From the moment of its creation and throughout its life, any industrial firm, any commodity producer is faced with the need to solve the vitally important problem of competitiveness for them. The economies of most countries of the world are deeply involved in world economic relations, and the national market and its requirements are increasingly formed under the active influence of the world market and international competition.

The transition of Belarus from a planned-directive economy to a market economy has led to the emergence of competition in almost all spheres of activity of economic entities. The study of the problem of competition and competitiveness until the 90s of the last century in our country was not necessary. The term “competition” was not used in the Soviet economy. The absence of private ownership of the means of production and the establishment of plans for all enterprises was the reason for the lack of competition.

Until the second half of the 1980s, the problems of competitiveness facing domestic enterprises were almost always formulated in the form of tasks to ensure the competitiveness of products. This was due to the relatively weak involvement of our country in the processes of the international division of labor, the isolation of financial and economic system and the impossibility of any exact comparison of production costs and proceeds from the sale of goods in foreign markets. However, the reforms of the 1990s led to the restructuring of the entire economic system of the country. The current situation is characterized by the participation in economic relations of subjects of various forms of ownership: state, municipal, private. The interests of the majority of market participants are grouped around companies - economic units that independently attract factors of production, use them and distribute the resulting products. The shift of economic phenomena control centers from the macro to the micro level requires the development of certain mechanisms for making intra-company decisions. The key stage in the process of making a decision is the analysis of alternative options and the choice of one that best meets the goals set. At the same time, as market relations are created within the country and its involvement in world economic relations, interest in competitiveness issues moves directly to the enterprise and the sector of material production.

In a market economy, a manufacturing firm that supplies its goods to both the foreign and domestic markets cannot long time take a stable position, relying in its strategy only on the indicators of the competitiveness of the goods, not taking into account the world levels of quality and the costs of creating and selling goods. When entering a new market for oneself, making a decision to expand production or reduce it, making investments in order to modernize technological equipment or upgrade products, an assessment of the competitiveness of a manufacturer or enterprise is certainly required. That is why increasing the competitiveness of the national industry is the main priority for the development of the Belarusian economy.

The process of achieving the most important goals of society in a market economy is reflected in the market strategy of companies, in the formulation of their long-term goals. With a huge difference in management approaches in the system of long-term goals, two groups of indicators can be distinguished that provide a solution to the main tasks associated with the development of the company. The indicators of the first group (the company's market share, its dynamics, sales volume, etc.) generally reflect (albeit indirectly) the degree of consumer satisfaction with the company's products or services. The indicators of the second group (profit volume, profit margin, labor productivity, etc.) reflect the level of production efficiency of a given firm.

So what is competition and competitiveness? There are many definitions for these terms. The word competition comes from the Latin "concurrere", which means to collide. Consider the most common definitions of the term competition, table 1.

Competition has importance in the life of society. It stimulates the activity of independent business units. Through it, commodity producers, as it were, control each other. Their struggle for the consumer leads to a reduction in prices, a reduction in production costs, an improvement in product quality, and an increase in scientific and technological progress. At the same time, competition exacerbates the contradictions of economic interests, greatly enhances economic differentiation in society, causes the growth of unproductive costs, and encourages the creation of monopolies. Without the administrative intervention of state structures, competition can turn into a destructive force for the economy. In order to curb it and keep it at the level of a normal stimulant of the economy, the state in its laws defines the "rules of the game" of rivals. These laws fix the rights and obligations of producers and consumers of products, establish principles and guarantees for the actions of competitors.

Table 1 - Definitions of the term competition

Competition is the rivalry of business entities to achieve the highest results in their own interests. Therefore, competition exists wherever there is rivalry between subjects to ensure their interests. As an economic law, competition expresses a causal relationship between the interests of business entities in competition and results in the development of the economy.

In the presence of competition in the market, manufacturers are constantly striving to reduce their production costs in order to increase profits. As a result, productivity is increased, costs are reduced, and the company is able to reduce prices. Competition also encourages manufacturers to improve the quality of goods and constantly increase the variety of goods and services offered. That. manufacturers are forced to constantly fight competitors for buyers in the sales market by expanding and improving the range of high-quality goods and services offered at lower prices. The consumer benefits from this.

Historically, competition arose under conditions of simple commodity production. Each small producer in the process of competition sought to create for himself the most favorable conditions for the production and sale of goods to the detriment of other participants in the market exchange. As the dependence of small commodity producers on the market increases and market fluctuations in prices for the goods they produce, the competitive struggle intensifies. There is a possibility of strengthening the economy, the use of hired workers, the exploitation of their labor, and capitalist competition arises. AT modern conditions Competition also acts as an important means of developing production and exists in various forms, Figure 1.

Figure 1 - Types of competition

According to the methods of implementation, competition can be divided into price and non-price.

Price competition involves selling goods at lower prices than competitors. Price reduction is theoretically possible either by reducing production costs or by reducing profits. Small and medium-sized firms, in order to stay in the market, often settle for small profits. Large enterprises can afford to refuse to make a profit at all for a while in order to ruin competitors with the help of cheap products and force them out of the market. This method of ousting competitors from the market (the method of competition) is also known as the "price war". At one time, the American monopoly Coca-Cola used it when invading the markets of Latin American countries, later in the same way Japanese firms promoted their products in the US and Western Europe. Recently, interest in price competition has revived again due to the introduction of technologies that save resources and, consequently, reduce costs.

Non-price competition is based on the supply of goods more than High Quality, with greater reliability and service life, on the use of advertising methods and other sales promotion methods.

By industry, intra- and inter-industry competition is distinguished.

Intra-industry competition is competition between entrepreneurs producing homogeneous goods for the best conditions for production and marketing, for making super profits.

Interindustry competition is competition between entrepreneurs engaged in various industries production, due to the profitable investment of capital, the redistribution of profits. Since the rate of profit is influenced by various objective factors, its value in different industries is different. However, every entrepreneur, regardless of where his capital is used, strives to get a profit on it no less than other entrepreneurs. This leads to an overflow of capital from one industry to another: from industries with a low rate of profit to industries with a high one.

Competition is also divided into perfect (free) and imperfect (monopolistic).

Perfect competition is characterized by freedom from any kind of regulation: free access to factors of production, free pricing, etc. With this competition, none of the market participants can have a decisive influence on the conditions for the sale of goods.

Monopolistic competition differs mainly in that monopolies have the ability to influence the conditions for the sale of goods.

1. Competitiveness of the enterprise: the search for a definition

Let's start with the basics. Let's try to define the phenomenon of "enterprise competitiveness". It (the definition) is necessary not so much for the sake of observing scientific formalities, but so that both the authors and guests of the project clearly understand the subject of research, what will be discussed further.

Here we encounter our first difficulties. It turns out that despite the fact that the number of dissertations devoted to the topical issues of increasing the competitiveness of enterprises doubles every year, and the concept of "competitiveness" has long been used by Russians and is used at all levels of the scientific and economic life of society, there is no generally accepted definition of the category under consideration by domestic economists. worked out. In confirmation, we give a number of definitions of the competitiveness of an enterprise found in domestic economic literature:

• the ability of the enterprise to produce competitive products, as well as the competitiveness of the enterprise and the possibility of its adaptation to changing competitive conditions;
• the ability of the enterprise to make a profit on invested capital in the short term is not lower than a given profitability;
• the ability of the enterprise to produce products in demand with the effective use of production, human and financial potential;
• the ability of the firm to produce competitive products, the advantage of the firm in relation to other firms in the industry within the country and abroad;
• the real and potential ability of the enterprise, as well as the opportunities it has for this purpose, to design, manufacture and sell goods that, in terms of their price and non-price characteristics, are more attractive to consumers than the goods of competitors;
• the property of the subject of market relations to act on the market on a par with the competing subjects of market relations present there;
• a generalizing characteristic of the enterprise, reflecting the level of efficiency in the use of economic resources relative to the efficiency of the use of economic resources by competitors.

We deliberately do not provide links to bibliographic primary sources, so as not to put pressure on the guests of the project with the big names of the authorities of economic thought. We confine ourselves to pointing out that among the authors of the definitions there are such luminaries of the theory of competitiveness as R. A. Fatkhutdinov and M. Porter, highly respected by us.

The presented definitions of the competitiveness of an enterprise contain extremely heterogeneous elements of the phenomenon under study: from the enterprise's products to the efficiency of using the organization's potential. At the same time, these definitions are just the tip of the iceberg; in the economic literature, you can find dozens of definitions that differ in content. As a result, every economist dealing with the problem of the competitiveness of enterprises is forced to state that "the generally accepted definition of the competitiveness of an enterprise has not been developed, therefore this concept is subject to clarification." After that, with a clear conscience, he gives his own definition, exacerbating the existing variety of concepts and meanings.

The noted connotational confusion, in our opinion, is due to the fact that the competitiveness of an enterprise refers to economic categories, the essence of which does not find its objective expression. Competitiveness is not an immanent, objectively inherent property of an object. It owes its very existence to economic science, which introduced the category under consideration into circulation. In other words, competitiveness finds its expression only in conditions of competition, and does not exist outside of competition.

Yes, but back to the definitions above. Analysis of the proposed definitions, discarding the details, allows us to identify three main approaches to determining the essence of the competitiveness of an enterprise. The essence of these approaches can be briefly summarized as follows:

1. The competitiveness of an enterprise is the competitiveness of its products
2. The competitiveness of an enterprise is the ability to compete
3. The competitiveness of an enterprise is a measure of the effectiveness of its activities.

Let's note one more approach which was not met above. Its supporters believe that the "competitiveness of an enterprise" is a kind of "philosopher's stone" over which economists "meditate" in the hope of finding a single universal indicator that will dot all i's. Simply put, according to the above approach:

1. Enterprise competitiveness is a chimera

On the one hand, the abundance of different approaches, points of view and opinions cannot but rejoice. On the other hand, such pluralism resembles chaos and entails the impossibility of achieving our goal due to the uncertainty of the subject of research. In order to confirm the thesis about the identified connotational confusion, we conducted a survey on the question of whether "What is the competitiveness of an enterprise?".

496 visitors of our project took part in the voting on the question "What is the competitiveness of an enterprise?", which we conducted from January 2009 to January 2012. The votes of the respondents were distributed as follows:

2. Competition and competitiveness: theoretical foundations

2. 1. The concept and essence of market competition

The theoretical foundations of competition began to be laid back in the period of pre-capitalist formations. However, the first most holistic theoretical propositions about competition and its driving forces appeared only in the middle of the 18th century. A huge merit in this belongs to the representatives of classical political economy A. Smith, D. Ricardo. In subsequent periods, the theory of competition received significant development thanks to the works of A. Marshall, J. Keynes, V. Leontiev, J. Schumpeter, P. Sraffa, M. Porter and others.

Competition is a well-known fundamental economic category. However, the term "competition" itself is often understood by economists in different senses.

Etymologically, the word "competition" goes back to the Latin "concurrentia", meaning "collision", "competition". It was the behavioral interpretation of this category that was initially established in the economic literature. Adam Smith, in particular, associated competition with fair competition, without collusion, between market participants for the most favorable conditions for the sale and purchase of goods. He saw price changes as the main method of competition. At the same time, he noticed that a market economy, not controlled by a collective will, not subject to a single plan, nevertheless, follows strict rules of behavior in the market. In accordance with these rules, free competition acts as a force that ensures the interaction of supply and demand, balancing market prices. As a result of the rivalry between sellers and buyers, a common price is established for homogeneous goods and a specific type of supply and demand curves. Thus, competition ensures the functioning market mechanism pricing. At the same time, competition is a mechanism for regulating the proportions of social production, since due to competition, capital is redistributed between industries. Competition is the "invisible hand" that coordinates the activities of market participants.

The ideas of price regulation of the market due to competition were developed by D. Ricardo. The position of perfect competition, whose theoretical model he developed, helped to understand how "natural" prices in long-run equilibrium are combined with the principles decentralized management and how the latter contribute to the development of the economy.

In the future, the behavioral understanding of competition has been improved in the direction of a more precise indication of its purpose and methods of conducting. Thus, in the Marxist interpretation, competition is the antagonistic struggle inherent in commodity production between private commodity producers for more favorable conditions for the production and sale of goods, for obtaining the highest profit.

The neoclassical version of the behavioral interpretation of competition, one of the founders of which is rightly considered the English economist A. Marshall, connects it with the struggle for rare economic goods and, of course, for the consumer's money, with which they can be purchased. The logic of this approach is that most goods (goods, services, resources) are scarce in the sense that their quantity is less than the potential needs of society. Therefore, the owners of goods have the opportunity to distribute them, guided by their own benefit. They set conditions or criteria (the required level of prices, quality, etc.) and, depending on the fulfillment of these conditions, decide who to provide benefits and who not. "Competition is the desire to meet the criteria for access to rare goods as best as possible," the American economist P. Heine believed.

Along with the behavioral interpretation of competition in the 19th and especially in the 20th century, a structural interpretation became widespread. Its origins go back to the works of F. Edgeworth, A. Cournot, J. Robinson, E. Chamberlin and other prominent scientists who laid the foundation for the modern Western theory of competition.

Dissatisfaction with the existing model of perfect competition was caused by excessive attention paid to only one of its types (price competition), and the inability to reveal the essence of competitive activity with its help. Speaking about perfect competition, J. Schumpeter noted: "... This is not the kind of competition that can be attributed to existing products, but this type of competition can be especially relevant when it comes to a new product, new technology, new resources or a new type of organization." F. Hayek spoke more specifically: "... We must take into account the fact that the state structure already exists ... and the process of competition takes place in an already existing system. If the model of perfect competition would ever exist in a real state, then it would not there would be no restrictions in all spheres of activity. But this is actually impossible, since restrictions on the part of the state are vital."

Critics of the perfect competition model pointed to the elements of monopoly that permeate the economy and are not reflected in the existing concept of competition. A significant contribution to the theoretical models of oligopoly and monopoly was later made by F.I. Edgeworth (mathematical description), A.L. Lerner (monopoly power and its evaluation), K. Wicksell (competition and price discrimination), J. Schumpeter, F. Hayek and others.

Thus, by the middle of the 20th century, general ideas about the essence of competition and its main driving forces, expressed in the postulation of four classical models market competition: perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and pure monopoly. The position of this group of scientists in modern Western economics is so strong that the very term "competition" is more often used in the structural sense. If it is necessary to emphasize the behavioral side of competition, they often use a different word - "rivalry" ("rivalry").

With a structural approach, the emphasis shifts from the very struggle of competitors with each other to the analysis of the structure of the market, the conditions that prevail on it. So, in the works of K. R. McConnell and S. L. Brew, it is said that "competition is the presence in the market of a large number of independent buyers and sellers, the opportunity for buyers and sellers to freely enter the market and leave it."

The same idea can be expressed in another way: the focus is not on the rivalry between economic entities in setting prices, not on finding out who won and why, but on establishing the fact that it is fundamentally possible (or impossible) for an individual economic entity to influence the general level of prices in the market. If such an impact is impossible, then we are talking about a market of perfect competition, otherwise - about one of the varieties of imperfect competition.

The third approach to determining the essence of competition can be defined as functional. He considers the role that competition plays in the economy. J. Schumpeter, in particular, within the framework of his theory of economic development, defined competition as a rivalry between the old and the new. Innovations are skeptically accepted by the market, but if the innovator succeeds in implementing them, the competitive mechanism forces out the enterprises using outdated technologies from the market.

F. Hayek considered competition as a "discovery procedure". In his opinion, it is only through competition that the hidden becomes clear in the market. Let's say, in conditions of a lack of information typical for the real market, several possible lines of behavior of the enterprise may initially seem equally attractive. And only competition "discovers" which of them is actually true, and which leads to a dead end.

Having considered the above approaches to the definition of competition, we can conclude that each of them takes into account certain aspects of this concept. However, in our opinion, the essence of competition as an economic phenomenon that determines the activities of specific economic entities in the market most fully reflects the behavioral approach. Thus, for the purposes of this paper, competition can be defined as rivalry between economic units that are interested in achieving the same goal, subject to limited resources contributing to the achievement of this goal. If the goal is specified from the point of view of a market economy, then market competition is the struggle of economic entities for profit. The main way to make a profit in a market economy is the sale of products and the surplus value(hereinafter, products are understood to mean any goods produced and/or sold, works performed or services rendered). At the same time, the activities of economic entities are carried out in conditions of limited resources, necessary for the production of products, and demand for these products from consumers.

The essence of competition and its driving forces are discussed in detail in the writings of the famous contemporary economist Michael Porter. He came to the conclusion that not only direct applicants participate in the competition. Rather, the industry competition that underpins the economy and the competing forces go well beyond the usual squabbles within a single industry. Customers, suppliers, potential entrants, and substitute products are all competitors that influence the industry in one way or another.

The result of Porter's research was the concept five forces of competition allowing to determine the determinants that have the greatest impact on economic entities in the conditions of market competition. According to this concept, the state of competition in a particular market can be characterized as the result of the interaction of five competitive forces:

• the threat of invasion by new competitors;
• the threat of the emergence of substitute products;
• economic potential of suppliers;
• economic potential of buyers;
• rivalry among existing competitors.

These forces ultimately shape the conditions in which a particular market and its constituent units operate. The state of each force and their combined impact determine the company's ability to compete and its competitive potential. On the other hand, the significance of each of the five forces is determined by the structure of the industry, its production, technological, economic and other characteristics. Let's briefly consider each of the presented forces.

Michael Porter notes that competition is a dynamic and evolving process, a constantly changing landscape in which new products, new ways of marketing, new production processes and new market segments appear. Market conditions change because forces are in motion that create the conditions for change. Porter himself identifies no less than eleven main driving forces that change the conditions and nature of competition. Obviously, this list, although quite complete, is not exhaustive. Porter's model of the five forces of competition considered is a conceptual tool for formulating and diagnosing the fundamental structural forces of the mechanism of market competition.

It can be stated that the degree of influence of competitive forces determines the marginal profit potential of the industry. The goal of the enterprise is to find and take a position in the industry where it will be best protected from the influence of these forces or can influence them from its side. An analysis of the observed forces of competition provides a solid foundation for a strategic plan of action. At the same time, each business entity is in a unique competitive situation, which necessitates the search for unique competitive solutions.

An assessment of the forces that influence competition in an industry makes it possible to identify the strengths and weaknesses of an enterprise. Next, an action plan can be drawn up to strengthen existing or conquer new competitive positions in the market, which in general will include positioning the enterprise in such a way that its capabilities provide reliable protection against the forces of competition and / or influence the balance of power through strategic maneuvers, able to improve the positioning of the enterprise, as well as the forecast of changes in competitive factors and responses to these changes in order to gain an advantage by choosing a strategy that is most appropriate for the new competitive balance.

Thus, the main conclusion that can be drawn for the purposes of our study, summarizing the theoretical research of the classics in the field of competition, is that market competition is a dynamic, complex and very complex phenomenon. In a competitive environment, an enterprise is immediately affected by several groups of factors, forming and constantly modifying the competitive environment of its activities. The noted complexity is exacerbated by the fact that each of the mentioned groups, in turn, consists of many elements, and the composition and structure of the elements are unique for each particular enterprise. Because of this, competition cannot be presented as an exhaustive list of competitive forces and factors.

2.2. Enterprise competitiveness

Differences in the approaches of economists in determining the essence of competition are also reflected when considering the category of competitiveness. The main task of each researcher who studies the problems of the competitiveness of an enterprise is to determine the criteria, as well as to find the sources and factors of competitiveness. However, here the colossal connotational confusion, the uncertainty of concepts and meanings becomes obvious. Uncertainty is already revealed at the level of the conceptual apparatus. So, it was already noted earlier that in the economic literature one can find very heterogeneous definitions of the competitiveness of an enterprise. Here they are again, now with attribution:

• the ability of the enterprise to produce competitive products, as well as the competitiveness of the enterprise and the possibility of its adaptation to changing competitive conditions (Adaeva T. Yu.);
• the ability of an enterprise to make a profit on invested capital in the short term not lower than a given profitability (Zabelin P.V.);
• the ability of the enterprise to produce products that are in demand with the effective use of production, personnel and financial potential (Ershova I. V.);
• the ability of the firm to produce competitive products, the advantage of the firm in relation to other firms in the industry within the country and abroad (Fatkhutdinov R. A.);
• the real and potential ability of the enterprise, as well as the opportunities it has for this, to design, manufacture and sell goods that, in terms of their price and non-price characteristics, are more attractive to consumers than competitors' goods (Pichurin I.I.);
• the property of the subject of market relations to act on the market on a par with the competing subjects of market relations present there (Porter M.);
• a generalizing characteristic of the enterprise, reflecting the level of efficiency in the use of economic resources relative to the efficiency of the use of economic resources by competitors (Voronov D.S.).

The reasons for such a plurality of concepts have already been considered earlier. For the purposes of this study, we consider the most adequate definition of competitiveness based on the efficiency of economic activity. Indeed, within the framework of this work, competition is defined as rivalry between economic units interested in achieving the same goal, subject to limited resources contributing to the achievement of this goal. If this goal is specified from the point of view of a market economy, then market competition is the struggle of economic entities for profit.

The main way to make a profit in a market economy is the sale of products and the surplus value embedded in it. At the same time, the production and/or sale of products is carried out through the use of limited economic resources. From this it follows that profit in a market economy is mediated by the efficiency of the use of economic resources or the ratio of the result obtained and the costs incurred to achieve it. Therefore, the essence of market competition is the struggle for maximum profit through the most efficient use of economic resources.

The degree of efficiency in the use of economic resources by an enterprise is determined relative to the achieved social production the level of development of productive forces and, of course, production and other relations, relative to the efficiency of the use of resources by competitors. Thus, the competitiveness of an enterprise in a market economy is a generalizing characteristic of the activity of an economic entity, reflecting the level of efficiency in the use of economic resources by an economic entity relative to the efficiency of the use of economic resources by competitors.

An analysis of the economic literature shows that the competitiveness of an enterprise as an economic category is insufficiently studied in the works of economists. At the same time, most researchers focus their attention on considering either the competitiveness of products or the competitiveness of enterprises based in different countries - at the international level.

The competitiveness of products has been widely studied in the works of both domestic and foreign economists. Most often, the competitiveness of products is understood as such a combination of its use value(usefulness to the consumer) and consumption cost (i.e. the price of consumption, which includes, along with the selling price, operating and other operating costs over the life of the product), which ensures the product's success in the market compared to the same product from other suppliers . In other words, the higher the consumer characteristics and the lower the price of product consumption, the higher its competitiveness. To determine the competitiveness of products, as a rule, marketing and qualimetric methods are used, taking into account a number of factors, among which researchers give paramount importance to the parameters of price and product quality.

In the framework of international competitiveness studies, economists most often focus on the analysis of the macroeconomic conditions of enterprises at the level of the national economy. At the same time, it is concluded that these macroeconomic conditions ultimately determine the degree of competitiveness of enterprises based in the respective countries in the course of international trade.

Here, however, it should be noted that the competitive behavior of enterprises is considered in sufficient detail in the framework of the study of the oligopolistic interaction of competitors, as well as in works on strategic management. The first of these approaches (which was developed in the framework of the structural consideration of competition) is based on the application of mathematical methods of game theory in relation to the choice of a competitive strategy in relation to production volumes and price levels in an oligopoly. In the second case, the necessity of focusing the efforts of the enterprise on the most promising market segments is substantiated. In this case, the criterion for selecting segments, as a rule, is the size and growth dynamics of the segment. Both approaches have in common that they focus on external aspects the choice of tactics and strategy of an enterprise in a competitive environment, which, of course, is significant, but does not allow identifying internal factors and sources of competitiveness of enterprises. Therefore, these approaches are not considered in detail in this study.

Thus, the competitiveness of enterprises as independent economic entities is considered mainly in terms of the competitiveness of products and / or international trade. Without disputing the correctness of this approach in general, we note that the competitiveness of a particular enterprise is determined by many other factors, which cannot be ignored.

We can agree that the competitiveness of products has a significant impact on the competitiveness of an economic entity. However, the competitiveness of an enterprise is a much more capacious concept and includes many aspects of activity in addition to manufactured products: management, marketing, financial policy, operational efficiency, and so on. Because of this, in our opinion, it is unlawful to reduce the competitiveness of an enterprise only to the competitiveness of its products.

The same can be said about international competitiveness. The macroeconomic conditions of business in the home country have a huge impact on the competitiveness of an enterprise at the international level, but far from completely determine the competitiveness of an economic entity. Macroeconomic conditions only create the basis for achieving competitive advantages. The implementation of the existing prerequisites for achieving high competitiveness of a particular enterprise depends on many other factors. Otherwise, absolutely all enterprises based in countries with optimal macroeconomic conditions would be absolutely competitive. Based on the theory of international competitiveness, it is impossible to determine what is the reason for the different competitiveness of enterprises based in the same country. Consequently, the theory of international competitiveness does not give an exhaustive answer to the question of the reasons for the competitiveness of specific enterprises and therefore is not applicable for the purposes of microeconomic analysis of the activities of a particular economic entity. In fairness, we note that researchers of international competitiveness do not set themselves such a task.

At the same time, it should be noted that the very approach of researchers of international competitiveness to determining the factors and sources of competitiveness of competitive entities seems to be quite reasonable and can be taken as a basis for the purposes of this work. In essence, enterprises and industries of different countries, competing on a global scale, appear in the process of international trade as elementary subjects of economic activity. Naturally, the analysis of such an economic category as the competitiveness of an enterprise involves consideration of competition not only in the international, but also in the local markets, which necessitates supplementing and correcting the theory of international competitiveness when considering the competitiveness of an enterprise as such.

At the same time, for the purposes of this study, the application of general principles and concepts of international competitiveness in the course of analyzing the competitiveness of individual enterprises is quite reasonable. Thus, due to the fact that the competitiveness of an enterprise as an independent economic entity has not been sufficiently developed in the economic literature, the main concepts and principles of international competitiveness will be considered in the future with a view to their subsequent adaptation at the enterprise level.

For the first time, an analysis of the competitive advantages of enterprises of a particular country in international trade was given by A. Smith. He linked countries' competitive advantages to lower costs. In his opinion, the country could export those goods for the production of which it spent less than the importing country. If, for example, Sweden, which had iron ore, could produce iron products at a lower cost than France, which had to import metal blanks from somewhere, then it was profitable for Sweden to sell metal products to this country. France, in turn, due to the excellent climatic conditions, grew grapes at low cost and therefore could supply wine to Sweden in exchange for metal products. In general, A. Smith looked at international trade as an exchange between ordinary enterprises: the exchange is beneficial when they acquire such a product, for the manufacture of which the buyer himself would spend more than he pays during the exchange.

D. Ricardo developed the idea of ​​A. Smith regarding competitive advantages. He agreed with A. Smith's premise about lower costs, but considered this condition insufficient for determining the subject of export. D. Ricardo believed that the country should not export any product, but only the one, the sale of which ensures the most efficient use of resources. For example, France produced wheat and grapes at a cost lower than the European average, and therefore could sell both at a profit. But the difference in its costs in the production of grapes in comparison with the European average is greater than in the production of wheat. This means that by concentrating its resources on the production of only grapes, France could gain more than by spending them on both grapes and wheat. And, consequently, said D. Ricardo, it should direct its resources to the cultivation and processing of grapes, the sale of which will bring the maximum benefit.

In the middle of the 19th century, the theory of factors of production appeared (Hechter, Ohlin). According to this theory, all countries have approximately the same technology, but in varying degrees endowed with factors of production (such as land, labor, natural resources and capital). Countries that have enough land suitable for agricultural production are able to sell grain and meat. An example could be the USA, Russia. Countries with a surplus of labor could export labor-intensive products (China, Japan). Finally, countries that accumulated sufficient capital (means of production) could export industrial products (England, Germany). Countries that had coal, iron, could produce metal products.

This concept was widely known in the first half of the 20th century. Of course, even then it should have been accepted with some restrictions. So, arguing that all countries have approximately the same level of technology, the authors unwittingly narrowed the whole world to European civilization, because, of course, it was impossible to compare the technological level, say, China, England and Brazil. In the countries of Europe and the USA, it was possible to approximately compare the technological level, and therefore the authors of the theory of factors excluded it from consideration when analyzing the causes of different levels of costs.

Currently, a number of new theories of international competitiveness have appeared, the analysis of which allows us to conclude that they all focus on any one competitive factor: technology, resources, cost levels, and so on. In our opinion, such emphasis when considering such a capacious economic category as competitiveness is unreasonable. Many examples can be cited, both confirming one or another approach, and refuting it. The thing is that the competitiveness of an enterprise is not determined by any one parameter, but is the result of the interaction of many factors that are unique in each specific situation. In some cases, one or another factor may be decisive, but this should not be the basis for raising it to the rank of generally significant, since the indicated decisive importance can often be achieved only with a given combination of all other factors and parameters.

In view of what has been said, the theory of M. Porter seems to us to be the most integral theory of international competitiveness. Among other things, the choice in favor of the concept of M. Porter is due to the fact that he proceeds from the fundamental principle: competitiveness reflects the productivity of the use of resources. This principle, in our opinion, is valid both at the level of the country's economy as a whole and at the level of an individual enterprise, which allows us to adapt M. Porter's theory of competitiveness for the purposes of our study.

Considering such factors as the availability of labor, the abundance of natural resources, the government's protectionist policy, differences in enterprise management practices, etc., M. Porter came to the conclusion that none of them, taken separately, allows a sufficiently convincing answer to the question what exactly determines the competitiveness of the enterprise.

The level of competitiveness of an enterprise depends on the set factors, which can be conditionally grouped into two blocks: competitive environment and basing. The essence and nature of the influence of factors of the competitive environment can be represented in the form of a model of the five forces of competition, considered in detail. The result of the impact of this block of factors is the appropriate strategic positioning of the enterprise, the degree of adequacy of which to the existing competitive balance is directly related to the level of competitiveness of the enterprise.

On the other hand, in addition to the factors of the competitive environment, the level of competitiveness of an enterprise largely depends on the factors of its location. The influence of this block of factors can be represented as the following system of determinants:

• conditions of production factors;
• demand conditions;
• related, supporting and related enterprises;
• strategy and structure of the enterprise.

The presented determinants determine the presence of an environment in which enterprises arise and enter into competition. Their composition and interaction determine the advantages and disadvantages of the enterprise in the course of competition. Let's briefly consider each of these determinants.

Conditions of factors of production

The conditions of production factors include the endowment with factors of production, the hierarchy between factors of production (basic factors: natural resources, geographical location, unskilled labor, etc., or specialized factors: information infrastructure modern digital databases, a system of research institutes, etc.), the creation of factors of production (investment, basic research, education system, cooperation and coordination with public institutions in innovation process), as well as individual deficiencies in production factors (deficiencies in basic factors, for example: lack of labor, lack of domestic supplies of raw materials and materials, harsh climate, which create obstacles to the innovation process).

Narrowing the focus, we note that the category "provision with factors of production" itself consists of five components: human resources (number, qualification and cost of labor); physical resources (quantity, quality and availability of land, water, minerals, forests, energy sources, climatic conditions and geographical location); knowledge resources (knowledge and information accumulated in databanks and statistical services or access to data accumulated in public institutions); capital resources (the amount of capital that can be attracted by the enterprise); infrastructure (transport system, communication system, housing stock, healthcare and education systems, cultural institutions).

Despite the fact that the availability of basic factors of production has a significant impact on the competitiveness of an enterprise, favorable basic factors do not always contribute to an increase in the competitiveness of an enterprise. Basic factors such as labor resources or local natural resources do not provide an advantage in knowledge-intensive industries. In the complex industries that form the backbone of any advanced economy, the most important are the specialized factors of production, such as a skilled workforce or a scientific and technological base of production. Moreover, these factors are not inherited, but created. Note that the set of factors that an enterprise has at a certain point in time turns out to be less significant than the speed and efficiency of their creation and updating.

Moreover, individual deficiencies in most of the underlying factors can encourage an enterprise to innovate and upgrade, which turns these deficiencies into a source of competitive advantage. If there are favorable underlying factors, the enterprise can simply be content with this advantage and, often, use them inefficiently. The shortcomings of the basic factors stimulate the enterprise to increase production efficiency, which ensures an increase in its competitiveness.

At the same time, disadvantages can become sources of advantages only under certain conditions. First of all, deficiencies should give enterprises the appropriate "signals" about circumstances that are important for competitors, and this stimulates the introduction of innovations ahead of competitors. The second condition is the favorable parameters of the other groups of factors of competitiveness presented above, which provides resources and incentives to overcome the shortcomings of the basic factors of production and turn them into competitive advantages.

Demand conditions

Businesses achieve competitive advantage in those industries or market segments where demand gives them an understanding of customer needs earlier and more accurately than competitors. The group of factors under consideration can, in turn, be represented as the following subsystem: the structure of demand; demanding buyers; exactingness of intermediaries; the amount of demand; number of independent buyers; demand growth rate.

An enterprise has a competitive advantage if local demand provides a clearer or earlier indication of the emerging needs of buyers, provided that demanding buyers put pressure on the enterprise to innovate faster and thus gain a more sophisticated competitive advantage than competitors. In this case, the volume of domestic demand turns out to be much less significant than its nature.

The state of domestic demand helps to create competitive advantages in the event that the corresponding market segment is larger or more visible in the domestic market than in foreign markets, which leads to greater attention from the enterprise. More important than just a set of market segments is the nature of the buyers present in the local market. The company gains a competitive advantage if local customers are the most developed and demanding. They provide a progressive vision of customer needs; forced to adhere to high standards; force to make improvements, innovations, improve and move towards the most developed segments. Local buyers can help a business benefit if their needs anticipate or even shape the needs of buyers in other regions—if these needs provide constant "early warning indicators" of external market trends.

Related, supporting and related businesses

The third determinant that determines the competitiveness of an enterprise is the presence of related, supporting and related enterprises. If we talk about the role of suppliers, then the point is not only that they supply quality materials. Their close contact with the consumer allows both to develop rapidly. The exchange of ideas (they can occur in both of them) and the coordination of actions play a huge role in achieving the competitiveness of enterprises. First of all, they provide the most cost-effective factors of production – in advance, quickly, and sometimes in a privileged way.

Much more important, however, is the advantage that local sister and support enterprises drive innovation and modernization—the advantage is based on close business relationships. Suppliers and end users located close to each other benefit from easier communication, the ability to provide a fast and constant flow of information, and a continuous exchange of ideas and innovations. The enterprise gains the ability to influence the direction in which suppliers take their improvement efforts, and can also act as reference points for testing their research work, thereby accelerating innovation.

An enterprise has special advantages if related, supporting and related enterprises themselves are highly competitive. It is very useful for the enterprise to create "closed" suppliers, completely dependent on the internal industry and not serving external competitors. Internal competition in related industries provides similar benefits: the flow of information and technical exchange increase the speed of innovation and modernization.

Enterprise strategy and structure

This group of factors reflects the specifics of enterprise management and its rivalry with existing competitors and can be represented as the following system of parameters: enterprise goals; individual management goals; social values; risk attitude; influence of prestige of the enterprise; sustainable commitment; personal motivation of employees to work and improve professional skills; nature of competition in the local market.

The conditions in the place where the enterprise is based have a significant impact on how the enterprise will be created, organized and managed, as well as determine the nature of local competition. The competitiveness of an individual enterprise is the result of the confluence of management practices and organizational models that are most preferable for a given area, and the sources of competitive advantages of this enterprise.

Enterprises differ greatly in terms of the goals that organizations as a whole and individuals seek to achieve. To achieve competitive advantages, personal motivation to work and improve professional skills is also essential. The goals of local governments and the values ​​offered to individual citizens and businesses, as well as the prestige that surrounds certain businesses, drive capital and human resources – which in turn directly affects the competitiveness of individual businesses.

Of particular importance among these parameters is local competition, which causes pressure on the enterprise, which forces it to improve and search for new competitive solutions. Local competitors encourage each other to lower prices, improve quality and service, and create new products and processes. In addition, local competition often goes beyond purely economic competition and becomes psychological in nature, becoming a competition of individuals for the right to boast of the results, which is perhaps the most important.

In addition, the presence of strong local competitors cancels out the benefits that come from simply existing in a particular business environment – ​​factor costs, access or privileged access to a local market, or costs to foreign competitors importing into that market. Enterprises are forced to go beyond the above mentioned in creating competitive advantages, resulting in more sustainable advantages. It is strong local competition that drives enterprises to increase their efficiency, conquer other markets and achieve success there.

In addition to the identified determinants within the framework of basing factors, the competitiveness of an enterprise is influenced by random events, in particular: inventions, major technological shifts, unexpected large-scale price changes, wars, and political decisions.

It is important to note that each of the considered components of competitiveness is closely interconnected with other components, all of them taken together make up a dynamic system that is much more complex in its impact on the competitiveness of an enterprise than a simple sum of its components. A weak position in any of the components will limit the competitiveness of the enterprise as a whole, and vice versa, an advantage in one of the components will enhance the positive dynamics of the others.

In conclusion of the section, let us once again pay attention to the fact that the competitiveness of an enterprise at the industry level remains out of the field of view of researchers. The above is obviously interconnected with the above-mentioned lack of a generally accepted definition of the competitiveness of an enterprise and once again indicates that the considered economic category has not yet found proper scientific study.

Competitiveness- is the ability of a particular object or subject to meet the needs of interested parties in comparison with other similar subjects and / or objects. Objects can be goods, enterprises, industries, regions (countries, regions, districts). The subjects can be consumers, producers, the state, investors.

Competitiveness can be determined only by comparing objects or subjects with others among themselves.

Fundamentals of competitiveness management Mazilkina Elena Ivanovna

2.5. Organization competitiveness

Organization competitiveness- This is a relative characteristic that expresses the degree of difference between the development of a given organization and its competitors in terms of the degree to which its products satisfy the needs of people. The competitiveness of an organization characterizes the possibilities and dynamics of its adaptation to the conditions of market competition.

Factors of competitive advantage of the organization are divided into external, the manifestation of which to a small extent depends on the organization, and internal, almost entirely determined by the management of the organization. External factors of the competitive advantage of the organization are determined by the following indicators:

- the level of competitiveness of the country;

- the level of competitiveness of the region;

- the level of competitiveness of the industry;

– governmental support small and medium business in the country and regions;

– legal regulation functioning of the economy of the country and regions;

– openness of society and markets;

- the scientific level of management of the country's economy and other systems;

– national system of standardization and certification;

– state support for science and innovation;

- quality information support management at all levels of the hierarchy;

- the level of integration within the country and within the world community;

– tax rates in the country and regions;

– interest rates in the country and regions;

– availability of accessible and cheap natural resources;

- the system of training and retraining of managerial personnel in the country;

- climatic conditions and geographical location of the country or region;

- the level of competition in all areas of activity in the country.

The value of each benefit can be quantified and analyzed over time. However, it is hardly possible to integrate all the benefits into a single indicator. The more an organization has competitive advantages, the higher its competitiveness, survivability, efficiency and prospects. To do this, it is necessary to improve the scientific level of management and build up new competitive advantages.

Internal factors of competitive advantage include several components:

1. Structural:

– production structure of the organization;

- the mission of the organization;

– organizational structure organizations;

– specialization and concentration of production;

- the level of unification and standardization of products and components of production;

– accounting and regulation production processes;

– staff;

– informational and normative-methodical base of management;

is the strength of competition at the input and output of the system.

2. Resource:

– suppliers;

– access to high-quality cheap raw materials and other resources;

- accounting and analysis of the use of all types of resources at all stages of the life cycle of large objects of the organization;

– optimization of resource use efficiency.

3 . Technical:

- patented goods;

– patented technology;

- equipment;

– quality of production of goods;

4. Managerial:

- managers;

- analysis of the implementation of the laws of the organization;

- organizing the supply of raw materials, materials and components according to the principles of "just in time";

– formation of a management system;

- the functioning of the quality management system in the organization;

– carrying out external and internal certification of products and systems.

5. Market:

- access to the market of resources needed by the organization;

– access to the market of new technologies;

– significant market share;

– exclusivity of the goods of the organization;

– exclusivity of distribution channels;

– efficient system sales and after-sales service;

– forecasting pricing policy and market infrastructure.

6. The effectiveness of the functioning of the organization:

- indicators of profitability (in terms of profitability of products, production, capital, sales);

- the intensity of the use of capital (according to the turnover ratios of types of resources or capital);

- financial sustainability of the organization.

The competitiveness of an organization is determined by the following factors:

1) quality of products and services;

2) the presence of an effective marketing strategy;

3) the level of management and staff qualifications;

4) technological level of production;

5) the tax environment in which the enterprise operates;

6) availability of funding sources.

The competitiveness of an organization is a relative characteristic that expresses the degree of difference between the development of a given organization and its competitors in terms of the degree to which its products satisfy the needs of people. The competitiveness of an organization characterizes the possibilities and dynamics of its adaptation to the conditions of market competition and depends on a number of factors, such as market capacity (number of annual sales), easy access to the market, type of product produced, market homogeneity, competitive position of enterprises already operating in this market, the ability to use of technical innovations.

Assessment of the competitive position of the enterprise in the industry market allows:

– develop measures to improve competitiveness;

– choose partners for organizing joint production;

– to attract investments in promising production;

- draw up programs for the company to enter new markets.

Achieving this goal is possible if there is an operational and objective methodology for assessing competitiveness.

Matrix methods developed by the Boston Consulting Group can be used as methods.

Noteworthy is the method, which is based on the assessment of the company's products - the competitiveness of the manufacturer is higher, the higher the competitiveness of its products. The criterion for assessing the competitiveness of a product is the ratio of price and quality. Quality indicators can be measured different ways, for example, according to the warranty period of operation of a technically complex product.

The method, based on the theory of effective competition, gives an idea of ​​the competitiveness of the enterprise, covers the most important aspects of its economic activity. According to this method, the most competitive are those enterprises where the best way organized the work of all departments and services.

The method is based on the analysis of groups of indicators of enterprise competitiveness.

1. Indicators characterizing the efficiency of the production activity of the enterprise:

- production costs per unit of output in rubles;

- return on assets in value terms;

- profitability of goods;

- labor productivity in value terms per person.

2. Indicators of the financial position of the enterprise:

- coefficient of autonomy, which characterizes the independence of the enterprise from borrowed sources;

– solvency ratio;

– liquidity ratio;

- turnover ratio of working capital.

3. Indicators of the effectiveness of the organization of sales and promotion of goods:

- profitability of sales;

- coefficient of overstocking of finished products;

is the capacity utilization factor.

4. Goods competitiveness indicators:

- product quality;

- the price of the product.

Each group of indicators evaluates a certain area of ​​activity of the enterprise. Together, they provide an opportunity to get an idea of ​​the effectiveness of the management of the production process.

Recently, significant influence has been paid to the key success factors of the enterprise (KSF). It seems that these should include: solvency (1), profitability (2), strategic management (3), adaptability of the management system (4), financial and managerial transparency (5), business manageability (6), investment attractiveness (7) (Fig. 6.).

Rice. 6. Components of the competitiveness of the enterprise

Analyzing the key characteristics of the state of the enterprise and known approaches to assessing and improving its competitiveness, we can formulate the basic principles of the concept of ensuring the competitiveness of enterprises:

- the task of ensuring the competitiveness of the enterprise includes ensuring the competitiveness of products and the enterprise itself;

- it is necessary to allocate different criteria for the competitiveness of the enterprise, depending on the horizon of planning and management at the enterprise;

- the main indicator of the competitiveness of the enterprise at the operational level is the integral indicator of the competitiveness of products;

- at the tactical level, the competitiveness of an enterprise is ensured by its general financial and economic condition and is characterized by a complex indicator of its condition;

- at the strategic level, the competitiveness of an enterprise is characterized by investment attractiveness, the criterion of which is the growth in the value of the business (Fig. 7.).

Rice. 7. The system for ensuring the competitiveness of the enterprise

In the context of the development of market relations, great importance is attached to the management of the competitiveness of organizations focused on the development and expansion of sales markets. There are four strategies to ensure the competitiveness of the organization: violent, patient, commutative, expeller.

violet The strategy involves mass production and delivery to the market of products of acceptable quality for consumers at low production costs, which allows manufacturers to set low prices based on a significant amount of demand. A violent strategy can be carried out large organizations with a stable reputation, gradually mastering significant market segments.

Patient the strategy is designed to conquer and retain relatively narrow market niches within which exclusive goods of a special purpose and of very high quality are sold. Manufacturers and sellers of such goods sell them on the market at high prices for wealthy buyers, which makes it possible to receive high income and significant profits with small sales volumes. Competitiveness is achieved by the sophistication of the product that satisfies the refined tastes and demands, quality indicators that surpass the quality of similar products of competitors.

Commutation the strategy is designed to satisfy not rare, but rapidly changing, short-term needs of consumers in goods and services. Therefore, the commutative strategy is characterized, first of all, by high flexibility, which imposes special requirements on the restructuring of production for the production of periodically updated products.

Typically, such a strategy is followed by non-specialized organizations with fairly versatile technologies and limited production volumes, when the implementation of this strategy does not set the task of achieving high quality and selling at high prices.

Explerent the strategy is based on achieving competitive advantages of the organization through the implementation of constructive and technological innovations that allow them to stay ahead of competitors in the production and supply of fundamentally new types of products to the market, by investing in promising but risky innovative projects. Such projects, if successfully implemented, allow not only to surpass rivals in terms of the quality of products presented on the market, but also to create new markets where for a certain time they may not be afraid of competition, since they are the only producers of a unique product. The implementation of such a strategy requires a large initial capital, scientific and production potential, highly qualified personnel.

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