Situational Analysis in Benchmarking Research of Regional Development

The purpose of the article is to reveal the directions of regional strategic development methodical bases’ formation on the basis of benchmarking. The article reveals the peculiarities of benchmarking methodology application in modern regional strategy. The study of regional development was conducted on the basis of a systematic approach and using situational analysis. The application of a systematic approach allows us to consider the region as a system with established goals and organized as a whole set of interacting elements. The situational approach most fully reflects the problems that arise in management activities and allows you to identify situational factors that affect the development of regions. It is proven that it is expedient to use the method of spatial benchmarking as a tool of situational analysis. The study of the methodological principles of benchmarking made it possible to formalize the stages of the benchmarking study of regional development. Studies of the strategies of different regions of Ukraine revealed the need and importance of applying a situational approach to management. This made it possible to formulate criteria for selecting a standardregion and to identify three groups of indicators of the study of specific regions, which allowed to form possible clusters using the method of hierarchical cluster analysis. As a result of research there are carried out calculations of the competitive analysis of regions of Ukraine and revealed strategic prospects concerning development of certain regions. According to the results of the study, it is concluded that the formation of regional development strategy requires detailed research, which is methodologically based on the principles of benchmarking analysis, there are opportunities to vary the list of indicators and criteria that determine the standard-region. The application of benchmarking in the management system allows you to systematically find and evaluate all the benefits of the best experience of the standard-region and create opportunities for their use in your own region