Applicability of theories of competitive advantage for enterprises of the gagauz region

Abstract

In the context of increasing global competition, companies and regions are faced by the need to identify sustainable sources of competitive advantage. One of the most influential approaches is the Resource-Based View (RBV) - a theory focused on the internal resources and capabilities of an organization. In the European context, RBV is particularly useful for assessing the competitiveness of small innovative enterprises, clusters and regional ecosystems in combination with other theories for a more comprehensive assessment of competitive strategies at the enterprise and regional level, as well as theories of dynamic capabilities and interfirm interaction. According to the Relational View theory, proposed as an extension of the resource-based approach, sustainable competitive advantage can be formed not only within the company, but also through relationships with external partners-suppliers, customers, allies. Relational resources and joint investments in unique relationships can create „interorganizational rents” that are inaccessible to individual companies, an important element of competitive advantage in this case is idea, and the value is created in network interaction that cannot be fully appropriated by one party. The Institutional Complementarity Theory or Composition Based View (CBV) is applicable to European small and medium sized enterprises, especially in peripheral regions. According this theory, firms without unique resources can create competitive advantages through creative combination of open resources and integrations of foreign components. The article presents a critical analysis of modern theories of competitive advantage of enterprises, shows the main indicators of innovation activity of the region and draws conclusions about the applicability of modern theories.