DEVELOPING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE ON THE EXAMPLE OF INTERNATIONALIZED SMES IN THE FOOD SECTOR OF GREATER POLAND REGION

Omnipresent globalization engulfs more and more areas of life, which is why one of the most important processes in today's economy is shaping the so-called global village. Both globalization and the consequent internationalization constitute some of the biggest challenges for Polish companies. In addition, the intensity of competitive businesses in the global market forces companies to seek competitive advantages and improve their abilities in the process. The article contains the results of empirical research conducted in the years 2010-2011 in Greater Poland as part of the project titled "Determinants of competitive advantage of Greater Poland's food processing companies in the international market." This paper also contains data from both theoretical and empirical evidence on building competitive advantage in international markets provided by the analyzed group of internationalized SMEs. The aim of this study is to identify the factors determining the formation of competitive advantage of food processing companies from Greater Poland, which in turn contributed to the internationalization of those businesses. Secondary sources were used in pursuing the goal - theoretical implications were based on studies of literature, and they were verified by surveys. In addition, the following methods were used: description, visualization and statistical techniques. The time range of the undertaken work covers the years 2008-2011.