Are We Competitive? A Firm Competitiveness Fit Scale

ABSTRACT This study aims to develop and validate a comprehensive measure of firm competitiveness fit , a second‐order composite construct consisting of seven strategic dimensions: vision, leadership, work passion, people‐centric, customer‐centric, infrastructural, and viability. These dimensions have been identified as critical factors that influence a firm's competitiveness; however, there is no widely accepted scale to evaluate them. Therefore, this study aims to provide a comprehensive scale that assesses a firm's competitiveness and links specific practices to improvements or decreases in competitiveness. This study used a mixed‐method approach that included both qualitative and quantitative phases. The qualitative stage involved interviewing 10 C‐suite executives to gain insights into the dimensions' impact on firm competitiveness and to generate items that reflect an understanding of the dimensions. The quantitative phase involved distributing a survey to 188 participants to measure the relationships between the strategic dimensions and firm competitiveness fit and to assess the scale's reliability, validity, and operability. To achieve this goal, PLS‐SEM (partial least squares structural equation modeling) was used. The results reveal that firm competitiveness fit is a composite second‐order construct, and the incorporation of the seven strategic dimensions into the model demonstrates its validity as a reliable predictor of firm competitiveness. This study has implications for theoretical and practical applications.