The intellectual capital as the important factor of ensuring competitiveness of the enterprises of mechanical engineering industry of Ukraine at the present stage of development of innovative economy

Abstract

In modern conditions, competitiveness is manifested in the effective use by economic entities of their financial and intellectual capital through the growth of technological and managerial components in the development of innovation processes. Since financial resources, from the point of view of the enterprise economy, cannot be considered as a stable source of its competitive advantages, the attention is focused on the intellectual component of the enterprise’s competitiveness. The purpose of the study is to determine the essence of intellectual capital and its importance for ensuring the competitiveness of the Ukraine’s machine-building industry enterprises at the present stage of the country’s innovative economy development in terms of transferring to the knowledge economy. Intellectual capital should include special abilities of the personnel, based on knowledge, skills and experience, as well as provide particularly valuable information for the enterprise, which is the basis of significant competitive advantages in domestic and foreign markets in an innovative economy. The thesis that information, knowledge, experience, intangible assets acquire new significance, which in their interaction and development originate a new category of “intellectual capital”, is substantiated. The authors’ definition of the “intellectual capital” category is formulated taking into account the study of this concept from the standpoint of the definitions of capital interpretation. Intellectual capital is an intellectual resource (knowledge, experience, skills) which, if used effectively, turns into added value and ensures the competitiveness of the enterprise.