Abstract
This article is based on an empirical survey performed by the Research Centre for Competitiveness of the Czech Economy in 2007. We analyzed a sample of 432 companies. The main objective of the article is to formulate the factors which decrease the probability that a given company will be rated as competitive. Using advanced statistical methods (particularly statistical method of pattern recognition developed by UTIA ČSAV and modified in a special way for the purpose of our research) we formulate 20 qualitative characteristics, which can cause uncompetitiveness of the selected firm. These characteristics are then discussed and basic recommendations are drawn.