Dear Associates,
It is my great pleasure to introduce you to the web pages of REF, the Competitiveness Forum.
REF was formed by TUSIAD and Sabancı University in 2003. As REF is hosted by Sabancı University, it draws mainly upon the expertise of colleagues from the three Faculties: Management, Art and Social Sciences, and Engineering and Natural Sciences. REF's research is also enhanced by our collaborative work with many national and international scholars and organizations such as World Economic Forum.
One of the main objectives of REF's research is to cast new light on processes of competition and the role that innovation plays in this area. Competitiveness could be defined as a combination of two major capabilities:
- to innovate and develop novel technologies and products, and
- to deploy and improve the operational processes that efficiently produce and deliver these goods and services to the customer.
REF chooses the first capability as its main core competence that requires leading-edge research at the intersection of technology and management. With its team, REF is particularly concerned to explore this theme in the context of new technologies, innovation management, entrepreneurship, and regional and national innovation systems.
In terms of products and services, REF has a lot to offer.
Databases:
- REF collects the Turkish data for international competitiveness index since 2006.
- REF collects the Turkish data for Manufacturing Innovation Index since 2004.
- REF has the trade statistics since 1996.
Publications (Reports and academic papers):
- National competitiveness report
- Report on manufacturing innovation performance of Turkish companies
- Report series on Competitiveness Strategies
- Competitiveness Post
- Academic papers
Events (Congress, seminar, conference, etc.):
- Competitiveness Congress
- Country-based conferences
- Seminars organized around the themes of Reports
- Customized seminars
Training programs:
- One or two day customized training programs
Here are some of the reasons why you should collaborate with REF and use its products and services.
For company managers:
- Data means efficient and effective inputs for decision making.
- REF reports might give good ideas and strong data support in order to build strategies.
- Events broaden the knowledge on competition and introduce various new management tools.
- Events help to build networks with other company managers and academicians.
For company engineers:
- Reports and databases introduce new sets of ideas and tools to be used in daily operations.
- Engineers could draw databases and make their individual customized company benchmarking studies vis-a-vis the general averages of Turkish companies. This is a critical input into improvement and renewal projects.
For government agencies:
- Data collected at REF helps to grasp the actual situation in industries and regions.
- Data and reports could be used to develop national level policy measures.
- Reports and events help to increase awareness on the complex dimensions of competitiveness that further helps government agencies in their effort of increasing public support for policies.
For academic institutions, students, academicians:
- REF databases could be used to write academic articles.
- REF reports might be used as an input/reference for different studies.
- REF conferences will broaden knowledge base of academicians in various topics.
As the REF team, we invite you to collaborate and join our efforts to develop competitiveness of Turkish firms in a dynamic form based on innovation and technology.
Kind Regards,
Prof. Dilek Çetindamar
Director