ECONOMIC SECURITY OF THE ENTERPRISE: GENESIS AND CONTEMPORARY PRIORITIES IN ENSURING IT

Abstract

The issue of security remains consistently relevant for any socio-economic system, as it determines its capacity to exist and develop. In the context of an enterprise, these foundations are complicated by interconnections within the security hierarchy: enterprises create jobs and thereby influence the personal security of each employee, while simultaneously functioning as primary units of the economy that directly shape all parameters of the state’s existence. In general, economic security cannot be disregarded, particularly not as a matter solely concerning owners. Its significance is considerably broader, thus requiring the consolidation of efforts by the state, academia, and business. This study is aimed at clarifying the content of the concept of “economic security of the enterprise” by tracing its relationship with related terms such as “security” and “economic security,” identifying the stages of its evolution in the context of Ukrainian enterprises, and critically examining the most prominent approaches. To establish the theoretical foundations for ensuring the economic security of the enterprise, the following methods were applied: induction and deduction, comparison and systematization—when examining the essential characteristics of the terms “security,” “economic security,” and “economic security of the enterprise”; synthesis and analysis—to trace the stages of evolution of economic security within Ukrainian enterprises; morphological analysis—to critically review established approaches and substantiate the author’s position regarding security, economic security, and enterprise economic security; graphical methods—for the visual presentation of theoretical and methodological material; and the abstract-logical method—for theoretical generalizations and conclusions of the study. Contemporary aspects of the interpretation of security have been refined, allowing it to be understood as a state, a process, and a qualitative characteristic that determine the ability to maintain viability and develop under any conditions and varying degrees of factor influence. It has been established that the issue of economic security was among the most complex challenges during the modern stage of Ukraine’s state formation, which subsequently stimulated scientific inquiry at the micro level. Over the past thirty-five years, the perception of economic security at the level of individual enterprises has undergone significant changes, as evidenced by the diversity of contemporary approaches to its interpretation. The author’s perspective on the economic security of the enterprise differs by emphasizing the advantages formed within the security hierarchy, with a focus on the importance of effective security activities for achieving objectives and ensuring development.