The soft criteria of competitiveness: A symbiosis of trust and knowledge

Abstract

The majority of research on competitiveness is based on the analysis of quantitative data. There is significantly less research on the soft elements of competitiveness. This research aims to fill this gap in the literature. Starting from the national culture, the authors investigated the impact of trust characteristics of organisational culture on the characteristics of strategy, knowledge management and organisational effectiveness. Respondents (∑943) from five countries on three continents (USA, China, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania) took part in the quantitative research conducted with a questionnaire survey. The analysis was performed using the SPSS and AMOS 27 programs based on the SEM model. The results show that there is a significant relationship between the examined elements of competitiveness (strategy and management), which also show a significant relationship with organisational trust. Through a culture of trust, the interaction between the elements has a significant impact on the characteristics influencing the efficient operation of the organisation and its competitiveness, regardless of the value of Hofstede’s characteristics of different national cultures.