An enterprise’s competitiveness is directed by:
1) The core functional/technical knowledge of the enterprise
2) The accumulated knowledge that the enterprise has of the business environment in institutional disparate countries/markets.
3) The extent to which the enterprise can design its internal institutional setup, in order to respond effectively to the requirements of its external institutional setup.

Keywords like habits, routines, rules, procedures and conventions are commonly used when describing institutions. This implies that human behavior is habitual and constant. However, an institution may also include family, clan, organization, nation, market, game or ceremony, since all these institutions tend to set up governing frameworks, as well as values and beliefs in society.

Main characteristics of institutions are:
1) their organizing nature
2) their ability to facilitate and constrain relations among individuals and groups
3) their degree of predictability