Importance The desire to reduce economic risks in business operations stimulates the management of enterprises to search for tools that can determine the status of an economic system. One of such tools is determination of the current economic course of the system under consideration. A precise definition of economic course not only enables to determine an equilibrium or disequilibrium state of the economic system, but also its impact on the strategy of economic sustainability of a smelter. Objectives The main purpose of the study is to identify types of economic courses taking place in the economic system while its status and attributes change, and their impact on the enterprise. The author has set the following tasks: to describe the phenomenon of an economic course in the economic system, to highlight of types economic courses, to determine the boundaries of distribution of the economic system's status attributes in accordance with the types of economic courses, to assess the status of the economic system while implementing the strategy of economic sustainability by an enterprise. Methods Based on the matrix of assessing economic system's status attributes and the knowledge about fuzzy sets, the author assessed the status of the economic system for a metallurgical complex enterprise of the Chelyabinsk region. Results The results of the study include identified economic courses. Under the synergism theory, their distribution is according to the conditions of the economic system. The author filled the economic courses with economic system's status attributes. Conclusions The conclusion is that applying the methods of assessing the economic system's status and using the matrix of distribution of economic system's status attributes, as well as the possibility to choose a relevant economic course would enable to make better decisions on ensuring sustainable economic conditions of an enterprise.
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