Factors of firm competitiveness in the digital economy and multipolarity

This article examines the factors of firm competitiveness in the context of two key contemporary trends: economic digitalization and multipolarity. The authors analyzed firm evolution in relation to the development of a market economy and technological advances. They found that as firm’s competitive environment evolved, so did its competitiveness factors, as well as the scientific approaches to studying them. The contributions of Russian and international scholars to the study of external and internal factors of firm competitiveness were identified. A comparative analysis of firm competitiveness factors and their evolution revealed that technology has always been a decisive factor. The authors clarified the concept of “multipolarity,” established the relationship between the development of digital technologies and multipolarity, and identified the specific factors of firm competitiveness in a multipolar environment. Based on an analysis of modern economic and statistical data, international reporting, and expert assessments, the authors identified the key tools of the digital economy that are shaping technological trends of the near future: artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and new user interfaces, and determined their impact on firm operations. The authors structured the external and internal factors of a company’s competitiveness in a digital economy in a multipolar world by type (economic, technological, institutional, and social), the type and nature of their impact on the company’s operations (direct and indirect), identified and analyzed the interrelations between these factors. A study of the application of digital economic tools revealed the high potential of artificial intelligence for comprehensively modeling a company’s external and internal environment. It was found that artificial intelligence significantly increases the efficiency of blockchain, cloud computing, and new user interfaces, and can therefore significantly enhance a company’s competitiveness in a digital economy in a multipolar world by reducing transformation and transaction costs and increasing not only the company’s material, technological, and financial potential, but its human potential as well.