Assessment of the competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises in the modern economic environment

. Presented in the present paper are the results of a scientific study that aims to develop and test a different model for analyzing and evaluating the competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises in the modern economic environment. Examined closely are the main aspects of the enterprise competitiveness in full consideration of their internal abilities to achieve high results over a long period of time,. The analysis shows that there are new possibilities for researching the competitiveness of the manufacturing enterprises, in search of simpler and universally applicable models and methods for the analysis and evaluation of competitiveness, and in particular that of the industrial enterprises. A new model is proposed for the analysis of the enterprise competitiveness by using familiar techniques, but with the application of a new approach to the grouping of the aspects of competitiveness in three main directions. It is also worth noting that the model. hereto described. is applicable to enterprises of different scale and subject of manufacturing.


Introduction
In the globalizing and dynamically changing economic reality, businesses are faced with the challenge of developing based on the accumulation of knowledge and innovation. New concepts, methods and tools for analysis and assessment of competitiveness are emerging. With the inclusion of new concepts and techniques for collecting and processing data, new ideas about factors that influence competitiveness are emerging: human capital, innovation, sustainability and flexibility. These factors are reflected in entrepreneurial culture, innovative ideas, multilateral cooperation, critical thinking, social trust etc. (Dimitrova K. 2019) Ensuring and maintaining high competitiveness of an enterprise is directly dependent on the achieved economic efficiency, adaptability to the extremely dynamic business environment and sustainability based on a high level of protection of the resources important to that enterprise. In order to create an adequate competitive strategy, a method is needed that allows competitiveness to be measured and evaluated quantitatively.
The complex nature of the concept of competitiveness is the reason for the lack of a generally accepted opinion as to the indicators describing it. On the one hand, the pursuit of the most accurate and complete definition and characterization of the company's competitiveness leads to an excessively large increase in the number of proposed criteria, which makes their practical application extremely difficult. On the other hand, the aim is to develop such a separate criterion that will help undertake a generalized assessment of competitiveness, which, in the long run, leads to inaccuracy in the assessments. Given the above, most authors try to offer compromise solutions by reducing the number of criteria and increasing the accuracy of the results. (Велев М., 2004) In the present research, the emphasis is placed on the methods and models for assessing the competitiveness of industrial enterprises. An analysis has been made of a small group of aspects that define competitiveness as a research area in search of new models for analysis and evaluation. Proposed, accordingly, is a model for assessing the competitiveness of industrial enterprises based on three groups of indicators. It is important to note that the model proposed is significantly different from the existing methods and models.

Competitiveness of the manufacturing enterprises
The two main elements determining competition in the modern world are globalization and the extremely rapid change in the environment. The ever deepening globalization confronts enterprises with the need to start competing not only with local but also with foreign enterprises. The rapidly developing scientific and technical progress enforces the competitive struggle and poses new challenges to enterprises. Rapid changes in the needs and demands of consumers, as well as the accelerated obsolescence of existing techniques and technologies make the success and competitive positions of enterprises unsustainable. New requirements for their functioning are emerging, the basis of which is the need for continuous and rapid changes and improvement.
The prevailing views in the scientific literature on the competitiveness of enterprises can be classified into several groups: According to the first group of authors, the competitiveness of the enterprise is identified with the competitiveness of the manufactured products. This thesis is advocated by Kumar, Stecke and Motwani (Kumar, A., Stecke, K., and Motwani, J., 1999), Swann and Targhavi (Swann, P. and Targhavi, M., 1992) etc. Other authors expand this thesis by adding additional indicators to product competitiveness. For example, Lifitz adds the indicators: production possibilities; market opportunities; opportunities related to the realization of the production and opportunities in the accompanying service (Лифиц И. М., 2001); Danailov -price, cost, technical capabilities of the product, compatibility with other products, design and packaging (Данаилов Д., 1999); Hardy -higher degree of utility and better functioning of products, lower price and better presentation (Hardy L., 1990).
However, the high quality of the products is only a prerequisite, but not a sufficient condition for ensuring high competitiveness. In order to achieve expansion of the market share and increase the revenues, it is also necessary to ensure that the characteristics of the products are compatible with the consumer requirements and preferences, priced accordingly, improved customer service efficiency, etc. In addition, the high competitiveness of products cannot be the only indicator of company competitiveness, because it could also be achieved at the expense of the other indicators of the company's economic success. This can lead to a deterioration of the company's financial results if it was achieved at the expense of unjustifiably high costs or at the expense of an excessively low price. Poor financial results would limit the company's opportunities for further development and success.
Another group of authors equates the competitiveness of the enterprise with the level of a separate indicator for the economic result, which is contrary to the leading opinion of the specialists about its complex nature. For example, D. Muller reduces the competitiveness of enterprises to the high profitability of their assets (Mueller, D.C., 1990), Allen and Pantsalisto its production costs per unit of output (Allen, L., and C. Pantzalis, 1996), E. Compton -to the size or growth of their market share (Compton, Е., 1985). The Russian professor Sergeev characterizes the competitiveness of the enterprise with the competitiveness of the production, the efficiency of the production activity, the financial condition, and the effectiveness of the organization in the implementation and stimulation of demand and sales (Сергеев А., 2003). Other authors as A. Judson, R. Lynch and K. Cross define competitiveness as a complex indicator of the level of overall activity of the enterprise (Judson, A., 1990;Lynch, R., Cross K., 1991). Kaplan and Norton relate it to the levels of companies' activity from four perspectives -internal, consumer, financial and from the point of view of innovation and assimilation of novelties (Kaplan, R., Norton, D., 2000). According to H. Avila: "Competitive advantages are reflected in higher productivity and then in profitability (de Azevedo Avila,H. , 1997). A manufacturing enterprise that is able to develop and maintain capabilities that ensure high performance and sustainable profitability is considered competitive. In other words, the degree of success of an industrial firm is equivalent to its level of competitiveness".
Reducing the competitiveness of the enterprise only to the results and efficiency of its activities in the short or long term is not enough for its full characterization and because of that they only determine the degree of use of the enterprise resources and cannot reflect such features of the company's competitiveness as the ability to constantly renew and adapt to variable conditions. Another group of authors -C. Galbraith, P. Dixon, A. Pettigrew, characterize company competitiveness as a degree of flexibility of the company, i.e. degree to which the company is able to quickly adapt to changes in environmental conditions (Galbraith C., 1990;Dickson P., 1992;Pettigrew A., 1987). Van de Ven expands this concept by reducing firm competitiveness to the level of the enterprise's ability to ensure long-term alignment of its internal elements (strategies, structure, processes and management style) with the external environment ( Van de Ven A.H., 1976). Seitz, Johannesson and Ritchie share a similar opinion, according to which competitiveness refers to the extent to which an individual firm or national industry can survive and establish itself and the ability with which they can respond to external opportunities and threats (Zaitz G., Johannesson R., and Ritchie J.E.Jr., 1997).
Flexibility and the possibility of quick adaptation and long-term coordination of the enterprise's behavior to the demands of the external environment are important aspects of competitiveness, but they do not describe it in its entirety. The enterprise must also be characterized by the ability to recognize in time that the previous methods of action have lost their relevance and do not lead to maximum results, and to constantly search and find new and more effective ones. Therefore, the enterprise must have the ability to constantly innovate and re-adjust its operations better than its competitors.
In specialized literature, the thesis that competitiveness is a complex multifaceted category, reflecting the internal ability of the company to achieve high results over a long period of time, finds more and more supporters. An essential point in its modern characteristic is the consideration of the company's abilities for continuous renewal, improvement, introduction of novelties, flexibility and adaptability. "The competitiveness of the enterprise is its ability, through continuous renewal and improvement, to create and sustainably maintain competitive advantages leading to high economic results in the long term." (Велев М., 2004).
Despite the many opinions expressed, the problem of defining the category "enterprise competitiveness" has not yet been finally resolved.

Model for determining the competitiveness of a manufacturing enterprise
After analyzing the existing methods for assessing the level of enterprise competitiveness , it is necessary to conclude that there is no universal methodology for its overall assessment. The established shortcomings of the existing approaches to assessing the competitiveness of enterprises lead to limited opportunities for practical application of most of them. This opens up new opportunities for competitiveness research, in search of simpler and more widely applicable models and methods for the analysis and assessment of competitiveness, and in particular of industrial enterprises.
Based on the researched literature sources, it can be summarized that the competitiveness of the enterprise is directly related to: • economic efficiency aimed at achieving high economic results; • adaptability to changing environment and market conditions; • sustainability (longevity) of the results. are associated with both desired and undesired consequences. The goal is to achieve a balance between the costs incurred and the results obtained. (Dimitrova K., 2018) Better resource security and the achievement of higher economic results through cost optimization provide competitive advantages to manufacturing enterprises. Efficiency is related to the methods of production, which in market conditions imply a rational combination and use of limited resources to ensure the greatest possible profit. It shows the relationship between the effect and the amount of these costs (resources) for its provision. Economic efficiency expresses the relationship between the cost of limited production factors and satisfied needs, or with a minimum cost to satisfy a maximum of needs (Икономическа енциклопедия, 2005). So is the avoidance of losses from the use of resources (Economics 2005). If resources are used efficiently, the aggregate product resulting from their interaction increases and leads to an improvement in general welfare.
As an indicator of the Еfficiency of the enterprise (Keе) the ratio between income and expenses is taken as expressed by the formula: Depending on the data of the enterprise efficiency indicator (Kee), several degrees of economic efficiency can be distinguished, corresponding to an Index of economic efficiency (Ie) as shown in Table  1.

Quantitative measurability of the indicator Economic efficiency of the enterprise (Kee) Economic efficiency index (Ie)
Кеe > 2 5 1,5 < Кеe < 2 4 1 < Кеe < 1,5 3 Кеe = 1 2 Кеe < 1 1 Adaptability to changing environment and market conditions shows the ability (internal potential) of enterprises to adapt to changes in the market, institutional and natural environment. Companies and societies seek the balance between different interests (individual, group, corporate, etc.) and strive to remove obstacles to the spread of knowledge, skills and attitudes among people, respectively, in the work in the organization of production. (Van Ark B., S. K. Kuipers and G. H. Kuper (ed.) 2000). Each company watches the other companies to accelerate and/or stop their own innovations in order to maintain their market positions and keep their costs under control. (Hadjitchoneva J., A. Ivanov and K. Hadjiev, 2018). According to Schumpeter (Schumpeter J. A., 1942). the engine of the economy and progress are the discreetly created "new combinations" for the production of "productive goods". These new combinations depend entirely on the firm's innovative capabilities.
According to a study by Panayotova  In a competitive environment, companies must constantly respond to market changes, seek innovative solutions and achieve a competitive advantage over their competitors.
Given the exceptional dynamics of the contemporary economic system, innovations (product, process and structural), strategic renewal and innovation, effective use of available resources to ensure production flexibility and quality improvement can be accepted as the main criteria for adaptability of production enterprises. An enterprise that is able to most quickly and adequately respond to changes in the business environment is adaptive. The highest adaptability is shown by enterprises that manage to predict new business trends and use crisis moments as new opportunities for development, continuously conducting marketing research and analysis.
In today's world, risk is an integral part of any business. Successful organizations are those that have the mechanisms and tools to identify and manage risks before they become disruptive realities that damage the organization's reputation and ability to function and be competitive. Therefore, the competitiveness of an enterprise depends to a large extent on the ability of its managers to successfully deal with all risks, and this is related to the established organizational culture in the enterprise. An invariable part of this culture is also corporate social responsibility, which in recent years has gained more and more importance and significance.
The development of information and communication technologies provides an opportunity to maintain the competitiveness of companies on local, regional and global markets by achieving and maintaining strategic competitive advantages and increasing the competitiveness of the organization in the conditions of highly competitive and open markets. To be competitive, companies invest in modern information systems that integrate different business areas, integrate all major functions, units and resources. (Dimitrova K., 2018) Based on the analysis of the concepts as regards enterprise adaptability to the changing conditions of the environment and the market, proposed in the present study is a summary of the criteria of adaptability and selected are 10 universal indicators that can be measured and evaluated, as well as monitored over time, controlled and managed in order to positively affect the competitiveness of the enterprises.
Data for the mentioned criteria are obtained by interviewing managers or experts in the relevant field. The data is processed by determining the values of the adaptability indicators, as well as the total weighted value or the Adaptability Index of a particular enterprise to the changing conditions of the environment and the market Ia. (Table 2) = ∑ ( × ) 100 , % 10 =1 (2) Sustainability indicates the ability of the farm to exist over time. Indicators of sustainability of production enterprises can be considered as a result of its operational, investment and financial activity and can be considered as an integral expression of its complex functioning in the past and in the present. Financial sustainability as an economic category, characterizing a system of economic relations in which Page | 17 the enterprise is able to function in conditions of risk and a changing business environment, ensuring solvency, balance of financial flows, independence from attracted capital and realization of financial results, the volume of which is sufficient for self-development and satisfying the interests of all stakeholders. Taking into account the fact that the modern economy is based on knowledge, as a second criterion we accept the degree of protection of corporate information. Another essential criterion for survival in today's highly competitive environment is the satisfaction of consumers, who are the main arbiter of a market. Table 3 presents a set of enterprise sustainability indicators. The indicators were selected after conducting a survey among managers and experts from manufacturing enterprises. The respective data is processed in the same way as the values of the adaptability indicators. As a result, the weighted values of the sustainability indicators are obtained, as well as the total weighted value or the Sustainability index of a specific enterprise Is.
(3) In order to determine the general competitiveness of the enterprise and to compare it with the competitiveness of other enterprises, an integral indicator should be calculated -Enterprise Competitiveness Index (Ic), using the following formula for this purpose:
The value of the Enterprise Competitiveness Index Ic is between 1 and 5, and the enterprise is defined as non-competitive, with low competitiveness, with good competitiveness, with high competitiveness and with very high competitiveness, according to Table 4.

Testing and practical applicability of a model for determining the competitiveness of a manufacturing enterprise
Manufacturing Plants A, B and C. A summary of the obtained results is presented in the following tables and diagrams.     After calculating the Enterprise Competitiveness index (Ic) of the three enterprises A, B and C, based on the collected data, it was found that all the three investigated enterprises have a good level of competitiveness, but with different competitiveness indices (Table 8). This means that the level of enterprise competitiveness should be considered in its quantitative measurability and broken down by the three groups of criteria, observing and analyzing the values of all the relevant indicators.

Discussion
This competitive research model is applicable to businesses of all types and sizes. The contribution of the study is that it offers a new view and approach to the analysis of the competitiveness of business organizations. To prove the practical usefulness of the presented model, more comprehensive observation and systematic analysis of the obtained results is strongly recommended as wel as increased cooperation with various business organizations.