A fuzzy system decision support tool for achieving global competitive advantage by economies in transition

This research effort developed a practical decision support tool designed to assist policy makers in any of the twenty five Central and Eastern European (CEE) nations currently in transition from their former centrally controlled communist economies to fledgling market economies. The tool extends conventional strategic planning and policy processes by operationalizing contemporary concepts of global competitive advantage. This research contributes the first known operationalization of Michael E. Porter's diamond model for global competitive advantage as applied to economies in transition. Other innovative features of the decision support tool design include the powerful and adaptive new management science techniques of the analytical hierarchy process and fuzzy systems.; The practical value and utility of the tool was demonstrated to professional economic developers at the metropolitan area and state government levels. Validation findings indicated the variables are representative of those used in planning economic development and their use is consistent with professional decision making processes.; To be effective, extension of this research to the national level of economic development must be endorsed and directed from the highest possible level of national government. Initially, top level national policy makers should use the tool to validate national resource allocations and establish a nurturing environment for competitive advantage. Subsequent applications should progress towards optimizing the factors contributing to long-term, sustainable competitive advantage at national, district and municipal levels.; This research provides a departure point to assess the long term practical benefits of the use of fuzzy system decision tools for management applications. Further extensions should include longitudinal analyses of the effectiveness of the fuzzy system decision tool in successfully guiding the economies in transition to viable positions of competitive advantage in the global market.