The assessment of competitiveness and the formation of competitive advantages of an economic entity

The article reflects the analysis and publications research results which enabled to conclude that the issues of assessment of the economic entities competitiveness require further study. The list of tasks regarding the formation of competitive advantages of the enterprise is not fully developed and requires clarification and development. It is determined that the necessity to overcome the crisis in Ukraine led to the development of competitive relations and the competitive economy as a whole, not all the domestic enterprises are ready to compete. The approaches of scientists to the definition of the economic essence of the concepts such as “competition”, “competitiveness” and “competitive advantages” are analyzed. The experience of domestic and foreign scientists regarding the study of the existing and the formation of new competitive advantages of economic entities is summarized. It is identified that the researches of Professor of Harvard Business School M. Porter who developed the theory of competitive advantages were the most significant in this issue. It is revealed that competitiveness can only be assessed within a group of enterprises that produce the same goods. A large number of methods aimed at the evaluation of the enterprise competitiveness and its competitive position on the market are investigated: the model of the Boston consultative group; the model of M. Porter; GAP analysis method; McKinsey method; LOTS method; an object profile studying method; situational analysis (SWOT analysis); PEST analysis, expert assessment method; financial and economic method and others. It is noticed that the listed enterprise competitiveness assessment methods are characterized by the certain advantages and disadvantages which determine the possibility and expediency of their usage by domestic enterprises. The most complete information on the competitive advantages of an enterprise on the market can be obtained using several assessment methods at the same time. It is set that the modern science knows six main approaches to the competitiveness assessment. It is determined that the functional approach to the enterprise competitiveness assessment seems to be the most accurate and it maximally reflects the market situation. The author of the publication adapted the indicators of all groups of the functional approach to the domestic forms of financial statement. The opinions of the domestic and foreign scientists regarding the dependence of acquiring and maintaining the competitive advantages of the enterprise from their sources are generalized.