METHODOLOGICAL BASIS OF FORMING A MECHANISM FOR MANAGEMENT OF THE COMPETITIVENESS OF AGRI-FOOD PRODUCTS

Abstract

The article provides a theoretical and methodological justification for the principles of forming a mechanism for managing the competitiveness of agri-food products under the conditions of dynamic transformation of the market environment and increasing military, economic, and logistical challenges. The evolution of scientific views on the content of the category "management mechanism" is examined, and the feasibility of conceptually distinguishing between managing an enterprise's competitiveness as a business entity and directly managing agri-food products is argued. The emphasis is on shifting the center of managerial influence toward the product characteristics that determine consumer value in target markets.

The essence of the mechanism for managing product competitiveness as a holistic, open, structurally ordered, and adaptive system of interconnected subjects, goals, principles, functions, methods, resources, levers, tools, and information and analytical support aimed at creating, implementing, maintaining, and developing competitive advantages is specified. The basic structural components of the mechanism (target, subject-object, methodological, functional, resource, organizational, instrumental, information and analytical, and result-evaluation) are systematized, and their functional purpose is determined.

A structural and functional model of the mechanism is proposed, reflecting the architecture of interactions among the controlling and managed subsystems, resource and analytical blocks, the processes of transforming factors into competitive advantages for products, performance assessment, and cyclical feedback. A conceptual approach to building a mechanism that integrates a relatively stable structural and functional core with variable contours of modern components (digital, innovative, environmental, logistical, institutional, resilient, inclusive, integrative, and social) is scientifically substantiated. The practical value of the proposed approach lies in ensuring the flexibility to adjust the mechanism to the specifics of the product, the conditions of the target market, and the current environmental challenges.