Perception of Competitiveness in the Context of Sustainable Development: Facets of “Sustainable Competitiveness”

European Council agreed to the European Commission's proposal to launch a new strategy for jobs and growth ‐ the new European Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth ‐ “Europe 2020”. This will lead to a new concept of the competitiveness and deeper relationship between sustainable development and competitiveness. The aim of this article is to set out the future research area of competitiveness theory taking into account the development of competitiveness concept and existing research tendencies. On the one hand, for developing the new concept of competitiveness, it is necessary to critically analyse existing studies on competitiveness. Researchers, examining the problems of competitiveness, differently approach the concept of competitiveness, suggesting different definitions, classification, factors, models of competitiveness, and evaluation criteria. Despite all the discussions on competitiveness however, no clear definition or model of competitiveness has yet been developed. On the other hand, globalization, economic dynamism and social progress, sustainability and competitiveness go hand‐in‐hand. Competitiveness should be underpinned by a broad vision for the economy and society. There is a need of research initiatives to develop the new concept of “Sustainable competitiveness” in the context of globalisation, with much of the research focusing on how sustainable development and competitiveness interact. Such additional research will lead to new theoretical models describing the relationships between international globalization, economic growth, sustainable development, wellbeing and competitiveness. Santrauka Europos Vadovu Taryba pritare Europos Komisij os pasiūlytai ekonomikos augimo ir darbo vietu kūrimo strategijai ‐ “Europa 2020” ‐ naujai Europos Sajungos strategijai del pažangaus, tvaraus ir integruoto augimo. Tai sudaro prielaidas naujai konkurencingumo sampratai ir gilesniam darnaus vystymosi ir konkurencingumo saryšiui. Šio straipsnio tikslas yra nustatyti tolesniu konkurencingumo teorijos tyrimu sriti, atsižvelgiant i konkurencingumo koncepcijos pletra ir egzistuojančias moksliniu tyrimu tendencijas. Iš vienos puses, siekiant pletoti konkurencingumo teorija, būtina kritiškai ivertinti egzistuojančias konkurencingumo studijas. Mokslininkai, nagrinedami konkurencingumo problematika, pateikia ivairias konkurencingumo koncepcijas, siūlydami skirtingus apibrežimus, klasifikacija_, veiksnius, konkurencingumo modelius ir vertinimo kriterijus. Nepaisant plačiu diskusiju, kol kas nera susitarta del aiškaus konkurencingumo apibrežimo ar visuotinai pripažistamo modelio. Iš kitos puses, globalizacija, ekonomikos dinamiškumas ir socialine pažanga, darnus vystymasis ir konkurencingumas yra tarpusavyje glaudžiai susije. Plati ekonomikos ir visuomenes vizija turetu būti konkurencingumo pagrindas. Egzistuojantis moksliniu tyrimuporeikis veda link naujos "darnaus kon‐kurencingumo” koncepcijos kūrimo iniciatyvu, ivertinant globalizacija ir daugiau demesio skiriant dar‐naus vystymosi bei konkurencingumo tarpusavio ryšiams. Tokie tolesni tyrimai padetu atrasti naujus teorinius modelius, charakterizuojančius tarptautines globalizacijos, ekonomikos augimo, darnaus vystymosi, geroves kūrimo ir konkurencingumo saryši.