The factors affecting competitiveness of companies: Contribution and limits of the statistical pattern recognition methods

Abstract

The paper elaborates the methodical side of empirical research of factors influencing the economic success of companies. The analysis is based on the selective sample of more than 400 stock listed (share holding) companies and limited partnerships located in the Czech Republic. The main goal of the research is to verify, methodically and theoretically, the hypothesis that there is significant mutual dependency between certain types of economic success of companies and a certain typical configuration of values of selected characteristics which describe these companies. The paper concentrates on an analysis of applying the statistical pattern recognition methodology in the course of verifying this hypothesis. Our analysis confirms the potential gains connected with the method. Within the sample we identified group of potential factors of competitiveness which can characterize the interdependence between competitiveness and economic performance.