European competitiveness and business

In The Economics of Order and Disorder (1992), Jacques Lesourne reflects on the influence of what he calls "exceptional personalities". According to his description, such personalities are characterised by a devotion to their own specific objectives, an outstanding ability to judge the resources and beliefs of the other players, a talent for gaining the cooperation of the people working for them, an imagination enabling them to discern innovative behaviour, and a creative capacity allowing them to devise complex decision-making rules. This paper explores a field in which these capacities are crucial, namely the challenges that European competitiveness poses to companies.