Romanian managers believe that attracting and keeping qualified employees, providing quality services and supporting brand notoriety will be the main competitive advantages for companies once the economic crisis is over, a Deloitte study shows. Managers see 2009 as a year of sacrifice which provides the opportunity to restructure and reorganize businesses.

As a sharp decline stopped their dynamic growth, firms in Romania are now turning attention to internal structures, seekking to solve inefficiency issues which have come by for the past years, Deloitte analysts say. According to them, firms are now focusing on competitive advantages to gain a better position for a new economic cycle begins.

According to the study, a large majority of executives agree that employees are the key competitive advantage in such difficult periods. Services companies are also focusing on the quality of their services which they see of major importance in the current market conditions.

The study shows that about 70% of respondents trust their businesses will have a stronger position once the crisis is over, with the highest level of optimism reported in the medical and pharmaceutical industries (81%). Companies in the energy and resources sector are most conservative (48%).

The study was run in February-April this year and involved over 300 executives from Romania's biggest companies.