy. In parallel, Knowledge Management (KM) has been rapidly growing in the past decade as a source of influence on organisational development practices. Furthermore, the past decade research approaches largely failed to show the importance of KM initiatives in creating synergy with other initiatives to an extent that would lead towards organizational competitiveness. This study address whether KM holistically influences the different organisational development practices, specifically in the context of the government sector. To ascertain the relationships between KM and four prevalent organisational development practices identified in the literature and increasingly used in practice, a quantitative survey approach was undertaken using a series of researcher-developed scales. Based on the literature review, Organisational Excellence (OE), Organisational Learning (OL), Organisational Innovation (OI) and Organisational Competitiveness (OC) were identified to be the most repeated relations with KM. A conceptual framework was designed to test the concept of the holistic influence of KM on the four identified organisational development practices. A total of 625 valid responses were collected from top and middle management from 54 government organizations in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The model was statistically tested according to the research hypotheses by regression analysis then Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Results reveal strong and significant correlations amongst the five prevalent organisational development practices. Even though the holistic influence of the model could not be confirmed, findings show positive KM influence on the remaining organisational development practices, thus KM is an essential factor for government organisations. Besides illustrating KM as an important source of influence, this research establishes a new direction that helps to integrate all governmental organisations initiatives in relevance to organisation development practices leading to better competitiveness. The study makes a novel contribution since it increases the probability of a holistic approach model that brings support for the decision makers to enhance the overall government organizations competitiveness. The scale developed for the model tested can be generalised and used as a self assessment tool for organisational practices in KE. This work sets a baseline for KM practices in the Government of Bahrain and similar GCC Governments and can act as a reference for researchers on KM and competitiveness in the emerging economies countries. Nevertheless, the model need to be further investigated in future research to explore the missing variables in this model to make it more fit. Therefore, the concept of holistic model needs to be further subject to empirical investigations to explore its viability. The major limitation of this research is it been addressed only in the government sector and in one country.

Small and medium sized enterprises(SME) play a crucial role in Slovak economy. However, Slovak market is relatively small, therefore SMEs are forced to penetrate international markets. If they want to succeed, they have to offer cheaper or better goods than their foreign competitors. Authors offer many solutions how to improve competitiveness. Thats why I decided to analyse main factors which directly or indirectly have an impact on companies'export performance.

Darbo objektas – veiksniai, lemiantys sporto klubų konkurencingumą. Tyrimo problema: kokie veiksniai daro įtaką Kauno miesto sporto klubų konkurencingumui. Tyrimo tikslas – įvertinti sporto klubų konkurencingumą įtakojančius veiksnius. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Aptarti literatūroje išskirtas konkurencingumo sampratas. 2. Išanalizuoti pagrindinius konkurencingumą įtakojančius veiksnius. 3. Apžvelgti Kauno miesto sporto klubų rinkos ypatumus ir aplinką. 4. Įvertinti veiksnius darančius įtaką Kauno miesto sporto klubų konkurencingumui. Išvados: atlikto tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad Kauno miesto sporto klubų konkurencingumą lemia paslaugų kainų stabilumas, aukšta paslaugų kokybė bei strategiškai gerą sporto klubo vietą mieste. Tyrimo metu gauti duomenys parodė, kad Kauno miesto sporto klubai savo konkurencinį pranašumą bando įgyti: marketingo priemonėmis, darbuotojų mokymu, naujų technologijų taikymu. Sporto klubai pagal tyrimo rezultatus nepakankamai dėmesio skiria savo teikiamų paslaugų išskirtinumui, ir tai mažina dominavimo rinkoje galimybę, atsižvelgiant į sporto klubų lankytojų teikiamą pirmenybę renkantis vietą, kur sportuoti, sporto klubų vadovams būtina orientuotis ne į sporto klubo įvaizdžio gerinimą, o į aptarnavimo ir teikiamų paslaugų kokybės gerinimą kadangi atlikto tyrimo duomenys parodė, kad klientams klubo įvaizdis nėra reikšmingas. Taip pat tyrimo duomenys atskleidė, kad dauguma Kaune veikiančių sporto klubų kopijuoja konkurentų daromus rinkos sprendimus ir juos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Study conducted results showed that the Kaunas city sports The object of the paper: factors influencing the competitiveness of sports clubs. The problem of the research: what factors influence the Kaunas city sports clubs competitiveness. The aim of the research: assess the competitiveness of sports clubs influencing factors. The objectives of the research: 1. Discuss in literature singled the concept of competitiveness. 2. To analyze the main factors influencing the competitiveness. 3. Overview Kaunas city sports clubs characteristics of the market and the environment. 4. To evaluate the factors influencing the Kaunas city sports clubs competitiveness. Conclusions: study conducted results showed that the Kaunas city sports clubs competitiveness in prices leads to the stability and high quality of service and strategically good location city sports club. Survey data showed that the Kaunas city sports club in your attempt to gain a competitive advantage: marketing, staff training, application of new technologies. Sports clubs based on the results neglecting the development of the distinctive character of their services, and it reduces the possibility of market dominance, according to sports clubs visitor preferences when choosing a place where sports, sports clubs, managers need to focus not on improving the image of a sports club, and the service and the provision improvement of service quality whereas the results of the study showed that the image of the club's customers... [to full text]