ON THE ISSUE OF THE ESSENCE OF COMPETITIVENESS OF THE ENTERPRISE

Abstract

The article is devoted to the issues of competitiveness of the enterprise. The author proceeded from the fact that competition is one of the most crucial driving mechanisms for a modern entrepreneur. Competition, in the most generalized version, is a motivational factor for practical entrepreneurship and a determinant of the efficiency and effectiveness of the business unit. Given this, competitiveness characterizes the ability of economic agents to function in a changing environment. The article provides a comparative analysis of the positions of leading scientists on the essence of the concept of «competitiveness». It is noted that competitiveness is characterized by the presence of many approaches and, accordingly, a plurality of criteria for its assessment. It is argued that the difference in theoretical approaches to the essence of competitiveness also determines the existence of many methodological approaches to determining its level. The author emphasizes that competitiveness is a dynamic value. Therefore, competitiveness management must take into account changes in the internal and external environment of the enterprise. It is argued that the concept of competitiveness is being transformed immanently to the processes taking place in the global economy. The most indicative in this context are the processes of informatization and digitalization. In particular, the article emphasizes that in recent decades information and knowledge have become a full-fledged production resource for enterprises. Accordingly, the knowledge management system is becoming a full-fledged subsystem of corporate governance and determines the change in approaches to assessing competitiveness. Similarly, the competitiveness of a business unit is influenced by technological progress, because access to technologies in all industries is the key to market success. The article emphasizes that the competitiveness of an enterprise, although it characterizes its market positioning, is largely determined by its internal environment. Accordingly, due to a combination of various factors, an enterprise can both achieve progress in competitiveness and lose in its assessments.