We live in a competitive World. Some products and services sell better than others, and some countries are more successful than others in generating income for their citizens.

According to Wikipedia, competitiveness is “the ability and performance of a firm, sub-sector or country to sell and supply goods and services in a given market, in relation to the ability and performance of other firms, sub-sectors or countries in the same market”.

Competitiveness, in its conventional definition, is the outcome – the ability to sell goods/services. However, managers interested in the performance of their company (and policy makers interested in the well-being of a their nation) must design policies and tools that facilitate competitiveness in the first place. Not only for now – but also into the future. This is where sustainable competitiveness comes in: sustainable competitiveness is not just being able to compete successfully at this point in time and over the next one or 2 years. Sustainable competitiveness is being able to successful compete and exist in the long term.

Successfull companies and/or nations are based on frameworks (the internal management, and external influences) that allows for individuals and companies to be successful – now, and into the future. Sustainable competitiveness  is the ability to build a framework (policies, regulations, management tools, and visions) that allows a firm, a sector, an individual or a country to sustain or increase the ability to provide income in relation to the current and future wider environment and society.