Revista Internacional de Economia e Ciências de Gestão

MEASURING THE COMPETITIVENESS LEVEL IN FURNITURE SMEs OF SPAIN

Abstract

Gonzalo Maldonado Guzm?n , Jos? S?nchez Guti?rrez , Juan Gayt?n Cortes and Ricardo Garc?a Ram?rez

The first decade of the 21st century is characterized for businesses uncertainty, market globalization, and a higher level of competitiveness, what makes small and medium enterprises rethink their strategies and adjust it to changes and requirements, such as market, clients and customers. Also, the market pressure about customizing even more the products and services demanded by consumers, is taking enterprises to adopt competitiveness as a strategy, which allows cost reductions through an efficient use of technology in the organization. Hence, in this empiric study trough a sample of 322 enterprises of the furniture industry in Spain, the effects of the competitiveness are analyzed in these companies. Results show that financial performance, cost reduction and the use of technology impact positively on the competitiveness level of companies, whereby could be considered that competitiveness is a good company strategy.