THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF DETERMINING THE ESSENCE OF A BENCHMARKING CATEGORY

The constant variability of the external environment complicates the process of conducting economic activity by business entities. This requires the application of new methods of business management to ensure its sustainable development and to create competitive products. Management should pay particular attention to those management concepts that have demonstrated their effectiveness and potential. Among these methods, benchmarking should be singled out as one of the universal ways of increasing the level of competitiveness of enterprises of different spheres of management.The purpose of the article is to summarize scientific approaches to the concept of benchmarking as an economic category and to determine the author's position on its essence.The article presents the scientific concepts of defining the essence of benchmarking as an economic category, revealed that there are a considerable number of concepts for consideration of this definition, establishes the universal nature of this concept, since benchmarking is already used in the work of not only enterprises, but also in the organization of management of individual spheres. , territories, etc. The article proposes to use two approaches to considering the essence of benchmarking: static and dynamic, which makes it possible to define this category on the one hand, as a method of management, and, on the other, as determined by external and internal conditions, a constant and variable process. As a result of the research, it is proposed to consider benchmarking as a management method, the essence of which is to distinguish the best experience of economic agents, especially business entities, and to use it in the work of other enterprises, institutions and organizations.