Factor analysis of product cost and enterprise competitiveness

Effective and meaningful factor analysiscost of production allows you to explore all factors that affect the formation of production costs. It includes the study of both constant factors and variables, as well as the relationship between them. Current trends in the development of market relations convincingly demonstrate the growing influence of such an indicator as the competitiveness of the goods that the enterprise represents in the relevant market.

Studies show that if the competitiveness of goods tends to decrease, then among the main reasons for this process at the micro level are:

• insufficient degree of market adaptation of the company;
• reduction of internal competition;
• passive strategy of the enterprise, limiting its innovative and investment activity (restraining the introduction of measures to improve the quality of goods);
• moral and physical wear and tear of equipment;
• insufficient professionalism in the management of the company;
• low level of staff motivation for effective work;
• high level of resource intensity of products in production costs;
• cost-based pricing strategy.

The modern factorial analysis of the cost of production and the level of its competitiveness allows us to formulate the following directions for raising it:

• rational use of resources that provide market advantages;
• formation of a competitive atmosphere;
• development and introduction of competitive strategies by enterprises;
• marketing activities to generate demand for goods;
• providing the enterprise with resources and information;
• development of intellectual potential in the intangible assets of the enterprise, the realization of which ensures the production of science-intensive goods;
• the introduction of scientific discoveries, inventions, the use of technological breakthroughs, stimulating the increased demand for new products;
• creation of such conditions for the formationeconomic freedom and market pricing, which allow an enterprise with limited resources to effectively solve three important problems of the economy: what, how and for whom to produce;
• planning of the cost price of production;
• improvement of systems and strategies of state regulation.

Factor analysis of the cost of productionshows that the management of the competitiveness of goods in enterprises is based on planning, stimulating and evaluating its level, including an assessment of overall efficiency (its economic and financial situation, technical and technological status, levels of production and management). All this, with state support, allows us to create a system for ensuring the competitiveness of goods, which includes:

1. a set of measures to improve social andtechnical and technological level of the enterprise (strengthening the innovation base and improving the organization of innovation, accelerated implementation of investment policies implemented in accordance with the priorities of the enterprise development, cardinal restructuring of the training system, improving production conditions, switching to modern methods of analyzing the cost of production, clarifying functions and improving quality management of goods and labor, certification and standardization of products);
2. the development of economic, technical, organizational and social activities (which factor analysis of the cost of production includes as a basic) to reduce the resource intensity and costs;
3. perfection of service maintenance, the organization of advertising and studying of a commodity market of the goods;
4. introduction of a new management systemcompetitiveness, which involves the organization of effective activity of all employees in solving the problems of product quality; creation of creative groups and "responsibility centers"; production cost planning; measures to ensure the dynamic development of the enterprise.

In market conditions, the cost analysis withtaking into account the parameters of competitiveness, it is possible to accurately establish trends in the dynamics of this indicator, to provide an objective and comprehensive assessment of the work of the enterprise.