ASSESSMENT OF THE COMPETITIVENESS OF DOMESTIC ENTERPRISES OF THE AGRO-FOOD SECTOR IN THE CONTEXT OF STRATEGY FORMATION FOR THEIR ENTRY AND ACTIVITY IN FOREIGN MARKETS

Abstract

The issue of managing the competitiveness of domestic agricultural enterprises and their products in the world market, which amounts to ensuring, supporting, and developing it (competitiveness), is primarily associated with the clarification of the concept “competitiveness” and its adequate assessment, as effective management is only possible when advantages and disadvantages are objectively evaluated. The article proposes an author’s view of the category “competitiveness of the enterprise”. The “competitiveness of the enterprise” is described as an assessment category and criterion of the capabilities of the enterprise to create competitive advantages based on the critical factors of suc-cess in the specific industry-market segment (IMS) of a certain business and to adapt to changes in this business-environment and, subsequently, achieve better results there than existing or potential competitors. In the context of such interpretation of the competitiveness of the enterprise we will consider in future publications alternative methodologies of its assessment and a universal mechanism of ensuring it (as a set of means, forms, and measures) within a certain integrated (resource-market) approach, which should be personified for each particular enterprise depending on the industry-market segment of its business activity, specifics of the value chain for the formation of the consumer value of the business product of this enterprise (the value chain) and its competitive position in a particular IMS, evaluated ac-cording to the appropriate methodology, the choice of which is dictated primarily by the presence of the appropriate (necessary, to assess the competitive position of the enterprise, its competitive power, i.e., competitiveness according to this methodology) information about this IMS of doing business. As a key aspect and stage in the process of managing the competitiveness of the enterprise, which covers the issues of its assessment, support, and development, the proce-dure of its assessment is considered. Various approaches, methods, and methodologies for its assessment in both tacti-cal and strategic contexts are analyzed. Actually, adequately assessed competitiveness of the enterprise considering its competitive position in the IMS, on one hand (market aspect), and taking into account its specifics of the value chain, on the other hand (resource aspect), allows to determine appropriate measures to increase its competitiveness in a certain business in a particular market. This should be enabled by the alternative methods, methodologies, and indicators of enterprise competitiveness assessment discussed and analyzed in this article, which may be applied to determine the level and parameters of the competitiveness of domestic agro-food enterprises considering the opportunities and threats of their business activity in the conditions of external economic liberalization (as a manifestation of economic globali-zation) both in the national and global market.