Investigating seven case companies from the Oulu South region of Finland:SCA and DEA methods

This study is part of the MikroY project. This paper focuses on operative competitive advantage, and the results of the paper of interest to export-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper introduces a new technique that applies critical factor analysis alongside risk and opportunities analysis to measure and propose resource allocation for companies over the next couple of years. The research problem of this study can be summarised in the following research questions: 1) How should the K/T effect on operative SCA be evaluated? 2) How are the results for calculations regarding CFIs, SCA risk level and K/T evaluated? This research is based on seven cases located in the Oulu South region of Finland. The cases were selected from the manufacturing industry, including cases focusing on the manufacturing of wood products, machinery and equipment, and instruments and appliances. In this research report, the effect of knowledge and technology on SCA risk levels is investigated. The practical implication of this research is that it can help firms strike a balance in resource allocation for each attribute in changing environments on the basis of different levels of technology (Basic, Core or Spearhead). In this research report, seven case studies are investigated.