Research of the export potential of an enterprise in the process of forming a strategy for foreign economic activity

The methodology developed in this study suggests the use of cluster analysis and artificial neural networks. It allows you to identify factors that should focus efforts, resources and strengthen control, which will make it possible to improve competitive conditions and results of foreign economic activity for enterprises. The purpose of the study is to determine the export potential of an enterprise in the process of forming a strategy for foreign economic activity. A literature review was conducted to determine the key factors of export potential. The article analyzes the export potential of an enterprise in the process of forming a strategy for foreign economic activity, which covers the stages, assessment and classification of enterprises based on the proposal of key factors of export potential. The application of cluster analysis to identify and characterize competitive profiles using artificial neural networks for classifying export potential is also evaluated. The results made it possible to Group Enterprises into four competitive profiles that link their export potential characteristics. Artificial neural networks demonstrated the ability of 86.8 percent to distinguish and classify enterprises according to their competitive profile in the process of carrying out foreign economic activities. The study used 16 key factors integrated into financial aspects, internal processes, customers, training and growth, and markets. The reliability of the results is confirmed by the validity index of 0.93 percent and the Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.95 percent. Based on the results, it is established that the presented methodology is able to measure the competitive export conditions of the enterprise, with the help of which it is possible to determine priorities for improving the foreign economic activity of the enterprise.