Analysis of Competitiveness of Latvia's ICT Service Sector

The recent economic and financial crisis has again raised issues on organisation and industry competitiveness. The information and communication technologies (ICT) industry of Latvia is often mentioned as one of the industries with the highest potential in Latvia and seen as one of the future foundations of the country economy. However, there have been very few researches done on the industry competitive position in the country as well as research on future development forecasts in an extended manner from the perspectives of strategic forces and resource based view. The aim of this paper is to analyse Latvian ICT industry competitiveness using Porter five forces model and resource based view models. The research will provide recommendations for strategy developments for individual organisations and the industry. The research includes literature review, exploratory interviews with experts of Latvian ICT industry, quantitative analysis, logical analysis, and generalisation. This paper contributes to organisations, which are taking strategic decisions on entering the ICT industry of Latvia and it will help shape strategies for the current ICT industry players in Latvia. The paper could be used by governmental institutions developing economic strategies of Latvia.