Evaluation of competitiveness for Rosa damascena essential oil, using Porters’ diamond model (Case study: Iran, Kashan district)

Abstract

Introduction: Rosa damascena Mill. is a valuable medicinal and aromatic plant all over the world. The most important product of this plant is its essential oil. The importance of the mentioned material is so high that it is likened to liquid gold. In this research, we tried to evaluate the competitiveness of the essential oil industry in Kashan area as one of the most important cultivation area in Iran. Method: The method of evaluation is Porter Diamond model and the data analysis method is content analysis, in which the relative frequency of expert opinion was calculated for each dimension of the six-dimensional Porter diamond model. Also, non-parametric Binominal and Friedman methods have been used to analyze factors and variables. In order to collect information a semi-structured interview has been used. At this stage, eight industry experts, a mix of academics and industry professionals, were interviewed. Results: The results of the research show that there are a lot of problems in each of the dimensions, and they acknowledge that there is no considerable problem in two categories of foreign dependence on materials and the presence of substitute products. Based on the tests and analyzes, results from descriptive mean show that overall competitiveness and each of the competitiveness factors are less than average, and therefore, they are not in desirable condition. Only 6 variables of competitiveness from the total of 51, have a mean equal to or more than the average. These variables are: the lack of dependence on foreign raw materials, the existence of substitute products, the state of energy in industry, the impact of climate on quantity and quality of the product, the ease of launching new businesses and the presence of strong competitors. Discussion: The results of the binomial test confirmed the mentioned facts. In other words all of assumptions of the research have been rejected. Also the only variable which has a favorable status in the essential oil industry is no dependence on foreign raw materials.