IMPROVING THE COMPETITIVENESS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES BASED ON INVESTMENT AND INNOVATION DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Introduction. The current development of Ukraine’s agricultural sector is taking place under the influence of wartime risks, European integration commitments, and digital transformation, which significantly increases the requirements for the competitiveness management system of agricultural enterprises. Traditional sources of competitiveness — low labour costs, access to fertile land, and favourable location — are gradually losing their sufficiency as a basis for long-term economic success. Maintaining the competitive positions of Ukrainian agricultural enterprises cannot be achieved solely through compensatory support; it requires systemic investments in machinery, logistics, processing, digital technologies, and energy efficiency. At the same time, the requirements of the European Green Deal, the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU, and sustainable development standards are shaping new conditions of competition. This actualises the need to substantiate a competitiveness management system based on investment and innovation development as an integrative foundation for the formation of sustainable competitive advantages.

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to provide a theoretical substantiation of the conceptual foundations for improving the competitiveness management system of agricultural enterprises based on investment and innovation development, and to develop a holistic vision of the mechanism for integrating investment and innovation components into the management practice of agricultural entities.

Materials and methods. The methodological basis of the study is formed by the theoretical generalisation of approaches to understanding the competitiveness management system and investment and innovation development of agricultural enterprises. The following methods were applied: structural and logical analysis — to substantiate the system-forming role of investment and innovation development in shaping competitive advantages; comparative analysis — to assess the dynamics of capital investments and state support instruments; classification — to systematise the factors of competitiveness formed under the influence of investment and innovation activity; graphical method — to visualise the conceptual model of the improved management system; and generalisation — to formulate conclusions.

Results. It is substantiated that investment and innovation development constitutes a system-forming basis for managing the competitiveness of agricultural enterprises, rather than a parallel direction of modernisation. Its content is clarified as a purposeful and managed process of qualitative transformation of the enterprise’s production and economic system, ensuring the formation of long-term competitive advantages. The factors of competitiveness are systematised into five groups — production-technological, resource-market, organisational-managerial, digital-informational, and ecological-reputational — with reference to instruments of investment and innovation influence. Four groups of systemic problems related to the integration of the investment and innovation component into management practice are identified: financial-resource, personnel-competence, institutional-regulatory, and informational-methodological. A modular-functional conceptual model of the improved management system has been developed, encompassing five interrelated blocks and based on the principles of systemicity, integration, and adaptability.

Prospects. Further improvement of the competitiveness management system of agricultural enterprises requires the development of methodological tools for the quantitative assessment of the level of investment and innovation development, the formation of relevant indicators, and the empirical testing of the proposed model at enterprises of different organisational and legal forms and scales. Another promising research direction is the substantiation of state policy instruments aimed at stimulating investment and innovation activity in the agricultural sector under the conditions of European integration, digital transformation, and post-war recovery.