Evolution of competitiveness theories in the service sector and their interpretation in the digital economy

Abstract

The article examines the evolution of scholarly views on competitiveness and assesses their applicability to the information services sector. The development of theories is divided into five stages, each characterised by its unit of analysis, source of advantage and limitations. A trajectory of successive shifts in the unit of analysis is identified: country – industry – firm – competence – ecosystem. A comparative analysis of eleven definitions shows that most are oriented towards material production and fail to account for three features of services: intangibility, simultaneity of production and consumption, and limited ex-ante quality assessment. On this basis, an author's definition of the competitiveness of an information services enterprise is proposed.