Competitive Criteria Research Articles

Competition for ‘Top 25 Companies’ Award’s Criterion of PSX: An Evaluation of the Financial Aspects

A company's performance is a complex phenomenon because of a variety of aspects to quantify it, however, a competitive criterion has been established by Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) in terms of "Top 25 Companies". Those firms qualifying this criterion over the last two decades need to be compared with those who have yet to achieve it. The main objective of the study is to evaluate the financial stability and extra-ordinary performance based on PSX quantitative criteria of those firms maintaining top 25 position over last 24 years. The financial aspects of 18 firms out of more than40 has been selected by taking last 24 years' data. These firms are classified into two different samples, the sample from companies successfully qualify the criterion for "Top 25 Companies" award, while the second sample consist of other renowned ones that yet to qualify for this criterion. The performance evaluation of both types of firms has been done through financial statements available on the website of PSX through their annual reports to calculate the ratios. In addition to these financial ratios other relevant indicators considered for evaluation purposes are, equity premium as a difference in returns between stocks and less risky instruments (bonds), firm size measured through sales, and market performance measured through total assets. The impact of these ratios on the stock returns has also been evaluated through regression analyses which allowed to identify those specific advantages the ‘top-25 qualifier’ firms may have over the ‘other non- qualifier’ firms. The findings suggest that ‘top 25 qualifier’ firms mainly beat the ‘others non- qualifier’ based on equity-related measures including dividend payout ratios, market premium and the equity premium. Therefore ‘other non-qualifier’ should improve equity-related context to successfully qualify for this criterion in future.

Digital Economy Reformulation and Economic Competitiveness of Smart Cities: An Application of Soft Systems Methodology

Smart cities have become a new trend in urban development worldwide, and digital economy plays a crucial role. Therefore, this study aimed to create a novel formulation of digital economy that contributes to improving competitiveness of smart cities and provides practical guidance on digital economy strategies. A Soft System Methodology (SSM)–based action that utilizes the concept of systems was used to investigate conceptual models from different perspectives, from conceptual thinking to real-world–based action. Moreover, Indonesia was selected as a case study due to its extensive implementation of smart cities over the past five years, with over 250 cities participating in the program. The study successfully identified five scopes of digital economy, namely digital technology, digital service, shared economy and platform, digitalized economy, and financial services. It also identified six crucial criteria of economic competitiveness, namely human resources, product offerings, innovation capability, economic productivity, ease of business and investment, as well as financial capital. In conclusion, local cities and regencies' governments need to accelerate digital economy by creating supporting policies, making collaboration, effective digital marketing, improving digital literacy, guaranteeing cyber security, as well as protecting consumers and data privacy.

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Competition between Chouioa cunea Yang and Tetrastichus septentrionalis (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), Two Pupal Parasitoids of the Fall Webworm, Hyphantria cunea (Lepidoptera: Erebidae).

The endoparasitoids Chouioa cunea Yang and Tetrastichus septentrionalis Yang (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) are both gregarious pupal parasitoids of the fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea (Drury) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae). In order to analyze the competitive interactions between both parasitoids exploiting H. cunea, we assessed both extrinsic and intrinsic competition. The search time, oviposition duration, and oviposition frequency were used as evaluation criteria for extrinsic competition. The number of survival days, female ratio, and number of parasitoids emerging from the host were used as evaluation criteria for intrinsic competition. The results indicated that both parasitoid species were able to parasitize hosts that were already parasitized by competitors. The first released species consistently emerged as the superior competitor in multiparasitized hosts. Both parasitoid release orders and time intervals between oviposition affect the competition of parasitoids and the parasitic efficiency. The results emphasize the parasitic abilities of both parasitoid species and provide a basis for future research on competition mechanisms and biological control of H. cunea.

Numerical method for predicting the nucleation and propagation of multiple cracks based on the modified extended finite element method

In practical engineering, structures will inevitably suffer from multiple cracks and require accurate numerical methods to calculate the structural behavior. Regarding the multi-crack problems, the nucleation of new cracks and the development of existing cracks will affect the subsequent structural responses. Therefore, the criterion for calculating crack nucleation and development is a critical factor influencing the numerical results. This paper presents a modified Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) to predict the nucleation and development of multiple cracks in plane members focusing on the interaction of multiple cracks. In the proposed method, the crack competition criterion is based on the minimum total energy principle, which can ensure that the nucleation and development of cracks can achieve a maximum energy dissipation per unit length. The effectiveness and robustness of the presented method are verified by comparing the numerical results with experimental and/or other numerical simulations. The result shows that the proposed competition criterion can accurately judge the sequence of new-crack nucleation and existing-crack propagation.

БОЛАШАҚ ПЕДАГОГТАРДЫ КӘСІБИ ДАЯРЛАУДА САПАЛЫҚ ДАҒДЫЛАРЫН ДАМЫТУДЫҢ ПСИХОЛОГИЯЛЫҚ ТИІМДІЛІГІ

The article is based on the system of professional training of future teachers in higher educational institutions of the country. Today, an independent country is a country that determines the possibilities of future development, taking into account modern processes, technologies that provide its own system, model and quality of national education. Kazakhstan as a sovereign state, the signing of the Lisbon Declaration and participation in the Bologna process, etc. reflect its place in the global educational space. This circumstance contributes to the intensive development of the higher education system, taking into account the socio-cultural interests of our state and global educational processes that determine the quality and technological achievements in higher education. It is obvious that one of the urgent problems of pedagogical science and best practices is to identify priority areas for improving the upbringing and education of the free generation that has crossed the threshold of the XXI century. In the system of professional training of future teachers, their qualitative skills should correspond to social processes. Due to the transition of an independent country to a market economy in accordance with the changing requirements of the time, the main criteria of competitiveness oblige future teachers to have modern qualities along with knowledge, knowledge, business skills. In this regard, the article formulates the relevance and positions, features and rationality of the development of qualitative skills in the system of professional training of future teachers based on scientific analysis.

DEVELOPMENT OF A MECHANISM FOR MANAGING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF AN INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISE IN THE NEW REALITY

The article examines the methodological foundations of the content of the mechanism for managing the competitiveness of an industrial enterprise, due to the need for its concretization in the strategic management system in a new reality. The concept and principles of the enterprise competitiveness management mechanism are clarified, a set of measures and its differentiation according to certain criteria are recommended. In the strategic planning of the enterprise, it is proposed to use a number of modern methods and models to analyze the assessment of the competitiveness of the enterprise. A comparative analysis is carried out on the basis of methodological approaches based on the evaluation criterion of competitiveness of enterprises that are structurally independent of the system and dependent on the interconnection in the system.

Regulatory and legal ensuring the quality of sugar products in Ukraine

Sugar is one of the most important elements of the consumer basket in every country, and the volume of its production is considered as an indicator of the level of its development. Therefore, research and analysis of the current state of the sugar market in Ukraine and the development and application of an adequate legal framework in the sugar industry that meets international requirements is important and relevant. The purpose of the study is to determine the directions of effective development of sugar production due to the development and implementation of effective regulatory and legal support, built on the compliance of the quality indicators of sugar products with the requirements of E.S. The article examines the main regulatory and legal documents regarding the determination of compliance of the quality of sugar products in Ukraine with the EU requirements, as well as identifies shortcomings in the legislative base of Ukraine regarding the use of modern methods and means of assessing the quality indicators of sugar products. Prospects for further development of sugar production in Ukraine are considered. It was established that the main ways to increase the economic efficiency of sugar production are to improve its quality, reduce production costs, increase energy efficiency of production and improve sales channels. The main criteria of competitiveness of sugar products in developed countries are considered. Based on the analysis of the main problems, the main production processes were determined, which make it possible to adjust the quality indicators of sugar products not only at the final stage of production, but also throughout the entire technological process of sugar production. At the same time, the problems of defining and unifying requirements for methods and means of determining the quality indicators of sugar products throughout the entire stage of sugar production in the countries with the largest weight in the sugar market were considered. Keywords: standard, regulatory framework, competitiveness, color, sugar quality, sugar factories.

СРАВНИТЕЛЬНАЯ ОЦЕНКА КОНКУРЕНТОСПОСОБНОСТИ ПРЕДПРИЯТИЙ МАЛОГО И СРЕДНЕГО БИЗНЕСА НА ПРИМЕРЕ РЕСПУБЛИКИ ТАТАРСТАН

In market conditions, the development of private business, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, plays a key role for any country. The effectiveness of this process is one of the main indicators of economic growth and has a direct impact on the composition and quality of national income. The main task of the management personnel of modern enterprises is to create their competitive advantages, which ensures the demand for products sold and financial stability. At the same time, the implementation of this task becomes more complicated in the context of constant foreign economic changes, reinforced by sanctions pressure. In addition, small and medium-sized businesses often face limited access to financial resources, management difficulties and competition from large companies. Analysis and comparative assessment of the competitiveness of small and medium-sized businesses provides an understanding of the key factors influencing the success of these enterprises, and makes it possible to develop strategies and support measures aimed at strengthening their position in the market. The object of the study is the activities of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the region. The purpose of the study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the level of competitiveness of certain areas of small and medium-sized businesses using the example of the Republic of Tatarstan. Research methods include deduction and induction, analysis and synthesis, documentary method, abstract-logical, economic-mathematical and tabular methods. The scientific novelty of the research is the formation of competitiveness criteria, the development of a model for comparative assessment of the competitiveness of small and medium-sized businesses, the application of this model in the conditions of the Republic of Tatarstan.

The dynamics of port competition and efficiency in Vietnam amidst COVID-19: a decadal analysis

Vietnamese seaports play an important role as crossroads for import, export and transformation in delivery from maritime transport to rail, road and inland waterway transport. Over the last two decades, the seaport system has been reformed with the participation of private and foreign investors. Consequently, this issue enhances competition between seaports and brings changes to the seaports’ operations. In this article, the relationship between seaport competition and efficiency is examined in the context of Vietnam, an emerging market economy. The longitudinal data from 2011 to 2022 is collected to quantify the competition degree of Vietnamese seaports and Data Envelopment Analysis is used to measure seaport efficiency. A number of measures are used to quantify the competition level of the seaport system over time, including concentration ratio, Gini index, and Hirschman-Herfindahl Index. Besides, market share at both national and regional levels and distance to the nearest competing seaport are criteria of port-level competition. The results advocate an increasing trend of seaport competition in Vietnam. Moreover, based on Tobit regression models, the competition among seaports relates positively to efficiency using both the 2021-2022 and 2015-2016 data sets. Under the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of external factors on seaport efficiency is insignificant and inconsistent due to the disruption of logistics systems and disrupted links to the outside environment.

The International Olympic Committee framework on fairness, inclusion and nondiscrimination on the basis of gender identity and sex variations does not protect fairness for female athletes.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently published a framework on fairness, inclusion, and nondiscrimination on the basis of gender identity and sex variations. Although we appreciate the IOC's recognition of the role of sports science and medicine in policy development, we disagree with the assertion that the IOC framework is consistent with existing scientific and medical evidence and question its recommendations for implementation. Testosterone exposure during male development results in physical differences between male and female bodies; this process underpins male athletic advantage in muscle mass, strength and power, and endurance and aerobic capacity. The IOC's "no presumption of advantage" principle disregards this reality. Studies show that transgender women (male-born individuals who identify as women) with suppressed testosterone retain muscle mass, strength, and other physical advantages compared to females; male performance advantage cannot be eliminated with testosterone suppression. The IOC's concept of "meaningful competition" is flawed because fairness of category does not hinge on closely matched performances. The female category ensures fair competition for female athletes by excluding male advantages. Case-by-case testing for transgender women may lead to stigmatization and cannot be robustly managed in practice. We argue that eligibility criteria for female competition must consider male development rather than relying on current testosterone levels. Female athletes should be recognized as the key stakeholders in the consultation and decision-making processes. We urge the IOC to reevaluate the recommendations of their Framework to include a comprehensive understanding of the biological advantages of male development to ensure fairness and safety in female sports.

КОНВЕРГЕНТТІ ЖУРНАЛИСТИКАДАҒЫ ЖАНРЛАР ҮДЕРІСІ

In journalism there is the concept of transmedia. In general, transmedia deals with the presentation of information in various media. Unlike multimedia, all media are interconnected. For example, only transmedia technology can allow the plot of a novel to be adapted into a film with minor changes, or the first part of a story to be told through a television show, the second part through a film, and the third part through a television show. In the world at large, there are different ways of disseminating the essential elements of fiction. Transmedia information is an output system. The information it contains is mostly related to history. The narrative structure will be filled with historical data and will include text and audio, video, fonts, images, infographics and more. Each text can create a story itself. Each element contributes to the main story. This is why the effectiveness of transmedia is directly related to the method of storytelling. The purpose and main direction of the scientific article was to study the features of the process of formation of new multimedia genres in online media, to focus on the features of methods of transformation and presentation of existing genres in other forms. The scientific and practical significance of the article lies in the attempt to monitor new terminology genres in the Kazakh-language media, such as longread, construction, short video recording with the mention of new trends in Kazakh journalism. In the course of the study the method of comparative analysis was used. The main result of the analysis was the consideration of characteristics and trends in the dynamics. By analyzing materials published on the sites, such as Malim.kz, Massaget.kz, Balbal.kz, we tried to reveal the nature of the new trend in genres such as storytelling, longread, which meet modern demand. The relevance of the scientific research is determined by the consideration of competitiveness criteria and trends in new formats for presenting general media journalistic materials.

EDUCATION AS A TOOL FOR STABILISING THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION IN UKRAINE: PROBLEMS, PROSPECTS

The impact of education on society and the economy is manifested in the reproduction and improvement of: human resources, social capital, personnel, professional and qualification potential of enterprises; motivations and incentives for human development, economic activities, productive employment; standards, benchmarks, priorities of economic and non-economic activities; creative (knowledge and rent generating) potential of social technological support. The purposes of the article are: to determine the features of effective balanced satisfaction of the educational needs of the population and economy, which results in the resilience, sustainable development of the state and society; to identify the shortcomings of modern management approaches to the processes organisation for meeting educational needs and staffing in Ukraine; to justify relevant guidelines and priorities for the educational system and macroeconomic development. The methods of research include: analysis and generalisation of literary sources on the problems of organisation and prospects of improvement of education, social activities of personnel provision for the Ukrainian economy, reproduction and optimisation of professional, qualification and innovation potential; comparison of regularities and problems of the educational system functioning as a progressive stimulus and component of the Ukrainian economy, which allows to synthesise and systematise the urgent priorities for activation of the potentials of education itself and the workforce in order to provide the state resilience and sustainable development in the complex internal and macro-regional realities of today. The role of education as a social institution, an individual and collective resource that creates an environment and provides opportunities to achieve acceptable competitiveness criteria for a range of subjects at micro-, meso- and macro-competitive levels, is constantly increasing in the globalised world. At the same time, the principles and priorities of the reproduction and use of human resources and the labour force itself, the systemic processes of normalisation and deregulation of various aspects of the functioning of the labour sphere, the formation and implementation of social capital, the coordination of administrative and market levers of relevant practices and measures, the sequence of their guidelines have a powerful impact on: the content of comprehensive and professional education recognised as socially necessary (i.e., provided to the average consumer through services of legally recognised basic quality); the quality of material, technical and personnel support of the education system; directions of its modernisation. Fulfilment of the conditions and measures for ensuring compliance of the systems of education and employment organisation with the dynamic requirements of the scientific and technological progress, implementation of their prognostic functions to meet the prospective needs of the economy in personnel requires the participation of a wide range of public institutions and subjects of legislative regulation, macroeconomic and branch administration, provision of services for education, career guidance, personnel selection, employment, certification, material and technical support of various educational and qualification processes.

METHODOLOGICAL ESSENCE OF THE COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL OF TECHNOLOGIES IN THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The article is devoted to the study of the influence of factors that determine the competitiveness of individual enterprises and countries in the conditions of a market economy. The change of priorities in different periods of economic development is analyzed. At the stage of the industrial economy, the priority in achieving competitive advantages was the main factors of production: labor and natural resources, capital. The next stage of market competition is related to investment. Attracting foreign and domestic investments provided companies and states with competitive advantages. The main task was to create favorable conditions for investments. In the modern economy, the role of the main factors of production, as well as investments, remains an important criterion of competitiveness. At the same time, there is a transition to fundamentally new technologies based on information as the most important resource. A new branch of the economy is emerging, associated with digital technologies for receiving, transmitting and processing information. The transition to digital technologies is accompanied by changes in the business environment. The competitiveness of companies in the digital economy depends on competitiveness in the global market. The workforce structure is changing. The competitiveness of companies is affected by the quality of workers employed in production. There is a struggle for highly qualified personnel. At the current stage, innovations are becoming the main factor in the competitiveness of both individual enterprises and countries as a whole. Ukrainian industrial enterprises, faced with crisis phenomena and problems of introducing innovations and innovative technologies into their production, are forced to independently search for new ways of innovative development of the enterprise, creating new production clusters of "production complexes" to solve the most basic problem of complete modernization of their production, and therefore the regularity of such a phenomenon , as the formation of "production complexes", require its comprehensiveness. Research. This paper formulates the main regularities of the formation of "production complexes", where innovation is a link, as a special factor of increasing the competitiveness of industrial enterprises, but as part of the "production complex". An analysis of scientific research in the innovative sphere of the economy was carried out in the part of studying the patterns of formation of "production complexes", conclusions were drawn about the lack of a concept of innovative development of "production complexes", a concept of innovative development of "production complexes" in our country was proposed.

An Interval-Valued Pythagorean Fuzzy AHP and COPRAS Hybrid Methods for the Supplier Selection Problem

Companies must be able to identify their suppliers appropriately and effectively in order to survive in the competitive market conditions. In order to fulfill and surpass the expectations of the consumers and clients, companies need to interact with the relevant suppliers. It is a tough manner for companies to select the best supplier from a large number of relevant alternatives. The selection process of the appropriate supplier involves multiple interacting and competing factors. Generally, the selection process and its results cause a waste of time and money. For this purpose, MCDM methodologies are utilized to manage this complex process efficiently. MCDMs allows for consistent and accurate decision-making as well as the selection of the most appropriate supplier. MCDM is one the most preferred tool to select the best alternative under the conflicting and competitive criteria when the evaluations are made in crisp numbers. Therefore, MCDM methods are preferred in various applications in academia and real life. However, the evaluations could not be always possible with crisp numbers, especially in vague environments or evaluations needs qualitative data. This study is one of the first to combine the AHP and COPRAS supplier selection methods with interval-valued Pythagorean fuzzy (IPF) logic. The effectiveness of these IPF-AHP and IPF-COPRAS evaluations for the supplier selection problem is compared and examined. The experimental results of case scenarios show that IPF is an effective way to apply in decision-making applications. In addition, sensitivity analysis is conducted to evaluate the proposed methodologies. According to sensitivity analysis, the IPF-AHP and IPF-COPRAS be able to illustrate the effects of small changings in criteria weights. Therefore, companies can use the IPF-AHP and IPF-COPRAS to assist their decision-makers in identifying and selecting the best suppliers.

METHODOLOGICAL BASES FOR EVALUATING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF PRODUCTS OF ENTERPRISES IN THE FLOUR INDUSTRY

The article examines approaches to assessing the competitiveness of products of enterprises in the flour milling industry, summarizes and supplements the work of scientists on the components of competitiveness, in the composition of which it is proposed to take into account for the products of enterprises of the flour industry: sustainability, cost-price, efficiency, product quality and its compliance with standards, innovation; social responsibility of the manufacturer; environmental friendliness; availability and completeness of product information; reputation of the manufacturer; fair competition. It has been proven that competitiveness is a multi-component characteristic of products, business entity, region, industry, country, and also depends on factors of time and place, which lead to certain difficulties in its assessment. A review of scientific works on the assessment of competitiveness has been conducted and it is substantiated that in economic science and practice a single approach to measuring the level of competitiveness has not been formed, as well as regarding which method and list of indicators it is appropriate to evaluate the competitiveness of products. For the purpose of scientific systematization, the methods of assessing competitiveness were grouped by the object of assessment (methods of positioning, competitive advantages, competitiveness potential), by the method of presenting results (discrete; tabular; matrix; ranking; graphic), as well as assessment indicators by the number of characteristics: ( individual; group; integral); by the method of calculation (average values; sums; ratio; indices; expert evaluations; point evaluation; interval evaluation; ranking), as well as by the criteria of product competitiveness. In order to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the competitiveness of products of flour milling enterprises, a system of indicators is proposed based on a developed list of criteria (components): sustainability, cost-price, efficiency, quality and compliance with standards, innovativeness; social responsibility of the manufacturer; environmental friendliness; availability and completeness of product information; reputation of the manufacturer; fair competition. The stages of the evaluation of competitiveness are defined, which take into account the variety of its methods and indicators, and which can be adapted in accordance with the tasks of the research, available information, the type of evaluation by the scope of criteria and (comprehensive, partial, express evaluation).

ZNANJE I INOVACIJA KAO KONKURENTSKA PREDNOST REPUBLIKE HRVATSKE

Knowledge and investment in innovation is becoming the main criteria of competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to examine concepts of knowledge, innovation and competitiveness. To prove the stated, comparative analysis was conducted on Eurostat data on EU public expenditure on education. Further analysis involved the data of employed and unemployed persons depending on the completed educational program in Croatia. Furthermore, a benchmarking of countries' innovation performance was carried out based on the Global Innovation Index, the Bloomberg Innovation Index and the European Innovation Scoreboard. The aim was to determine the most competitive economies compared to Croatia. The third analysis included innovation performance of Croatian companies. The contribution of the paper is visible in the analysis of the theoretical determination of knowledge and its development completed with the list of future jobs. The importance of the paper is reflected in the necessity of creating strategies corresponding to the future.

TOOLS FOR INCREASING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF ENTERPRISES USING MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

The general composition of the marketing toolkit of enterprises is summarized. The goal of the study was the formation of tools for increasing the competitiveness of agricultural enterprises by means of marketing communications. The place of marketing communications of enterprises in the general system of the marketing mix is shown. The general criteria of competitiveness of agricultural enterprises are outlined. The directions and means of using marketing communications in order to strengthen the competitiveness of agrarian business entities have been determined, in particular by groups: (1) dissemination of communication and research policy, (2) communications in the field of product and market portfolio, (3) financial and resource planning of communications, (4) development of strategic market communications. The factors of the development of processes of interpretation of the information received by users are determined. It has been established that the competitiveness of an agricultural enterprise is a complex system category that gives a comprehensive description of its ability to oppose direct competitors, both at the current time and in the strategic perspective, in the target market segment where the enterprise’s products are positioned, in order to ensure the functioning and planned development under the pressure of competition and the action of factors and conditions of the business environment. A structural and functional model for improving the policy of ensuring the competitiveness of agricultural enterprises has been developed. An arsenal of tools for increasing the competitiveness of enterprises in the agrarian sector of the national economy by means of marketing communications has been developed.

SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES TO THE OPTIMIZATION OF THE MAIN CRITICAL TEMPERA-TURES OF NICKEL-BASED SUPERALLOYS OF EQUIAXIAL CRYSTALLIZATION

Purpose. It consists in establishing regularities of the influence of alloying elements on the thermophysical characteristics of nickel-based superalloys of equiaxial crystallization, which allows to optimize the manufacturing and heat treatment processes.
 Research methods. The experimental values were processed by mathematical methods to obtain correlation dependencies of the "parameter-property" type and establish regression models that optimally describe these dependencies.
 Results. The regularities of the influence of the chemical composition of nickel-based superalloys on thermophysical characteristics have been established. We have obtained ratios that allow us to take into account the criteria of competition (cooperation) of chemical elements and obtain diagrams by which it is possible to determine critical temperatures.
 Scientific novelty. The established ratios of Kg¢, Kg, KMC and KM23C6 allow taking into account the criteria of competition (cooperation) of chemical elements in the chemical composition of nickel-based superalloys of equiaxial crystallization. Thanks to the obtained ratios, a diagram was obtained with the help of which it is possible to establish thermophysical characteristics for the alloys of the specified group.
 Practical value. An effective solution for establishing the main critical temperatures of nickel-based superalloys of equiaxial crystallization is proposed, which made it possible to optimize the temperatures of production, heat treatment and operation.

TOOLS FOR INCREASING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF ENTERPRISES USING MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

The general composition of the marketing toolkit of enterprises is summarized. The goal of the study was the formation of tools for increasing the competitiveness of agricultural enterprises by means of marketing communications. The place of marketing communications of enterprises in the general system of the marketing mix is shown. The general criteria of competitiveness of agricultural enterprises are outlined. The directions and means of using marketing communications in order to strengthen the competitiveness of agrarian business entities have been determined, in particular by groups: (1) dissemination of communication and research policy, (2) communications in the field of product and market portfolio, (3) financial and resource planning of communications, (4) development of strategic market communications. The factors of the development of processes of interpretation of the information received by users are determined. It has been established that the competitiveness of an agricultural enterprise is a complex system category that gives a comprehensive description of its ability to oppose direct competitors, both at the current time and in the strategic perspective, in the target market segment where the enterprise’s products are positioned, in order to ensure the functioning and planned development under the pressure of competition and the action of factors and conditions of the business environment. A structural and functional model for improving the policy of ensuring the competitiveness of agricultural enterprises has been developed. An arsenal of tools for increasing the competitiveness of enterprises in the agrarian sector of the national economy by means of marketing communications has been developed.

QBGA–SVM for Face Recognition of Livable Cities

With the continuous expansion of urbanization, the problem of human settlements has become increasingly prominent. Green, economical, intelligent and livable cities have become the urgent needs of future urban planning. The evaluation of urban livability is not only one of the judgment criteria of urban competitiveness, but also an important factor affecting the speed of urban development. Among them, the safety factor of the city is the important guarantee of other aspects, so this paper intends to design a high-precision face recognition algorithm to make efforts for the safety construction of livable cities. Aiming at the shortcomings of the standard support vector machine (SVM), combined with the quantum-behaved mechanism, a quantum-behaved genetic algorithm–SVM (QBGA–SVM) is proposed in the paper. The experimental results for the human face databases show that QBGA–SVM is superior to the comparison algorithms in both accuracy and stability. Finally, QBGA–SVM is applied to face images of the real world, and the results are better than the other algorithms.