ENVIRONMENT FOR REALIZING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES OF TRADING ENTERPRISES IN THE CONDITIONS OF EXISTENTIAL CHALLENGES: THEORETICAL PRINCIPLES AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the environment for the realization of competitive advantages of trade enterprises in the conditions of existential challenges that are formed under the influence of military risks, macroeconomic instability, institutional turbulence and digital transformations. The relevance of the topic is due to the need to rethink traditional approaches to ensuring the competitiveness of trade enterprises in conditions of increased uncertainty and structural shifts in the economy of Ukraine. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the theoretical foundations and determine the structural characteristics of the environment for the realization of competitive advantages of trade enterprises, as well as to identify transformations of the mechanisms for their implementation in a crisis environment. The methodological basis is the systemic, structural-functional and institutional approaches, as well as methods of theoretical generalization, comparative analysis and logical-economic modeling. The article summarizes the evolution of scientific approaches to the interpretation of competitive advantages (industry, resource, the concept of dynamic capabilities, institutional approach) and identifies the specifics of their manifestation in trade activities. The author's clarification of the category "environment for the implementation of competitive advantages" is proposed as an integrated space of interaction of economic, institutional, logistical, digital and social factors that ensure the conversion of the internal potential of the enterprise into a sustainable market result. The structural components of the environment for the implementation of competitive advantages are identified: macroeconomic and security, institutional and regulatory, industry-competitive, logistics and infrastructure, digital and technological and social and behavioral. It is proven that in the conditions of existential challenges, the mechanisms for the implementation of competitive advantages are transformed: the role of financial stability, logistical flexibility, digitalization of business processes, partner networks and social responsibility is increasing. The practical significance of the results lies in the possibility of using the proposed approach to form strategies for increasing the competitiveness of trade enterprises in the conditions of war and post-crisis economies.