External and internal business environment. The essence of the business environment The main elements of the external business environment

The entrepreneurial environment is divided into external, independent of the entrepreneurs themselves, and internal, which entrepreneurs form (create) themselves.

External business environment . The external business environment is a set of external factors and conditions that directly or indirectly affect the business activity itself, including its formation and development.

The external business environment is a complex system of external regulation of business activities, therefore for individual entrepreneurs and legal entities it is objective in nature, since they cannot directly change it (for example, federal laws, natural factors, etc.), but must be taken into account when running your own business.

The external business environment, as an integrated system, includes the following subsystems:

· economic situation in the region, country;

· political situation, which is characterized by stable development of society;

· legal environment;

· state support and regulation of entrepreneurship;

· presence of natural factors of production;

· the physical environment associated with the climatic (weather) conditions of the functioning of business organizations, the absence of force majeure natural disasters;

· level of unemployment and solvency of the population;

· institutional and organizational environment, indicating the presence of a sufficient number of organizations that provide the possibility of carrying out commercial transactions, business connections, etc.;

manifestation of terrorism.

The external business environment in today's Russia can be characterized as not meeting the requirements for the development and establishment of entrepreneurship. And the main factors that can confirm this statement are:

Firstly this is the general corruption of both society itself and government bodies;

Secondly this is insufficient government support for entrepreneurship, which would meet modern requirements for building market relations;

Thirdly This is not an adequate and insufficient legal framework aimed at supporting entrepreneurship.

A special role in regulating business activity belongs to federal laws, on the basis of which not only indirect, but also direct regulation is carried out. An important role in regulating and supporting entrepreneurship belongs to such highest government bodies as the President of the Russian Federation, the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Russian Federation, as well as the Constitutional, Arbitration and Supreme Courts of the Russian Federation, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation and its bodies in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, other law enforcement agencies, as well as Federal ministries: antimonopoly policy and support of entrepreneurship, finance, economic development and trade, justice, etc. A large role in regulating and supporting entrepreneurship belongs to the representative and executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. It is also necessary to eliminate administrative barriers and reduce the number of bodies inspecting entrepreneurs.

Let us consider in more detail the factors of the external business environment (hereinafter referred to as the environment) (Table 14)

Table 14

Factors in the external business environment


International	International competition. Military conflicts (hot spots) in the world. Terrorism level. International exhibitions, conferences, exhibitions.
Political	Level of democracy. Political reforms taking place in individual countries. The level of corruption and criminal situation in the country.
Economic	Average annual inflation rates. Level of the country's financial system. Bank interest rate. The share of private property in the total property of the country. Level of taxation of participants in entrepreneurial activities. Investment climate. Level of shadow and criminal economy.
Socio-demographic	Population migration. Population structure by income, social status, education, gender. Prospects of the region.
Legal	A legal framework that meets the principles of entrepreneurship development. The quality of prosecutorial control over compliance with legal acts regulating entrepreneurship.
External environment	Environmental factors
Ecological	Man-made disasters. Ecosystem parameters for individual cities and territories. Level of government funding for environmental programs (budget). Legal framework regulating the state of the ecosystem.
Natural and climatic	Climate. Natural disasters. Availability of natural resources and their location.
Scientific and technical	Level of automation of industrial production and construction. Level of computerization of the country. The share of scientific workers in the total number of employees. Material support for scientific personnel.

Some scientists consider the external business environment for small businesses. So A. Hosking distinguishes between the macroenvironment and the microenvironment of entrepreneurship. The macroenvironment includes economic, legal, political, socio-cultural, technological, physical (geographic) conditions of activity. The microenvironment includes the institutional system of entrepreneurship. Solodkov M.V. conducted a study based on statistical data for the period 1995-1998. the following factors and identified their influence on MP using correlation and regression analysis:

· population density of the region;

· composition of the population of the region under study (rural or urban);

· gross regional product (GRP) per capita;

· share of the regional budget’s own expenses;

· resource and raw materials potential of the region;

· regional infrastructure;

· institutional potential of the region;

· production potential of the region;

· intellectual potential of the region;

· innovative potential of the region;

· labor productivity (income per capita);

· risks: political, criminal, environmental, social.

Solodkov M.V. revealed that the greatest influence on the activity of a region's MP is exerted by such factors as the density of the population living in the territory (correlation coefficient 0.28); the share of rural residents in the total population (the correlation coefficient was –0.36), labor productivity (the correlation coefficient was from 0.34 to 0.41), institutional potential (the correlation coefficient was from 0.21 to 0.40), intellectual potential (correlation coefficient 0.35).

Basareva V.G. proves that the relative demand for labor in the small business segment is influenced by regional differences in the level of risk, which arise due to the institutional weakness of the regions and the conservative attitudes of the regional elite. Differences in expected risks determine different degrees of people's trust in business rules.

One of the latest World Bank studies, conducted in 69 countries where 3,600 entrepreneurs were surveyed, allowed us to state: institutional barriers exist in all countries, but the significance of individual factors varies.

As factors influencing the development and birth of new small firms, the authors also noted:

· human capital;

· the level of various costs of creating an enterprise, including transaction costs;

· sectoral structure of the economy, the share of unstable industries, such as construction, retail trade, services);

Availability of production factors, market infrastructure

access to research and development, information, innovation, new technologies;

· level of costs for public infrastructure;

· support for entrepreneurship or its absence from government authorities;

· social norms that promote trust in entrepreneurship.

· Factors influencing the development of small enterprises can be divided into objective (which depend little on the will of the entrepreneur and his desires) and subjective. Objective factors include population density, territorial factor, regional potential, and sectoral structure of the region. An entrepreneur can only adapt to these factors by assessing and predicting the directions of their development and adapting to their changes.

· Subjective factors include crime risk, administrative barriers for entrepreneurs, competitive environment and others. The entrepreneur has the ability to change and influence these factors.

Internal business environment. Internal environmental factors are directly related to the financial and economic activities of business structures and those relationships and contacts that appear as a result of these activities.

The internal business environment, as an integrated system, includes the following subsystems:

Availability of own capital;

· choice of organizational and legal form;

· choice of subject of activity;

· selection of partners;

· market knowledge;

· personnel selection and management, etc.

Compliance with laws and legal acts regulating business activities can also be considered a factor in the internal environment.

The internal business environment is also determined by the totality of internal conditions for the functioning of a business organization (Fig. 18).

Rice. 18. Internal conditions and business activities.

It turns out that the internal business environment is subjective and largely depends on the owner (leader), i.e. his competence and ability to manage personnel, a changing situation, external and internal influences. In many ways, the internal business environment depends on the moral and psychological climate that prevails in the team. Internal factors also include employee motivation, which should have not only a material form, but also a spiritual component.

In this aspect, undoubtedly, the experience of forming the internal business environment of the Japanese entrepreneur K. Tateishi, which he described in his book “The Eternal Spirit of Entrepreneurship,” is of practical interest for Russian entrepreneurs. The essence of effective, rational management at Omron, which allows us to achieve success according to Tateishi, is to provide each employee with the opportunity to earn enough, feel satisfaction from their work and participate in the management of the enterprise.

The employee’s working conditions are of great importance for the effective performance of personnel, and accordingly the company (Fig. 19).

Rice. 19. Efficient working conditions.

The set of working conditions consists of the following employee requirements:

a) the workplace must be clean, equipped with the necessary equipment, communication means, computerized if necessary, etc.;

b) the team must have a stable moral and psychological climate, perceived by the management system, adequate to the needs and requirements of the employee;

c) the employee’s work must be interesting, in demand and promising;

d) the employee’s work must be adequately paid, based on his qualifications, hard work, and dedication.

Of particular importance for successful entrepreneurial activity are the development of a sound business plan, anticipation and calculation of the consequences of the occurrence of expected risks, the introduction of new technologies, diversification of activities, the development and implementation of a sound development strategy for the company. Internal environmental factors should also include strict compliance by entrepreneurs and hired managers with laws and regulations governing the activities of this type of business or the corresponding organizational and legal form of the entrepreneurial organization.

The state of the external business environment has a decisive influence on the development of entrepreneurship in the country as a whole and in individual regions. The external business environment is understood as a set of external factors and conditions that directly or indirectly influence the formation and development of entrepreneurship. The external environment in relation to entrepreneurs is an objective environment and acts regardless of their desires. To achieve success, entrepreneurs must be well aware of all external factors and conditions in order to anticipate their impact on the final results of their business in their activities. As follows from the teachings of the classics of economic theory, the basis of entrepreneurial activity is knowledge about the basic conditions and factors of the external environment.

The external business environment includes the following subsystems:

· economic situation in the country and regions;

· political situation characterized by stable development of society and the state;

· legal environment that clearly establishes the rights, obligations, and responsibilities of entrepreneurs and other subjects of a market economy;

· government regulation and support for entrepreneurship;

· socio-economic situation related to the level of payment demand of the population (consumers), the level of unemployment;

· cultural environment, determined by the level of education of the population, providing the opportunity to engage in certain types of entrepreneurial business;

· scientific, technical, technological environment;

· the presence in sufficient quantities of natural factors of production necessary for the development of certain types of activities;

· physical environment associated with climatic (weather) conditions affecting the process of functioning of business organizations;

· absence of natural disasters;

Let us give a brief description of the individual subsystems that together make up the integrated external business environment. Thus, a positive economic situation, characterized by the formation of conditions for the establishment of a competitive market as an environment for the existence of entrepreneurs, as well as the progressive implementation of economic reforms that provide entrepreneurs with access to all types of resources (except those prohibited by law) necessary for development, are essential for the development of entrepreneurship in the country. their activities. The following economic instruments have a positive (or negative) impact on the development of entrepreneurship:

· the level of the refinancing rate established by the Central Bank of Russia;

· inflation rate;

· number of taxes (mandatory fees, payments) and tax rates;

· level of liquidity of business partners (companies, firms);

· level of prices (tariffs) for certain types of resources, especially for products (services) of natural monopolies;

· preventing the establishment of monopolistically high or monopolistically low prices, agreements between economic entities that limit competition in commodity markets.

The stability of the national currency, the increase in the level of its purchasing power and other economic factors and conditions are becoming increasingly important.

The successful development of entrepreneurship is facilitated by preferential lending to entrepreneurial projects, a reduction in the number of taxes, fees, mandatory payments, a reduction in tax rates, etc. The development of entrepreneurship is hampered by economic and financial crises that arise not only in one’s own country, but also in other countries and regions.

In Russia, the development of entrepreneurship requires financial and economic support for domestic producers and stimulation of export products by providing customs benefits.

There is no doubt that the development of entrepreneurship requires stability of the political situation in the country and in individual regions, agreement between all branches of government, and their recognition of the fact that without the development of civilized entrepreneurship, economic growth, effective development of all sectors of the economy and an increase in the well-being of society are impossible. It is important that in Russia the whole society finally unconditionally supports the idea that a socially oriented economy is being formed in the country and that there is no alternative to economic reforms.

The development of entrepreneurship is possible only with the creation of a legal environment adequate to the long-term development of the country, which does not declare, but clearly establishes the rights, obligations and guarantees of capable citizens to engage in entrepreneurial or other legal economic activities, protecting civilized entrepreneurs from illegal actions of state (municipal) bodies, officials, criminal structures. It is necessary to clearly establish the responsibility of entrepreneurs for violation of laws and regulations regulating economic (entrepreneurial) activities. His Majesty the law should “rule the show” in the country, and not officials, even of very high rank, not oligarchs, not racketeers and not criminal elements. If this situation becomes the rule and not the exception, then we can say with confidence that entrepreneurship in Russia will develop progressively.

As already noted, a special role in regulating business activity belongs to federal laws, many of which carry out not only indirect, but also direct regulation. An important role in regulating and supporting entrepreneurship belongs to such highest government bodies as the President of the Russian Federation, the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Russian Federation, as well as the Constitutional, Arbitration and Supreme Courts of the Russian Federation, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation and its bodies in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, other law enforcement agencies, as well as federal authorities for antimonopoly policy and support for entrepreneurship, finance, economics, justice and others. A certain role in regulating and supporting entrepreneurship belongs to the representative and executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as evidenced, in particular, by the experience of supporting and developing small businesses in Moscow, the Moscow region and other regions.

Without considering all other subsystems of the external business environment, we will give a brief description of the institutional and organizational environment, the development of which is the most important condition for the formation of entrepreneurship in general, since many institutions (organizations) are entrepreneurial and, taking into account the specialization of their activities, provide relevant services to other business organizations. Such institutions include:

· commercial banks and other financial institutions;

· educational institutions for training personnel for business organizations;

· companies for market research, conducting specialized marketing research;

· companies (organizations) – suppliers of raw materials, materials, energy, fuel and other services; wholesalers and retailers; transport companies, etc.

Undoubtedly, a significant role in the development of entrepreneurship belongs to federal and regional funds for supporting entrepreneurship, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation and chambers of commerce and industry operating in the regions, associations (unions) of entrepreneurs. The development of entrepreneurship is greatly influenced by the formation of a positive public opinion in the media (radio, television, periodicals), supporting the positive business experience of civilized entrepreneurs, criticizing the negative phenomena of doing business, exposing thieves and embezzlers.

3.3.1. The market is the environment for entrepreneurs to exist

If there is no market in the country, then there cannot be entrepreneurs, and vice versa, since entrepreneurs (firms, companies) are the leading subjects of a market economy, along with households and the state, which in a developed market economy is a collective entrepreneur.

An analysis of the many definitions of the market presented in the scientific literature allows us to conclude that the market is a form of relationship between individual independent decision-making economic entities. The market is a complex and multifaceted economic phenomenon; it is a combination of supply and demand; this is a form of socio-economic
ical connections between entrepreneurs and consumers based on the mutual purchase and sale of goods (works, services). Only in the market is the true value (cost) of the goods produced checked, because if they are not sold, the entrepreneur will not receive the planned amount of profit. Consequently, the market is not only the environment (sphere) for the functioning of entrepreneurs, but also the most important factor in the development of entrepreneurship in the country, provided that markets for all factors of production exist and develop.

The modern market is an organized and relatively balanced system that provides entrepreneurs with freedom to choose methods of production and sale of various types and volumes of goods (works, services), and guarantees independence to all consumers when purchasing them. No one can administratively (legally) force anyone to produce or acquire anything. The market is a community of independent, independent economic entities, and the entrepreneur is an independent economic entity. The market, in the figurative expression of American scientists R. Lipsey, P. Steiner, D. Parvis, is a stage on which a play is played out about the interaction of all those who make economic decisions. Millions of consumers make independent decisions about what goods and in what quantities to buy, a huge number of entrepreneurs decide what and how to produce; owners of production factors make their own choices about who and how to sell them. All these processes are carried out through the market, through the market mechanism.

There is no free market in any country, since there are no certain economic conditions for it, but a competitive market operates in the presence of various forms of ownership, but non-state ownership is predominant with the existence of a developed market infrastructure, which includes three main elements: the market for goods and services, the market for factors production, financial market - and the corresponding developed systems of market institutions.

A developed competitive market is characterized by a complex structure, a complex system of relevant institutions (exchanges, commercial banks, auditing organizations, insurance companies, advertising companies, associations (unions) of entrepreneurs, etc.).

The modern market is classified into various categories:

a) according to the economic purpose of objects of market relations - the market for consumer goods and services; market for means of production; intermediate goods market; know-how market; commodity market; labor market; securities market; recyclables market; information technology market, etc.;

b) by geographical location - local, regional, national, world;

c) according to the degree of restriction of competition - monopolistic, oligopolistic, monopsony, free, mixed;

d) by industry – automobile, computer, oil, gas, etc.;

e) by the nature of sales - wholesale, retail. Of course, any classification of the market is limited; each of them is essential for understanding the need to change the functions of the state and develop entrepreneurship in various organizational and legal forms and areas of operation.

The market has, compared to a command economy, significant advantages.

Firstly, through the market, the efficient distribution of all types of resources is carried out. The market “directs” resources to the production of only goods (works, services) necessary for consumers.

Secondly, the market operates in the presence of relatively limited economic information: data on prices, competitors, production costs, production quantities.

Thirdly, the advantage of the market is its high flexibility and adaptability to changing production and consumption conditions.

Fourthly, market participants make optimal use of the results of scientific and technological progress. To maximize profits, manufacturing entrepreneurs take risks by developing new products and improving technology, which allows them to have a temporary advantage over competitors.

Fifth, entrepreneurs and consumers have freedom of choice
and actions. They are independent in making decisions, concluding various transactions (agreements), hiring labor, etc.

Sixth, the market provides satisfaction for a wide variety of needs.

At the same time, the market also has negative sides. Therefore, when forming a market economy in the country, new economic conditions, it is necessary to know them. Based on foreign experience, the following market disadvantages can be identified:

a) the market does not contribute to the conservation of non-renewable resources;

b) the market does not have effective economic protection of the environment; only the state can force entrepreneurs to invest in creating environmentally friendly industries;

c) the market cannot regulate the correct use of resources belonging to the entire state (society);

d) the market does not create incentives for the production of goods and services for collective use;

e) the market does not guarantee the right of all citizens to work and income;

f) the market does not ensure the development of fundamental research in science;

g) the market is not focused on the production of socially necessary goods, but is aimed mainly at satisfying the needs of those individuals who have a lot of money;

h) the market is subject to unstable development due to inflationary processes. Therefore, some of the functions that the market mechanism cannot perform are taken over by the state.

As already mentioned, the market is the sphere of existence of entrepreneurs, without it there will be no millions of entrepreneurs, and without entrepreneurs, as independently economic entities, there cannot be a developed market. Therefore, all the conditions and factors for the formation of a civilized developed market are also the conditions for the formation of developed entrepreneurship.

The most important mandatory feature of the market is its competitive nature. Competition is a mechanism for the functioning of entrepreneurs who compete with each other, as well as with customers. Competition is the competitiveness of economic entities when their independent actions effectively limit the ability of each of them to unilaterally influence the general conditions of circulation in the corresponding product market. Therefore, current legislation prohibits resorting to unfair competition in the market, occupying a dominant position, carrying out monopolistic activities, setting monopolistic high or monopolistically low prices.

An entrepreneur can succeed if he is able to timely and correctly assess market opportunities from the point of view of the goals and resources of his company, and produce only the goods and services necessary for market participants at lower costs and of the required quality.

Entrepreneurs operate in a specific environment that determines their positions.

The business environment is the favorable socio-economic, political, civil and legal situation that has developed in the country, providing economic freedom for capable citizens to engage in entrepreneurial activities aimed at meeting the needs of all subjects of a market economy.

The business environment represents an integrated set of various (objective and subjective) factors that allow entrepreneurs to achieve success in achieving their goals, implementing entrepreneurial projects and making a profit.

The entrepreneurial environment is divided into the external environment, which, as a rule, does not depend on the entrepreneurs themselves, and the internal environment, which is formed directly by the entrepreneurs themselves.

The entrepreneurial environment is formed on the basis of the development of productive forces, improvement of production (economic) relations, creation of a favorable public and state mentality, formation of the market as an environment for the existence of entrepreneurs and other conditions.

It is believed that for the effective development of entrepreneurship, two main conditions are necessary: economic freedom and independence.

In Art. 34 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation states that “everyone has the right to freely use their abilities and property for entrepreneurial and other economic activities not prohibited by law.” In Art. 35-36 states that “everyone has the right to own property, own, use and dispose of it, both individually and jointly with other persons”; no one can be deprived of his property except by a court decision; ownership, use and disposal of land and other natural resources are exercised freely by their owners.

The Russian Federation guarantees the unity of the economic space, the free movement of goods, services and financial resources, support for competition and freedom of economic activity.

External and internal business environment

The external business environment is characterized by a set of conditions and factors influencing the development of entrepreneurship in the country, operating independently of the will of the entrepreneurs themselves.

There are various approaches to describing the structure of the external environment. Most often in modern literature, the external environment is considered as a two-level system consisting of a micro (immediate environment) and a macro environment (indirect environment), each of which includes certain factors, or subenvironments. However, it should be noted that indirect influence is no less real.

Proponents of another approach identify four structural levels of the business environment, each of which has a corresponding impact on the activities of business entities. These are the micro level (or the internal business environment), the meso level (or the local market environment), the macro level (or the national market environment) and the mega level (or the international market environment).

Microenvironment is the environment of the immediate environment of an enterprise, which includes a set of factors and conditions for the entrepreneurial activity of a subject (individual or legal entity) in the market.

The microenvironment is represented by clients, suppliers, intermediaries, competitors, contact audiences, business partners who influence the activities of the enterprise, through which business entities carry out their relationships with consumers and the state.

Customers are actual or potential buyers of the company's products.

Suppliers are subjects of the business environment that provide the enterprise and its competitors with the necessary material resources for the production of specific goods or services.

Intermediaries are firms or individuals who assist a business in promoting, marketing, and distributing products to its clientele.

Competitors are other organizations offering similar products; companies producing similar products, as well as all organizations that are able to compete for potential customers.

Contact audiences are groups of individuals and organizations that have a potential or actual impact on the company’s activities. These are: the media, financial circles, the public, government bodies and management, etc.

The macroenvironment characterizes the general operating conditions of business entities, which determine the nature of their development, regardless of the control influences of the entrepreneurs themselves.

The macro environment includes:

The economic environment related to the level of inflation, effective demand of the population, pricing policy, number of taxes, tax rates, etc.;

A political environment characterized by stable development of society and the state;

A legal environment that clearly establishes the rights, obligations, and responsibilities of entrepreneurs;

The socio-cultural environment associated with the level of unemployment, education of the population, cultural traditions, etc.;

The demographic environment related to the size and density of the country's population, the division of this population by gender, age, level of education, income and other factors that have a significant impact on the development of entrepreneurship;

Scientific, technical and technological environment, reflecting the level of scientific and technological development affecting entrepreneurship, for example in the field of information technology;

The physical or geographic environment that characterizes the weather conditions in which the business is conducted. In addition, this includes factors that have a direct impact on the location of enterprises: the availability of raw materials, energy resources, highways, railways, sea and air routes;

An institutional environment characterized by the presence and variety of institutions through which entrepreneurs can establish business relationships or conduct commercial transactions.

Using the example of trade, we will consider in more detail the factors of the economic, socio-demographic, organizational and administrative, scientific, technical and technological, political and legal, natural and climatic environment, which to a greater or lesser extent influence its development.

Economic factors are determined by the level and characteristics of the market mechanism. The macroeconomic climate of the country as a whole will determine the level of development of the industry. Bad economic conditions will reduce the demand for goods and services of trading organizations, and more favorable ones can provide prerequisites for their growth, therefore, when assessing the external environment, it is necessary to take into account both general (interregional) indicators and sectoral indicators inherent in trade.

The main economic instruments that reflect the level of economic development are: interest rates, currency exchange rates, economic growth rates, inflation rates, the number of taxes and tax rates, the level of prices (tariffs) for certain types of resources, especially for products (services) of natural monopolies , preventing the establishment of monopolistically high or monopolistically low prices and some others. Let's look at the most important of them.

The interest rate (interest rate level) in the economy has a significant impact on consumer demand. Consumers often take on debt to purchase goods. They are less likely to do so when interest rates are high. Traders considering expansion plans that are to be financed by borrowing should keep an eye on the level of interest rates and their impact on the cost of capital, so the interest rate will have a direct impact on the potential attractiveness of different strategies.

Exchange rates determine the value of the ruble in relation to the value of other countries' currencies. Changes in currency exchange rates directly affect the competitiveness of products of trading enterprises engaged in foreign economic activity. When the value of the ruble relative to other currencies is low, goods produced in Russia are relatively inexpensive, reducing the threat from foreign competitors and reducing imports. But if the value of the ruble rises, then imports become relatively inexpensive, which, in turn, increases the level of threats to organizations created by foreign competitors.

The rate of economic growth affects opportunities and threats for any industry, including trade. As you know, a country’s economy can be in one

of three states: growth (rise), stagnation or decline. Each of these states is identified with the trend of such an indicator as the level of consumption.

The growth or decline of consumption in the country are quite large indicators; they consist of the purchasing power of the population and the consumption structure, so entrepreneurs in the trade sector must take into account:

The purchasing power of the population, which depends on the level of current income, prices, savings and availability of credit. Purchasing power is affected by economic downturns, high unemployment, and the rising cost of obtaining loans;

The nature of income distribution (depending on social class), the distribution of income for consumption: food; housing, transportation, medical care, clothing, recreation, personal expenses, etc.;

Geographical differences in the structure of income distribution (for example, Moscow and provincial cities).

Thus, economic growth increases consumer spending, which creates competitive pressure on businesses in a particular industry. Slower economic growth and lower consumer spending also lead to increased competitive pressure as businesses try to stay in the industry amid the threat of a crisis.

Inflation. The governments of most countries in the world are making significant efforts to reduce inflation. Typically, the consequence of these efforts is a reduction in interest rates and thus signs of economic growth.

In addition to the listed tools, others are no less important, namely:

Consumption structure and its dynamics;

Economic conditions in foreign countries;

Changes in demand;

Monetary and financial policy;

The level of labor productivity in the industry and its growth rate; GNP dynamics;

Tax rates.

Purely economic factors of market activity are quite rare. As a rule, economic factors are intertwined with social factors and interact with them. Another thing is that the influence of economic or, conversely, social processes may predominate.

For example, demand in the consumer market depends not only on economic factors, but also on a whole complex of socio-demographic factors, such as:

Natural population movement (fertility, mortality);

Population size and growth, its gender, age and social structure;

Territorial settlement and some migration processes;

Size, composition and age of families;

Urbanization, ratio of urban and rural population;

Cultural level;

National composition of the population.

Socio-economic factors include: volume of product supply (production, export and import); the impact of the pace of scientific and technological progress on supply and demand; cash and other income; prices, prices for substitute goods, inflation; employment/unemployment, professional composition of workers, etc.

The combination of social and economic factors influencing the market situation directly manifests itself in the form of formation and changes in monetary income and other types, their volume, level, structure and dynamics. There is a close direct relationship between demand in the goods market and the income available to consumers. The higher the income, the more goods buyers purchase, other things being equal, and conversely, a reduction in income leads to a contraction in the volume of the product market. This phenomenon is modeled using correlation and regression analysis.

Socio-demographic factors shape lifestyle, work and consumption and have a direct impact on the functioning of the trading industry.

The main socio-demographic factors include: fertility; mortality; immigration and emigration intensity coefficients; average life expectancy ratio; disposable income; educational standards; shopping habits; attitude towards the quality of goods and services; pollution control; energy saving; attitude towards government; problems of interethnic relations; social responsibility; social welfare, etc.

Directly social factors include: distribution of the population by class, their social status, level and forms of education and culture, religious characteristics, aesthetic views and tastes, a system of social and moral values, consumer culture. All of them, to one degree or another, affect the processes of purchase, sale and consumption of goods.

The main reason is migration growth, which compensated for the natural population decline. The birth rate that is inherent in our country today has not ensured the replacement of generations or population reproduction for a long time. If we do not take into account migrants, then, despite the increase in the birth rate, in the country as a whole the excess of the number of deaths over the number of births is 1.2 times.

The main factors influencing the overall mortality rates of Russians:

Smoking contributes 17.1% to total mortality;

Unbalanced diet - by 12.9%;

Overweight - by 12.5%;

Alcohol consumption - by 11.9%.

Reduction in the economically active population. The number of economically active population, even taking into account the positive balance of migration and the persistence of a high level of labor participation rate.

Decline in the population as a whole. Despite the increase in the birth rate that has been observed in Russia in recent years, the death rate still exceeds the birth rate.

Aging population. Increasing proportion of older people around the world, including in Russia. According to demographers, this trend will continue for another fifty years, so manufacturers must take this circumstance into account in the structure of goods offered to the market (increase the production of goods for the elderly).

Noticeable changes in families. An increase in the number of childless families, as well as unmarried couples. This lifestyle leaves a certain imprint on the structure of consumption in society.

Increasing the share of educated people. The growing number of educated people will increase the demand for books, magazines, computers, etc., as well as for educational services.

In order to identify the most significant opportunities and threats from these factors, trade needs to take into account new trends and develop new development strategies. For example, the impact of shifts in the social and age structure of the population on the nature and intensity of demand. On the one hand, an increase in the birth rate causes an increase in the need for a number of goods. On the other hand, an increase in the number of consumers without a corresponding increase in their income leads to a decrease in the average level of consumption. The modern historical stage is characterized by strong social differentiation of the population and its standard of living. Since the 90s. XX century Internal and external migration processes are intensifying. Thus, the response of demand to demographic factors is ambiguous and can be quite contradictory. The unstable situation in some regions is also having an impact.

Socio-demographic factors tend to greatly influence the market. Thus, changes in population increase or, conversely, reduce the volume of consumer demand and, therefore, directly affect the state of the consumer market. In analyzing the social reactions of the market, one cannot fail to take into account the factor of the size and composition of families, which closely interacts with the factor of the age structure of the population. However, here one should take into account the distribution of material wealth within the family itself, traditions and consumption culture.

Organizational and administrative factors. They have both a positive and negative impact on trade. For example, in the regions there is weak administrative support for trade. Instead, merchants are subject to frequent and unfounded inspections by a variety of government agencies.

The organizational and administrative factors include the following indicators: the share of costs for overcoming administrative barriers in the revenue of small and medium-sized businesses in the field of trade; the degree of participation of state authorities and local governments in the formation and implementation of trade policy, the number of inspections of trading enterprises by various government bodies.

Political and legal factors. The stability of the political situation has a significant impact on the economic situation in the regions and the country as a whole. Various legislative and governmental factors can influence the level of development of the industry. National and foreign governments can be the main regulators of their activities, sources of subsidies, employers and buyers for trading enterprises engaged in foreign economic activity. Therefore, for these trading enterprises, assessing the political situation may be the most important aspect of analyzing the external environment. Such an assessment is carried out through the detailing of political and legal factors.

The main political and legal factors are changes in tax legislation; patent law; environmental legislation; antimonopoly legislation; monetary policy; government regulation; number of legislative acts in the field of wholesale and retail trade; the number of regulations governing trade activities; number of approved regional trade development programs; the number of consultations on the formation of programs for small and medium-sized businesses in trade provided by local governments of single-industry cities in Russia.

Some of these factors affect all business organizations, such as changes in tax laws. Others - only for a small number of firms operating in the market, for example, antitrust legislation, and still others - only for trade organizations. However, to one degree or another, directly or indirectly, political and legal factors affect all organizations.

Recently, there have been changes in the legislative base of trade. Thus, Federal Law No. 381-FZ “On the Fundamentals of State Regulation of Trade Activities in the Russian Federation” came into force, which is designed to regulate the relations arising between state authorities, local governments and business entities in connection with the organization and implementation of trade activities by the latter in Russia. , as well as relations that arise between business entities in the process of trading activities.

The law contains a list of methods of state regulation of trade, which include:

Establishment of requirements for the organization and implementation of trading activities;

Antimonopoly regulation;

Technical regulation;

Information support in the field of trading activities;

State control (supervision) and municipal control in the field of trade.

However, according to trade representatives, this law contains many inaccuracies and requires improvement.

Scientific, technical and technological factors reflect the level of scientific and technological development affecting entrepreneurship in the field of trade, for example, in the field of automation of data processing and information technology. The impact of technological factors can be assessed as a process of creating something new—innovative—and destroying the old.

Recently, more and more attention has been paid to the innovative development of trade. Retail innovations include: Internet-based point-of-sale (POS) systems; self-service systems without a cashier; wireless kiosks; personal shopping devices; touch screens. The development and implementation of software in retail chains makes it possible to create databases on a variety of parameters and consumption dynamics across these chains based on information about customers and their purchases. There are barcodes on goods; they are read and entered into the cash register and, therefore, into a single database. At the same time, the buyer is given a card with an individual number, which encourages him to go to this particular store. And all the information is read from the buyer: gender, age, social status, place of residence, the goods he purchases, the frequency of purchases, the amount he regularly spends, consumer preferences and their changes. Such a system makes it possible to accumulate a colossal amount of individualized information.

Thus, retail trade is fertile ground for innovation and the search for an effective combination of various factors, both at the level of internal corporate mechanisms and within the framework of customer relations.

An innovative approach allows you to see the market differently and create new effective tools:

The development of Internet technologies has led to the fact that recently almost any trading company has access to the World Wide Web, which allows not only to receive information, but also to conduct business;

B2B technologies (business to business). The “business to business” technology is relatively new for Russia, namely, it allows you to transfer document flow to the virtual space;

Electronic digital signature. In Russia there is a law “On Electronic Digital Signature”, which promotes the replacement of paper document flow with electronic one;

Internet banking. Now some manufacturers of such systems combine B2B technologies with Internet banking into unified solutions, which makes it possible to introduce a distributed payment management system into trading organizations and reduce the costs associated with conducting trade operations;

Bar coding. Bar coding technologies make it possible to reduce the costs of goods circulation and make it possible to implement ERP-class information systems, etc.

Accelerating technological change is shortening the average product life cycle, so organizations must anticipate the changes new technologies will bring. These changes can affect all aspects of the trade, such as human resources (recruiting and training staff to work with new technologies) or marketing functions, which are tasked with developing methods for selling new types of products.

Natural and climatic factors. An important factor in the state and development of the market, its territorial and geographical location are the national and climatic characteristics of the consumption of material and spiritual goods, as well as consumer habits. To a certain extent, this is also due to the production base of the market. Changes in climate and weather conditions largely respond to the resource base of the consumer market and its development.

Natural and climatic factors include: the use of environmentally friendly products, the development of packaging that does not pollute the environment, the protection of the earth’s ozone layer, the ban on testing new products on animals, the fight against environmental pollution, energy conservation, etc.

As noted above, environmental factors that influence the functioning of the company are not controlled by entrepreneurs, but they must be taken into account in order to avoid negative consequences.

The internal business environment is a set of internal conditions for the functioning of a business organization. To a large extent, the internal business environment depends on the entrepreneur himself, his competence, willpower, determination, level of aspirations, skills in organizing and running a business.

The internal environment of an enterprise is largely determined by its mission, set of goals and objectives, structure, technology, availability of qualified personnel, and leadership style.

Mission is the target function of the organization or its main goal, i.e. that for which it was established and to which all its functioning is subordinated.

Goals are a specific final state or desired result that the team of a given enterprise strives for.

Objectives indicate in general terms the immediate goals of business activity. For example, making a profit, accumulating sufficient cash resources to continue the activities of the enterprise, providing services necessary for society, achieving leading positions in the market and industry, optimally satisfying customer demand, etc.

The structure of an enterprise is a logical relationship between management levels and functional areas that allow achieving the goals of the enterprise.

Technology is a combination of skills, equipment, tools and related technical knowledge.

Personnel - a set of employees included in the payroll of the enterprise. Personnel are necessary to perform certain functions and achieve business goals.

Leadership style is a generalized type of behavior of a leader in relations with subordinates in the management process.

In addition, the internal environment of an enterprise can include its culture, which covers the existing system of relationships between people, distribution of power, management style, personnel issues, and determination of development prospects.

The state of the internal environment of an enterprise is greatly influenced by the availability of material, financial, labor, information and investment resources. In addition: availability of equity capital; correct choice of the organizational and legal form of the enterprise; choice of subject of activity; selection of a team of partners; knowledge of the market and qualified marketing research; development of a sound business plan; development and implementation of a sound company development strategy; compliance by entrepreneurs and hired managers with laws and regulations governing the activities of this type of business, etc.

Assessment of macroeconomic factors of the business environment

To assess the influence of the macroenvironment on the business structure, you can use the following methodology:

Determine the factors and their actual significance;

Determine by expert means the nature of the influence;

Expertly evaluate each factor on a 5-point scale and the importance coefficient, taking into account that the sum of all coefficients is equal to 1.

When assessing the influence of factors, the following conditions must be taken into account.

The interconnectedness of environmental factors is the level of force with which a change in one factor affects other factors. A change in any environmental factor can cause a change in others.

The complexity of the external environment is the number of factors to which the industry must respond, as well as the level of variation of each factor.

Mobility of the environment is the speed at which changes occur. The mobility of the external environment may be higher for some enterprises and lower for others. In a highly fluid environment, an organization or department must draw on a greater variety of information to make effective decisions.

Environmental uncertainty is the relationship between the amount of information an industry has about the environment and the confidence in the accuracy of that information. The more uncertain the external environment, the more difficult it is to make effective decisions.

It should be noted that in the theoretical aspect, environmental factors are considered separately, but in practice it makes sense to study their complex impact on the business structure. For example, if we consider their impact on trade, then using the index factor model we can determine trade turnover per capita and identify the influence of environmental factors on this indicator.

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The business environment is a set of external and internal factors that influence the functioning of the company and require decisions aimed at either eliminating them or adapting to them. A stable business environment is characteristic of procedural business. The instability of the intuitive business environment sharply narrows the entrepreneur's opportunities for profit and makes the business extremely risky

The entire business environment is divided into two parts: internal and external.

The internal business environment of a firm refers to situational factors within the firm itself. Internal factors are mainly the result of management decisions, but not all can be controlled by management decisions. Internal factors include: goals, structure, technology and people.

The external business environment refers to all conditions and factors that arise in the environment, regardless of the activities of a particular company, but have, or can have a significant impact on it and therefore require management decisions.

Factors of direct impact

1. Macroeconomic state of the economy:
- - level, structure of supply and demand for goods;
- - structure of excess or shortage of jobs;
- - volumes and structure of income of the population and firms;
- - the availability of free funds, the level of income on investment capital, the structure of supply and demand in the financial market.
2. Business infrastructure - a system of institutions and their relationships with the help of which a business has the opportunity to establish business relationships and conduct commercial transactions:
- - production infrastructure - vehicles, roads, power lines, communications, etc.;
- - market infrastructure - services for the distribution, sale, storage, delivery of goods (wholesale and retail sellers, shops, commodity exchanges and intermediary systems, labor exchanges, etc.);
- - financial infrastructure - provision of financial services to banks, credit, investment institutions, insurance companies;
- - information infrastructure - a system of institutions providing services for the collection and provision of specialized information: consulting, auditing, engineering firms; marketing research, legal, etc.).

Indirect impact factors:

1 State policy. Changes in government policy have a big impact on the conditions for doing business. Tax, monetary and credit policies, entrepreneurship support policies, etc. are especially important.
2 Socio-cultural environment.

The social infrastructure includes the education system, the behavior patterns of economic entities that have developed in the economy, and the way of life. Moral and religious norms, the population’s attitude towards work, etc. also play a big role.

3 Legal environment. The legal environment is also an important factor providing the conditions for the functioning of business activities. It includes: laws regulating business activities; procedural mechanisms for implementing laws; features of informal, traditional rules of law; Features of legal support for business. The country, under the influence of the history of the formation of the legal system, develops a country-specific model of the legal infrastructure of business

Using all the possibilities of law, all the wealth of its inherent means of influence, is a serious reserve for ensuring the implementation of economic decisions. Mandatory conditions for the effectiveness of the legal environment are its unity, mutual consistency of its constituent laws, by-laws at all levels, judicial and arbitration practice, business customs and business rules, and lack of gaps. The latter presupposes that existing laws must ensure the possibility of resolving any issue that arises in practice in accordance with the general provisions of a given legal system.

Space, i.e. the possibility, under the pretext of the absence of a legal norm, to resolve an issue not in accordance with (and sometimes in contradiction with) the general provisions of the system, undermines the latter, opens the way for a violation of its unity and internal consistency.

Unfortunately, the emerging Russian legal system is contradictory and still contains many gaps. To increase its effectiveness, it is very important to support business customs, the desire of entrepreneurs and their associations to collect and develop practical rules, selection and a kind of codification of those that have the qualities of rational and fair.

4 Technological environment - reflects the level of scientific and technological development that affects entrepreneurship (information space, data processing, etc.)
5 The physical and geographical environment includes parameters of the geographical location of the business, features of its access to natural and human resources.

As mentioned above, entrepreneurship can develop if there are certain external and internal factors (conditions) in the country, which together provide favorable opportunities for the development of civilized successful entrepreneurship, i.e. if a certain business environment has been formed. Under business environment one should understand the favorable socio-economic, political, civil and legal situation in the country, which ensures economic freedom for capable citizens to engage in entrepreneurial activities aimed at meeting the needs of all subjects of a market economy.

Entrepreneurs operate in certain conditions that together constitute the entrepreneurial environment, which represents an integrated set of various (objective and subjective) factors that allow entrepreneurs to achieve success in achieving their goals, in implementing entrepreneurial projects and contracts and generating profit (income).

As an integrated complex system, the business environment is divided into external, which is usually independent of the entrepreneurs themselves, and internal, which is formed directly by the entrepreneurs themselves.

External business environment

The state of the external business environment has a decisive influence on the development of entrepreneurship in the country as a whole and in individual regions. Under the external business environment is understood as a set of external factors and conditions that directly or indirectly influence the formation and development of entrepreneurship. The external environment in relation to entrepreneurs is an objective environment and acts regardless of their desires. To achieve success, entrepreneurs must be well aware of all external factors and conditions in order to anticipate their impact on the final results of their business in their activities. As follows from the teachings of the classics of economic theory, the basis of entrepreneurial activity is knowledge about the basic conditions and factors of the external environment. The external business environment includes the following subsystems: economic situation in the country and regions;

political situation characterized by stable development of society and the state; a legal environment that clearly establishes the rights, obligations, and responsibilities of entrepreneurs and other subjects of a market economy; government regulation and support for entrepreneurship; socio-economic situation related to the level of payment demand of the population (consumers), the level of unemployment;

cultural environment, determined by the level of education of the population, providing the opportunity to engage in certain types of entrepreneurial business; scientific, technical, technological environment;

the presence in sufficient quantities of natural factors of production necessary for the development of certain types of activities; physical environment associated with climatic (weather) conditions affecting the process of functioning of business organizations;

absence of natural disasters; institutional and organizational environment, indicating the presence of a sufficient number of organizations that provide the possibility of carrying out commercial transactions, business connections, etc.

Let us give a brief description of the individual subsystems that together make up the integrated external business environment. Thus, positive development is essential for the development of entrepreneurship in the country. economic situation, characterized by the formation of conditions for the establishment of a competitive market as an environment for the existence of entrepreneurs, as well as the progressive implementation of economic reforms that provide entrepreneurs with access to all types of resources (except those prohibited by law) necessary for the development of their activities. The following economic instruments have a positive (or negative) impact on the development of entrepreneurship:

the level of the refinancing rate established by the Central Bank of Russia; inflation rate; number of taxes (mandatory fees, payments) and tax rates; level of liquidity of business partners (companies, firms); the level of prices (tariffs) for certain types of resources, especially for products (services) of natural monopolies;

preventing the establishment of monopolistically high or monopolistically low prices, agreements between economic entities that limit competition in commodity markets. The stability of the national currency, the increase in the level of its purchasing power and other economic factors and conditions are becoming increasingly important.

There is no doubt that the development of entrepreneurship requires stability of the political situation in the country and in individual regions, agreement between all branches of government, their recognition of the fact that without the development of civilized entrepreneurship, economic growth, effective development of all sectors of the economy and improving the well-being of society are impossible. The development of entrepreneurship is possible only by creating a country adequate to the long-term development legal environment, which does not declare, but clearly establishes the rights, obligations and guarantees of capable citizens to engage in entrepreneurial or other legal economic activities, protecting civilized entrepreneurs from unlawful actions of state (municipal) bodies, officials, and criminal structures. It is necessary to clearly establish the responsibility of entrepreneurs for violation of laws and regulations regulating economic (entrepreneurial) activities.

In connection with the above, at the current stage of economic development, in our opinion, are of great importance strengthening the regulatory role of the state in the process of establishing civilized entrepreneurship, protecting the legitimate interests of entrepreneurs, providing them with guarantees as citizens and organizations.

As already noted, a special role in regulating business activity belongs to federal laws, many of which carry out not only indirect, but also direct regulation. Without considering all other subsystems of the external business environment, we will give a brief description of the institutional and organizational environment, the development of which is the most important condition for the formation of entrepreneurship in general, since many institutions (organizations) are entrepreneurial and, taking into account the specialization of their activities, provide relevant services to other business organizations. Such institutions include:

commercial banks and other financial institutions;

educational institutions for training personnel for business organizations; companies for market research, conducting specialized marketing research; companies (organizations) - suppliers of raw materials, materials, energy, fuel and other services; wholesalers and retailers; transport companies, etc.