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Economy of the enterprise - Pokropivny SF

SECTION 1. ENTERPRISE IN THE MODERN ECONOMIC SYSTEM

Chapter 1. Enterprise as a business entity

Key concepts and terms

The enterprise (firm); The law on enterprises; Articles of association; Cooperative; The lease enterprise; joint-stock company; The structure of the enterprise is production and general; association; corporation; concern; Holding .

1.1. Concept of the purpose and direction of activity

The concept of activity and its goals. Any society to provide a normal (fairly comfortable) level of its vital activity carries many types of specific work. To this end, people create certain organizations (labor collectives) that jointly perform a mission (implement a program or goal) and act on the basis of certain rules and procedures. However, the goals and the nature of the activities of such numerous organizations are different. On this basis, they can be divided into two groups: entrepreneurial (commercial) , existence of which is provided at the expense of own funds, and non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) , which function and develop due to state budgetary financing. Organizations with entrepreneurial nature of activities are called enterprises .

The enterprise is an organizationally separated and economically independent main (primary) link in the production sphere of the national economy that manufactures products (performing work or providing paid services).

Each enterprise is a historically established concrete (plant, factory, mine, power station, workshop, atelier, etc.) and may include several production units (combine, production association). In most countries with developed market economies such production units are called firms.

The term "firm" is understood by enterprises that carry out economic activities in the sectors of industry, construction, agriculture, transport, trade, etc. with the aim of obtaining the final financial result - profit. Each firm determines its brand name, under which it is recorded in the state register of the country. The firm name, as a rule, includes the name and surname of one or several owners of the firm, reflects the nature of its activities, legal status and form of management. In some countries, more common company names are common. For example, in England they have the name of companies, the US - corporations, countries of continental Europe - societies.

It is important to know that every enterprise or firm is a legal entity, has a closed accounting and reporting system, an independent balance sheet, a bank account, a seal with its own name, and a trademark in the form of a specific term, symbol, figure or combination thereof . The trademark (brand) serves to identify the goods or services of the producer (seller) so that they can be easily distinguished in the market from the products (services) of competitors.

For effective management, it is essential to determine the goals of the establishment and operation of the enterprise (firm). The general (main) goal of the enterprise, that is, the clearly defined cause of its existence, is commonly called the mission in the world economy. In most cases, the mission of a modern enterprise (firm) is the production of products (services) to meet the needs of the market and obtain the maximum possible profit.

On the basis of the general mission of the enterprise, company-wide goals are formulated and set, which must meet certain requirements:

First, the objectives of the enterprise should be specific and measurable . Formulation of goals in specific forms creates an initial reference frame for subsequent correct economic and social decisions. Due to this, it is possible to determine more justifiably how efficiently the enterprise (firm) acts to fulfill its goals;

Second, the objectives of the enterprise should be time-oriented , that is, have specific horizons for forecasting. Goals are usually set for long or short periods of time. The long-term goal has a forecast horizon equal to five years (sometimes 7-10 years) for technologically advanced firms; Short-term - within one year;

Thirdly, the objectives of the enterprise should be achievable and ensure an increase in the effectiveness of its activities. Unattainable or achievable only partially goals lead to negative consequences: blocking the desire of workers to effectively manage, reduce the level of their motivation, worsen the performance of the enterprise's innovative, production and social activities, reduce the competitiveness of its products in the market;

Fourthly, from the perspective of the dynamics of production efficiency, the multiple objectives of the enterprise must be mutually supportive , that is, the actions and decisions necessary to achieve one goal can not prevent the realization of other goals. Other can lead to the emergence of a conflict situation between the divisions of the enterprise (firm), responsible for achieving various objectives.

Ultimately, the objectives of the enterprise (firm) should be clearly formulated for each type of its (its) activities, which is important for the business entity, which seeks to see and measure the results of this activity. The consistency of the mission of the enterprise, its multiple goals and activities is shown in Fig. 1.1.

Fig. 1.1. The interrelation and coherence of the mission, multiple goals and activities of the enterprise (firm)

It is also worth noting that the objectives of the enterprise (firm) will become an important part of strategic planning only if they are not only correctly formulated and effectively systematized, but also to inform all the personnel about them and to work out an effective system of stimulating their achievement.

Activity orientation. In the practice of economics, each enterprise (firm) as a complex production and economic system carries out many specific types of activities that, based on the criterion of affinity, can be combined into separate main directions (Figure 1.2).

Fig. 1.2. Mutually agreed main lines of activity of enterprises (firms) - producers

In accordance with the logic and consistency of the process of reproduction, the determining direction of activity of each enterprise is the study of the commodity market , or situational analysis . Such an analysis should provide for a comprehensive study of the market, the level of competitiveness and product prices, other requirements of buyers of goods, methods of forming demand and channels of commodity circulation, external and internal environment of the enterprise.

The results of the study of the commodity market serve as a basis for substantiating concrete ways of improving and developing the innovative activity of the enterprise (firm) for the long-term period. Innovative activity covers scientific and technical developments, technological and design preparation of production, introduction of technical, organizational and other innovations, the formation of investment policy for the coming years, the determination of the volume of necessary investments, etc.

The next, and the most complex in terms of organizational and technical tasks, is the production activity of the enterprise (firm), its organization and operational regulation in space and time. Of the total number of ongoing activities that make up the production activities, the most important ones are: to justify the volume of manufacturing of products of a certain range and assortment in accordance with the needs of the market; The formation of marketing programs for individual markets and each product, their optimization with respect to the production capabilities of the enterprise; Balancing the production capacity and output program for the current and each subsequent year of the forecast period; Ensuring production with the necessary material and technical resources; Development and observance of time-coordinated operational-calendar production schedules.

The effectiveness of innovation and production processes that are constantly carried out at each enterprise (firm) is determined by the level of the commercial activity of the enterprise (firm), whose significance in the market conditions substantially increases. This is obvious, since the financial performance of production depends most on the scale and quality of this particular area of ​​the enterprise's activity, which most fully characterizes the value of the profit received. A prerequisite for achieving the desired success of commercial activity is effective advertising and direct marketing of its products, development of the commodity exchange system, proper stimulation of buyers.

Another important area of ​​activity of the enterprise (company), which completes the successive cycle of the reproductive process, is the after-sales service of many types of goods - machinery and equipment, cars, computer, copying, medical, sophisticated household appliances, other products for production, technical and consumer purposes. The after-sales service covers start-up operations in the field of operation (use) of goods purchased in the market, their warranty maintenance for a certain period, provision with necessary spare parts, repairs during the normal service life, etc. It is an important source of information for producers about the reliability and durability of manufactured equipment, as well as the necessary operating costs. This information is used to improve the product, optimize the timing of renewal of its range and range.

To the integrated direction encompassing many specific types, the economic activity of the enterprise (firm) belongs. In particular, it includes: strategic and current planning, accounting and reporting, pricing, wage system, resource support for production, foreign economic and financial activities, etc. This direction is crucial for the assessment and regulation of all elements of the management system in the enterprise. The content of certain types of economic activities of the enterprise (firm) will be described in more detail in the relevant chapters of the textbook.

Of particular importance is social activity , since it significantly affects the effectiveness of all other areas and specific types of activities (innovation, production, commercial, economic), the effectiveness of which directly depends on the level of professional training and competence of all categories of workers, the effectiveness of the applied motivation mechanism, At the appropriate level of working conditions and the life of the work collective. Therefore, effective personnel management should become a priority and the most important area of ​​activity of each enterprise (firm) in a socially oriented market economy.