The Nordic country's weaknesses included: how open the culture is to external ideas, as well as how flexible and adaptable people are when they face new challenges.
Yle News,
STT
Finland has placed eleventh in a global competitiveness ranking this year by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD). The ranking was announced on Tuesday by the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (Etla), a business-backed think tank.
Finland's current ranking marks a drop of three places compared to last year, Etla researcher, Ville Kaitila, explained in a press release.
The IMD ranking compared the competitiveness of 64 countries. International investments and improved employment helped Finland maintain its relatively high ranking, but was also particularly weighed down by lower international trade, attitudes as well as prices.
"Last year, Finland ranked eighth and it was our best ranking since 2005," Kaitila noted.
The highest ranking went to Denmark, followed by Ireland, Switzerland and Singapore.
According to the IMD, it bases its ranking on how countries "manage their competencies to achieve long-term value creation".
It said that a country's competitiveness cannot only be measured by GDP and productivity measures, "because enterprises also have to cope with political, social and cultural dimensions. Governments therefore need to provide an environment characterised by efficient infrastructures, institutions, and policies that encourage sustainable value creation by enterprises."
Positives and negatives
IMD's overall index is divided into four entities: economic success, public administration efficiency, business performance and infrastructure. The IMD's partner in Finland is Etla.
For several years now, Finland's stumbling block to a higher ranking has been economic success (this year it ranked 39th), although there was a slight improvement in it now, through direct investments and employment, according to Etla.
This year, Finland's ranking slid due to the performance of companies, particularly in terms of the ranking of attitudes and values, but also in terms of business management.
Finland's ranking declined in all areas concerning values and attitudes, according to Etla. In particular, the weaknesses include how open Finnish culture is to external ideas, how flexible and adaptable people are when they face new challenges and also how companies are making the digital transition.
