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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This paper will discuss the question: “Is South Africa competitive with regards to technological innovation?”
INTRODUCTION
The world has evolved into a place where no nation can exists in isolation. This reflects the evolution towards the trend of globalization that brought with it a new type of battle. This battle takes place in the global marketplace where competitors are fighting for a share. To survive, nations must know how to compete economically.
GLOBALIZATION
Globalization is an inevitable and inescapable trend in the world. Globalization promises economic growth through a number of factors:
• Competition
• Larger markets
• Improved resource allocation and efficiency
COMPETITIVENESS
Competition is at the heart of capitalism and everyone is involved. Companies and nations are exposed to the best in the world and must compete to survive.
A nation’s primary objective is to enhance the quality of life for its people and this can only be achieved by improving productivity. Ultimately, nations compete in offering the most productive environment for business. Research shows that the productivity gap between low- and high-end industries basically comes down to managers’ ability to innovate.
WORLD COMPETITIVENESS
The notion of world competitiveness just seems to provide a much better framework on which economic policies can be based on. There is several organizations that perform competitiveness surveys which could be used to guide a country’s competitiveness policies.
CONCLUSION
South Africa does not seem able to i ...