Ways to increase the competitiveness of the enterprise



The article defined the competitiveness of an enterprise, considered the factors influencing it, and discussed ways to improve it. In a market economy, it becomes obvious that increasing the competitiveness of both an individual firm and the entire national economy is a prerequisite for the successful integration of the country into the global economy.

Keywords: Enterprise competitiveness, advantage, market, competitive advantage, after-sales service, product competitiveness

The term «competitiveness» is widely used not only in academic circles, but also in the business environment. Economists, accountants, managers and entrepreneurs use it to describe a country's ability to integrate into the global economic system. Increasing competitiveness is becoming one of the key conditions for a country's successful entry into the international capital market.

Today, achieving business success becomes a challenge without a well-thought-out plan, strategic planning for its effective development, systematic collection of information about one's own prospects and opportunities, as well as analysis of the competitive situation in target markets [1–2].

There is often a competition problem in the market when several manufacturers offer products with similar characteristics to the same target audience. The competitiveness of an enterprise is defined as a relative characteristic reflecting the uniqueness of the company's offer to meet customer needs.

An enterprise is considered competitive if its products satisfy the consumer and encourage him to re-purchase.

The competitiveness [2–4] of an enterprise includes various aspects, including product quality, pricing, management efficiency, innovative practices, market conditions and staff qualifications. However, despite all these factors, marketing is key.

Marketing is aimed at identifying the basic needs of customers, taking into account changes in their preferences, assessing market prospects, as well as developing and implementing strategies to increase competitiveness. The presence of competition is a prerequisite for determining competitiveness.

The competitiveness of products means their ability to attract customers and meet the demands of the market, where similar products from competitors are presented. This is determined by the quality and price of the product set by the sellers, as well as factors such as fashion, manufacturer's image, advertising, fluctuations in demand and the market situation.

Thus, the competitiveness of products is determined by their advantages in the market over similar products [5]. This concept is based on economic, technical and consumer indicators, such as the technical level of the product, the purchase price and the cost of its use. Monitoring is carried out by comparing these indicators with similar products from competitors.

Various authors often use terms such as quality, usefulness, attractiveness, price-quality ratio, ability to implement and resistance to competition to define competitiveness. We believe that competitiveness is a systemic indicator of a product, the result of the work of all marketing elements, which provides a competitive advantage in the market.

The competitiveness of an enterprise is a complex concept that means an advantage over other enterprises in the industry in the country and abroad.

The basis for the formation of the competitiveness of an enterprise is the system of its competitive advantages. For a more systematic approach to the study of competitive advantages, it is proposed to classify them according to the following criteria:

— Attitude to the system: how advantages interact and affect other aspects of the company's activities.

— The sphere of privileges: where and how advantages arise.

— The content of the advantage factor: what exactly causes the advantage.

— The place of realization of the advantage: where it manifests itself and how it affects the company's activities.

— Benefit realization time: when benefits become relevant and how long they last.

— Type of end result: what are the specific benefits or goals achieved through benefits.

To automate the process of accounting and analyzing the competitiveness of an enterprise, it is necessary to codify the presented competitive advantages and then encode them [6–7]. This will allow you to systematize and standardize information, facilitating its processing and analysis. Codification can be carried out by assigning unique codes or symbols to each competitive advantage based on the selected classification features. This approach will effectively organize the storage and access to data on competitive advantages, which in turn will provide a more accurate and rapid analysis of the competitiveness of the enterprise.

The factors of an organization's competitive advantage are divided into internal ones, which largely depend on the organization's management, and external ones, whose appearance is less controlled by the organization.

Typical competitive advantages include structural, market, technical, resource, managerial and efficiency.

Such indicators as production costs, market share, possession of advanced technologies, sales strategy, product characteristics and popularity of the enterprise are often used as indicators of competitive advantages.

From the various interpretations of the concept of enterprise competitiveness, the following features can be distinguished:

— The environmental and social environment has an impact on the company's competitive advantages.

— The competitiveness of the enterprise and its products are closely linked.

— Competitiveness is a relative indicator that is compared with similar indicators of competitors.

— Competitiveness is the ability to outperform competitors in accordance with all standards.

— The competitiveness of an organization reflects its attractiveness to investors.

— The competitiveness of an enterprise shows its ability to withstand competition in the market.

— The competitiveness of an enterprise depends on the scale and efficiency of the use of all its resources.

— The competitiveness of an enterprise develops over time and depends on external and internal factors.

— The competitiveness of an enterprise reflects its level of development in terms of the degree of satisfaction of demand for its products and the efficiency of production activities.

The competitiveness of products plays a key role in ensuring the competitiveness of the enterprise, which implies the possibility and necessity of its management. Modeling of competitiveness indicators is carried out at the product design stage [3–5]. To ensure the success of the product, the task of marketing specialists is to determine the parameters of quality, service and price, as well as to develop strategies of The ratio of price, quality and service is the basis for ensuring the competitiveness of the product. However, success or failure may also depend on other factors, such as advertising. The impact of marketing on competitiveness is limited at the sales stage, as it is formed at the design and production stages or after-sales service.

Increasing competitiveness is an urgent problem of our time, and its solution is associated with improving all stages of the product development, production, sales and maintenance process. Through these efforts, the following results can be achieved:

— Product quality improvement;

— Reduction of production costs;

— Increasing the efficiency and efficiency of after-sales service;

— Stimulating marketing efforts.

The elements of competitiveness are multifactorial characteristics considered as independent objects of management. The interaction and coordination of these factors play an important role in ensuring the competitiveness of the enterprise.

The strategic method of managing the competitiveness of enterprises is of key importance for improving their competitiveness [5,6]. There are several basic strategies:

1. Violent strategy: based on the use of force and aggressive methods to achieve market leadership. It includes the desire to dominate and eliminate competitors.
2. A patent (niche) strategy: involves concentrating efforts on a specific market segment or niche where the company can ensure high competitiveness and efficiency.
3. Commutative (connecting) strategy: focused on combining various methods and approaches to create a unique competitive advantage. It includes a combination of power and positional methods.
4. An exploratory (pioneer) strategy: consists in the development of new market segments or the development of innovative products and services, which allows the company to become a pioneer in the market.

Each of these strategies has its own characteristics and can be effective in certain market conditions and business areas. The choice of an appropriate strategy depends on the goals and resources of the enterprise, as well as on the analysis of the external and internal environment.

Michael Porter's theory of competitive advantage identifies two main sources of advantage: costs and marketing.

The cost advantage is related to competitiveness, resulting from lower marketing and production costs compared to competitors. This allows the company to reduce prices or use savings on advertising and distribution.

Advantages in marketing are the competitiveness of products that better meet the needs of customers compared to competitors' products.

A company that achieves success in marketing is mainly focused on the consumer. However, a firm seeking a cost advantage also cannot ignore the consumer, otherwise its competitive advantage will be unsustainable.

A marketing advantage in the market means that certain properties of a company's goods or services are more attractive to consumers than those of competitors. It is usually based on the uniqueness of a product or service.

Ensuring the competitiveness of an enterprise includes a certain system. The theoretical problem of ensuring the competitiveness of products in production is considered as a structure and as a process.

Ensuring competitiveness as a process is the implementation of scientific approaches, methods, principles, tools and measures developed to ensure the competitiveness of manufactured goods. This process covers all stages of the management and life cycle of managed objects.

The competitiveness system as a structure includes the external environment of the company and its internal structure aimed at ensuring the competitiveness of its products. This is a system that takes into account external factors and internal resources of the enterprise to ensure its competitiveness.

To compare the effectiveness of advertising activities of a certain enterprise with a competitor, the following features can be used:

1. Product: brand, various assortment, general quality indicators, packaging quality, pre-sale levels, after-sales service levels, market share, sales rate of change.
2. Price: price level, flexibility of pricing policy, prices for new products.
3. Product distribution: sales volume through various sales channels, the number of agents and sales staff, their skill level, the effectiveness of sales channels;
4. The level of advertising activity of the company is assessed by the following indicators: advertising budget, type of advertising used by the media, level and method of promotion, use of personal sales, availability of special units for public relations.

To increase the competitiveness of the enterprise, it is worth carrying out the following activities:

1. Ensuring the competitiveness of products in the main market sectors: analysis of market requirements and development of products that meet these requirements.
2. Increasing the productivity of companies and their divisions to a high level in the industry: optimizing business processes, introducing modern equipment and technologies, improving resource management.
3. Continuous use of new technologies: monitor innovations in your industry and adapt them to improve production efficiency and product quality.
4. Production of a product of domestic and world quality standard: striving to meet all quality requirements, both in the domestic and global markets.
5. Production of products from high-quality raw materials: ensuring a high standard of input materials to obtain high-quality products.
6. Continuous staff training and professional development: investing in employee education and development to improve production processes and innovation.
7. Systematic economic analysis to identify strengths and weaknesses in comparison with competitors: constant monitoring of the market and analysis of the competitive environment to make effective strategic decisions.

A competitive enterprise should have the following internal advantages:

— Product competitiveness: Products must meet market requirements and be attractive to consumers, have high quality, functionality and competitive price.

— The financial condition of the company: Stable financial performance, adequate management of financial resources, sufficient liquidity and profitability.

— Effectiveness of marketing activities: Active promotion of products on the market, the ability to identify consumer needs and adapt marketing strategies to them.

— Profitability of sales: High marginality and effective cost management, which ensures profitability in the sale of products.

— The company's image: Good reputation and image in the market, trust of consumers and partners, attractiveness for employees and investors.

— Management effectiveness: Professional business management, competent strategic and operational decision-making, ability to implement set goals and objectives.

By focusing on the consumer sector, improving product quality and effectively selling goods and services, an enterprise can achieve an increase in its competitiveness. The successful use of its internal resources, including financial, scientific, technical, production and labor capabilities, allows the company to effectively compete in the market and achieve its goals.

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