Research and Development's Influence on Global Market Competitiveness

This essay examines the critical role of research and development (R&D) in enhancing international competitiveness. It highlights the positive relationship between R&D and export performance, citing studies that demonstrate how R&D-driven innovation leads to productivity growth and a competitive advantage in global markets. The essay explores the application of R&D at both personal and organizational levels, emphasizing the importance of continuous skill development, market research, and customer-focused strategies. Furthermore, it discusses how R&D contributes to solving significant global issues such as food insecurity, pollution, and emerging diseases. The conclusion underscores the significance of employee motivation, financial assistance, and investment in R&D for driving industrial growth and addressing unemployment challenges. The essay uses references to support its arguments and provides a comprehensive overview of R&D's impact on various aspects of business and society.

Running head: COMPETING INTENATONALLY 1
Competing internationally
Student’s name
Date

COMPETING INTENATONALLY 2
Research and development to increase competitiveness
The countries use exports to accumulate wealth and increase employment opportunities.
However, employing research and development (R&D) and innovation export can accelerate
productivity to improve on export. The paper establishes positive relationship between R&D and
export in Belgium; the authors found out that firms engaging in R&D are able to stimulate
productivity growth and export. This is because R&D lead to innovation for firms to create new
products or develop new product to gain competitive advantage and thus compete effectively in
international market (Czarnitzki and Wastyn, (2010).
Research and development is also important factor for innovativeness in organization to
enhance competition among firms in a given industry. According to Czarnitzki and Wastyn,
(2010), R&D is critical for stimulating exports to improve economy of countries. In their study,
they found out that subsidy on R&D help both domestic and multinational companies to increase
their sales in international market. This is due to improved quality of products that can favorably
compete in the international market. The research and development can be applied to real life
situation at personal level and businesswise. I personally look forward to developing skills
relating to my profession. One can engage in research at personal level by seeking opportunities
to help in developing skills and knowledge.
The real life application of R&D for increasing competitiveness is through self-
assessment on strengths and weaknesses. The skills can then be improved through training,
pursuing further education or attending seminars and conferences. The current competitive
environment has forced organizations to invest in research and development to continually help
employees attain their full potential (Porter & Kramer, 2002). In order to increase employee
engagement, the managers are inspiring workers to develop qualities such as building teamwork,

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accountability, creativity, intrinsic motivation and being assertive (De Vries, 2001). This helps in
creating a pool of highly skilled and motivated employees in an organization that enhances
overall productivity and efficiency.
Another second real life application of R&D is assessing customer’s needs about product
and service. Through market research, entrepreneurs are able to gain in-depth information about
customers’ preferences, needs and perception to initiate customer-focus activities to enhance
customer satisfaction and retention. There are immense problems facing humanity including food
insecurity, pollution, emerging diseases and psychological problems. Research and development
help researchers to develop approaches to stop spread and effects of diseases like cancer,
HIV/AIDS and lifestyle diseases among others. It also helps policy makers to institute measures
to manage climate change that has greatly contributed to global warming and threat to
biodiversity. Currently, science is trying to solve food shortage by engaging in research to
develop transgenic crops with advantageous traits including resistance to pest, diseases and
drought (Schmidhuber & Tubiello, 2007).
It can therefore be concluded that research and development has great contribution
towards solving major human problems. This is because it helps in developing new products and
process or modify existing products. It is important to note that motivation of employees help in
enhancing their creativity and innovativeness. It is also recommended that financial assistance
and investment on research can greatly push growth of industries to solve unemployment.

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References
Czarnitzki, D., & Wastyn, A. (2010). Competing internationally: on the importance of R&D for
export activity.
Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2002). The competitive advantage of corporate philanthropy.
Harvard business review, 80(12), 56-68.
De Vries, M. F. K. (2001). Creating authentizotic organizations: Well-functioning individuals in
vibrant companies. Human Relations, 54(1), 101-111.
Schmidhuber, J., & Tubiello, F. N. (2007). Global food security under climate change.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(50), 19703-19708.