A Conceptual Model of Factors Affecting the Improvement and ‎Development of Competitiveness of Start-up Companies in ‎International Markets ‎

 Competitiveness is a key factor for evaluating the degree of success of countries, companies and industries in commercial, economic and political competitive fields. The purpose of this research is to identify the factors affecting the development of the competitiveness of innovative and start-up companies and to provide solutions for the development and improvement of their competitiveness.

 The current research has an interpretive philosophical basis and a fundamental orientation. The approach of this research is inductive and the qualitative method and strategy of grounded theory have been used to do it. Sampling was done theoretically using snowball and targeted methods. The research data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 14 experts, including managers of several successful export companies in East Azarbaijan and Ardabil provinces, university professors specializing in marketing and economics at Mohaghegh Ardabili University and Tabriz Branch Azad University.

 The results showed that causal factors (knowledge of market needs and adoption of marketing perspective), pivotal (creativity and innovation, research and development), contextual (environmental monitoring, legal infrastructure, financial and human resources), strategies (training and management methods) And the consequences (more profit and customer satisfaction) affect the development and improvement of competitiveness.

 The proposed model can be a guide for innovative and start-up companies to offer new products and services in order to increase competitiveness and active participation in international exhibitions