Financial performance-based assessment of companies’ competitiveness: Evidence from the Norwegian Shipbuilding Industry

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The Norwegian maritime industry is at the forefront of green technology development, with shipyards playing a crucial role in testing, verification, and development. However, the industry faces challenges such as high personal costs, increasing competition from abroad, and cyclical market trends. This study aims to assess financial performance as indicator of firm-level competitiveness based on a set of 12 financial measures and test the hypothesis of the positive impact of portfolio diversification on shipyards’ competitiveness.
The analysis utilizes data from four large construction yards and four medium-sized construction, repair, and maintenance yards in the Møre region. The methodology involves constructing a Shipyard Competitiveness Index with sub-indices for liquidity, profitability, solvency, and efficiency. Regression analysis is conducted to investigate the impact of ship variety, as a diversification parameter, on the competitiveness level.
The obtained results reveal that during the analyzed period (2009–2020), companies in the group of large shipyards had better financial performance until 2017, while on the contrary, the second group of shipyards in the same period showed an increase in their competitiveness index. Moreover, the findings proved the presence of the positive relationship between diversification of portfolio and competitiveness index.
This study contributes valuable insights for the Norwegian shipbuilding industry, highlighting the importance of financial performance assessment in measuring competitiveness. The study provides a foundation for future discussions on fostering sustainable growth and innovation within the maritime sector.

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    • Figure 1. Shipbuilding direct and reverse value chain
    • Figure 2. The companies’ cycle and transitional growth phases
    • Figure 3. Framework of the study on the relationship between the competitiveness of shipyards and diversification as a strategy
    • Figure 4. Profitability and solvency of the large shipyards during 2009–2020
    • Figure 5. Liquidity and efficiency of large shipyards during 2009–2020
    • Figure 6. Shipyard Competitiveness Index: group I (left diagram) and group II (right diagram), 2009–2020
    • Figure 7. Average Shipyard Competitiveness Index, 2009–2020
    • Figure 8. Offshore ship building percentage by shipyards, 2009–2020
    • Table 1. Results of ordinary least square (OLS) regression analysis based on the first model
    • Table 2. Results of ordinary least square (OLS) regression analysis based on the second model
    • Conceptualization
      Viktoriia Koilo, Antoni Vike Danielsen
    • Data curation
      Viktoriia Koilo, Antoni Vike Danielsen
    • Formal Analysis
      Viktoriia Koilo, Antoni Vike Danielsen
    • Investigation
      Viktoriia Koilo, Antoni Vike Danielsen
    • Methodology
      Viktoriia Koilo, Antoni Vike Danielsen
    • Software
      Viktoriia Koilo, Antoni Vike Danielsen
    • Validation
      Viktoriia Koilo, Antoni Vike Danielsen
    • Visualization
      Viktoriia Koilo, Antoni Vike Danielsen
    • Writing – original draft
      Viktoriia Koilo, Antoni Vike Danielsen
    • Writing – review & editing
      Viktoriia Koilo, Antoni Vike Danielsen