COMPETITIVENESS AND FINANCIAL RELATIONS IN THE GREEK BOTTLED WATER MANUFACTURING FIRMS

Abstract

The bottled water sector in Greece exhibits particular characteristics. After a downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, investments are being made and strategic partnerships are developing, aiming both to increase their competitiveness and to choose the proper strategy for their development. On the other hand, competitiveness is a concept widely used and for that reason has occupied the literature a lot (Fischer & Schornberg, 2007). As a result, it holds great importance to identify and assess the factors that affect competitiveness, performing as a tool for the choice of the proper strategy (Chikán, Czakó, Kiss-Dobronyi, & Losonci, 2022). Of the two main ways for the competitiveness estimation, one with Michael Porter’s diamond and the other one with the use of financial indexes, the second one was selected for this paper. All the Greek bottled water manufacturing firms which published their annual balance sheets for the 2016–2020 period were studied and used for the creation of variables. Several economic parameters are studied to determine competitiveness, where market share and profitability account for the most. According to the results, profits, sales, and loans contribute significantly to competitiveness, playing a major role in the determination of strategies that specific firms may follow.