Competitive strategies and financial relations in the meat manufacturing firms: Evidence from Greece

There are many different companies in the Greek meat industry, and most of them are small businesses. They can be divided into three main categories and all of them are referred to as meat manufacturing firms. The study of their main financial indexes is profitability, market share, and capital intensity. Capital intensity does not show stability in the turnover of these firms during the last years, while recovery points are seen after the covid 19 pandemic period increasing their competitiveness level. On the other hand, the competitiveness of these companies constitutes a crucial matter for all the firms as it is a guide for the selection of their proper strategy. As a result, the competitiveness estimation of these firms as a basic factor for the choice of the proper strategy acquires great importance and constitutes the aim of the present paper. Following the financial indexes methodology, the competitiveness estimation takes place with two equations using profitability and market share as dependent variables. The primary findings demonstrate how profitability, market share, and capital intensity affect the competitiveness of meat production enterprises, supporting the several strategies that these firms may choose to employ. © 2023, Online Academic Press. All rights reserved.

COMPETITIVENESS AND FINANCIAL RELATIONS IN THE GREEK BOTTLED WATER MANUFACTURING FIRMS

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. © 2022 The Authors.