Экономические науки/6.Маркетинг и менеджмент

Lyamina A.

Vlasova I.A.

Donetsk National University of Economics and Trade

named after Mikhailo Tugan-Baranovsky, Ukraine

Determinants of Competitive Advantages of Ukrainian Enterprises on the International Market of Services

According to the theory of competitive advantage, the probability for a country to succeed on the international services market in any branch could be determined by the following four competitive advantages: factor conditions; terms of demand; related and supporting branches; strategies, structure, and rivalry of the firms on which depends the opportunity of forming service companies of the world standard. As of today, a number of factor conditions have been created in Ukraine that are favorable for growth of competitive capacity at certain international markets of services. In the first place, those factors should be pointed out that provide competitiveness of priority branches from the viewpoint of strategic interests of Ukraine on those markets.

Although transport services provide a lion's share in the export structure of Ukraine’s services provide a lion’s share in the export structure (73.03%), neither natural conditions, nor geographic situation are fully exploited. The analysis of modern tendencies on the international market of services showed stable growth of transportation volumes, which creates the preconditions for Ukraine to be integrated into the world system of service providers if the conditions of national transport system are improved. The construction of turnpike roads and handing them over in concession with possible attraction of FDIs could contribute much to the development of transport infrastructure. The necessity to have concessions is conditioned by the current state of economy, when the budget deficit does not allow to channel significant investment resources to road construction. In Ukraine, a number of laws have already been adopted which lay the foundation for the development of concessionary construction of roads. In particular, they include the Law of Ukraine «About Concessions», «About Concessions on Construction and Exploitation of Motorways», the package of Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the development of national networks of motorways in the system of international transport corridors. A similar problem exists in the area of tourist services: Ukraine possesses a full range of natural and recreational resources, cultural wealth, and history necessary to create competitive advantages, but the hotel and tourist infrastructure is still a weak link in the tourist industry. According to Koba International Real Estate Consulting, out of all hotels in Ukraine only 5 are five-star hotels, while 28 - are four-star hotels, 73 - three-star hotels, and 740 hotels are unclassified. It is obvious that 80% of unclassified hotels provide a considerable hindrance to success on the international market of tourist services. The problem for the hotel business consists in the high costs required for building a new object and its promotion on the market. Specifically, it refers to four- and five-star hotels. At that, the payback period makes no less than ten years. Given deficit of hotels, the operators and investors can generate surplus profits from high accommodation charges. For example, a room in Radisson SAS is charged €100 in the countries of Western Europe, whereas in Kyiv it price is €330. Moreover, the quality of services provided by the national hotels does not always meet that of the similar foreign ones. Thus, in such conditions, clients give preference to resorts in Turkey or Egypt providing much better service than the Ukrainian ones. Since national providers are inexperienced in realizing hotel projects, in order to develop the factor of competitiveness on the international market of tourist services it is very important for Ukraine to attract foreign on terms of franchising contracts and management contracts. Thanks to cooperation with a TNC, national investors will get a popular brand with fair reputation and the clients loyal to that brand at the same time. The analysis of modern trends on the international market of services shows that its major element of dynamic changes is developed information and telecommunications infrastructure. In this context, it could be viewed as a lever that will enable Ukraine to occupy certain positions on that market, primarily in the areas of business and telecommunication services, and at the same time to become a driver of economic development on the whole.

A very important factor of competitive capacity of Ukraine on the international market of services can become skilled work force. It is related to the fact that the providing of services stipulates for direct contact between the consumer and the employee of a provider-company; thus, the quality of service primarily depends on that contact. Nevertheless, the mere fact of skilled labour resources availability does not provide competitive advantages on the international market of services. For support of competitive advantages, the knowledge and skills of specialists should be specified concerning the specific needs of a certain area.

According to Ukrainian Hi-Tech Initiative despite a great many of graduates in IT-specialties, only 20% of students are ready for professional work after graduation from educational establishments, which demonstrates insufficient quality of education. Today Ukraine is making certain steps to improve the quality of educational services for specialist training. In particular, the transition to Bologna system of education has started, and the number of educators with improved qualifications has been increasing. The positive thing is that a number of personnel who improved their qualification in strategically important area of transport services grew by 3.3%. Along with that, worth indicating is the negative phenomenon of decreasing number of employees who were trained in new professions and improved their qualifications in the areas of communications, hotel and restaurant services. Consequently, in order for the Ukrainian companies to access international markets of services, it is needed to develop and increase the competitive capacity of respective related and supporting branches. The priority services branches in Ukraine are the following.

Under conditions of emerging markets of services and service culture in Ukraine, the competition among participants of the national market of services plays a significant role in enhancing service quality and accumulating competitive capacities of enterprises. It is just the harsh domestic competition, - which forces enterprises to enter external markets and succeed there, - that provides a powerful impetus to development and support of competitive advantages. It can be well exemplified by the competition between software producers in the USA, which has brought them to leadership at the international market of computer services. At the moment, the most intense competition in Ukraine can be observed at the markets of tourist, educational, and publishing services.