INVESTMENTS AS A DRIVER OF GROWTH IN THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE REPUBLIC OF TATARSTAN)

In economically developed countries of the world, agricultural industries are actively supported by the government through the implementation of various kinds of programs, which is explained by the high social significance of the industry. Due to the low profitability of the industry, the debt burden of most enterprises, as well as the high wear and tear of fixed assets, the development of the agricultural industry is possible only if it is integrated into the overall system of economic growth. In order to achieve this condition, the government of the Republic of Tatarstan is actively improving the investment climate in this area of the economy by implementing measures such as: - subsidizing the renewal of fixed assets of enterprises (at least 50% of acquisitions are compensated by the government of the Republic of Tatarstan through various programs); - integration of modern technical programs that allow you to control and analyze each stage of production by an enterprise (Agrosignal, Teleagronom, Dayy Comp, etc.); - the launch of new production departments of enterprises (for example, an elevator in the city of Zelenodolsk), as well as the modernization of current production facilities. The above measures, carried out by the government of Tatarstan, lead to the following improvements: 1) the debt load of enterprises is reduced; 2) the productivity of the activity increases; 3) cost savings occur, which, in turn, increases the profitability of production. In addition, these changes have a positive impact on the following important components of the development of the agrarian sector of the economy: - social: a) creating jobs and attracting young personnel, creating competitive conditions for employment; b) ensuring food autonomy of the state; - financial: a) attracting private investors to the industry; b) replenishment of the state budget (through taxation) using one of the main sources of taxation for the budget - income tax.

Biobased Innovation as a Fashion and Textile Design Must: A European Perspective

Fashion industry investments drive the choice for textile solutions characterized by radical experimentation and a firm commitment to sustainability. In the last five years, textile innovations have been strongly related to biobased textile solutions evolving to become effectively feasible and strategic. The produced qualitative knowledge implementations consider new production patterns, innovative technical and digital know-how, and new consumption scenarios. The directions the industry is tracing may provide new opportunities for future textile development in the circular biobased economy. This paper presents a map of current European practices. It discusses the possible passage through a holistic paradigm that goes beyond the boundaries of the old productive systems to accompany the sector towards a new sustainable and transversal state. It also presents three selected best practices that return the actual context in which the phenomenon occurs. A model is presented to demonstrate how these circular processes of biobased materials production enable more process innovations which are developed through implementing the process itself: companies’ search for rethinking and implementing the traditional practices or designing new ones (as determined by the doctoral research of one of the authors).

Study of innovation activity dynamics in Russia’s federal districts

The dynamics of indicators of innovation activities of Russia’s federal districts over 2005– 2019 has been studied. During this period, there has been an increase in the number of organisations that carried out research activities, and also in the total domestic expenditure on research and development. The number of new production technologies and the volume of innovative products produced has increased, and the payback rate on research and development costs has risen in all regions. The trends of decreasing in the innovation activities of organisations and a significant reduction in the number of personnel employed in the field of research and development have been detected. The share of new products in the total volume of products shipped remains low. This situation requires national and regional authorities to take appropriate regulatory actions.

A Methodology for Flexible Implementation of Collaborative Robots in Smart Manufacturing Systems

Small-scale production is relying more and more on personalization and flexibility as an innovation key for success in response to market needs such as diversification of consumer preferences and/or greater regulatory pressure. This can be possible thanks to assembly lines dynamically adaptable to new production requirements, easily reconfigurable and reprogrammable to any change in the production line. In such new automated production lines, where traditional automation is not applicable, human and robot collaboration can be established, giving birth to a kind of industrial craftsmanship. The idea at the base of this work is to take advantage of collaborative robotics by using the robots as other generic industrial tools. To overcome the need of complex programming, identified in the literature as one of the main issues preventing cobot diffusion into industrial environments, the paper proposes an approach for simplifying the programming process while still maintaining high flexibility through a pyramidal parametrized approach exploiting cobot collaborative features. An Interactive Refinement Programming procedure is described and validated through a real test case performed as a pilot in the Building Automation department of ABB in Vittuone (Milan, Italy). The key novel ingredients in this approach are a first translation phase, carried out by engineers of production processes who convert the sequence of assembly operations into a preliminary code built as a sequence of robot operations, followed by an on-line correction carried out by non-expert users who can interact with the machine to define the input parameters to make the robotic code runnable. The users in this second step do not need any competence in programming robotic code. Moreover, from an economic point of view, a standardized way of assessing the convenience of the robotic investment is proposed. Both economic and technical results highlight improvements in comparison to the traditional automation approach, demonstrating the possibility to open new further opportunities for collaborative robots when small/medium batch sizes are involved.

Blockchain Technology in China's Digital Economy

Compared with the traditional industrial economy, the Chinese digital economy uses brand-new production factors and production organization methods to bring changes to human society and promote the transformation of the economy. This chapter aims to explore the practical problems of adopting blockchain technology in China's digital economy and study how different cities (managed by various local governments) enhance their unique financial technology ecosystem's economic performance and promote RegTech policy in order to improve the digital economy under the central government's institutional setting. This chapter in turn analyzes the recent cases of blockchain in China's financial industry, compares the application and development of the latest financial technology related policies in major cities, and demonstrates how these regulations can promote the development of blockchain technology in the transformation of China's digital economy.

STRATEGIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP: EXPLORATION, EXPLOITATION, AND AMBIDEXTERITY PRACTICES IN CRAFT BREWERIES FROM UBERLÂNDIA, MG

ABSTRACT Purpose: This paper aims to understand the configuration of strategic entrepreneurship practices of exploration, exploitation, and ambidexterity in craft breweries from Uberlândia, MG. Originality/value: Strategic entrepreneurship enables the comprehension of entrepreneurial phenomena from an organizational perspective. Furthermore, this research is conducted in an emergent industry in Brazil, with few studies in the field of management that consider the idiosyncrasies of craft breweries. Design/methodology/approach: We conducted a qualitative multicase study with three craft breweries from Uberlândia, MG. Twelve interviews were performed, and the set of empirical data collected were analyzed through narrative analysis technique. Findings: We identified several strategic entrepreneurship practices in the craft breweing sector. First, exploration practices were found in some radical innovations, such as the pioneering nature in the production of craft beers in Uberlândia, the creation of new products, and in the setting of new business models. Second, exploitation practices were also identified in incremental innovations that enabled business development. Hence, ambidexterity relied on the balance of exploration and exploitation practices, as innovative endeavors enabled the creation and development of new products and access to new markets. Thus, strategic entrepreneurship practices reflect the initiatives of entrepreneurial agents that seek to promote organizational innovations in terms of quality improvements, new production and marketing strategies, and the adoption of new technologies. Therefore, strategic entrepreneurship reflects and contributes to innovation possibilities, strategic renewals, and the competitiveness of craft breweries, revealing the analytical power of this theoretical approach for the study of entrepreneurial phenomena.

Thermal studies of vacuum panels of cellular structure of a passenger car

Aluminum alloys and composite materials are used in the body structures of modern passenger railway cars, which required the use of new manufacturing technologies: extrusion, pultrusion, etc. The use of new materials and new production technologies is changing the design requirements of passenger rail cars. The use of computer-aided design systems, in particular, SolidWorks Simulation, allows you to optimize the profile of cellular panels used in the construction of the body of a passenger railway car and obtained by extrusion or 3-D printing. Purpose of this work is to optimize the design stage of the enclosing structures of the body of a passenger railway car made of cellular profile panels, which can significantly reduce the heat transfer coefficient of the body walls and their mass, as well as provide the necessary strength conditions. Optimal profile of the vacuum panel, consisting of two rows of hexagonal cells, provides, according to calculations, the value of the specific thermal resistance R = 2.922 (m2 K)/W, which is 16.5% more than that of the existing body structure of a passenger rail car.

The Changing International Situation and Chinas Concept of Peripheral Diplomacy in the Context of the Epidemic

The COVID-19 virus has not just changed the mode of operation and way of life of all humanity, but has profoundly transformed the entire world, from the global political structure and economic environment to the models and methods of regional economic development. It has significantly influenced the content and timing of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, impacting the international situation and the implementation of inter-state relations. In this context, China, adhering to the five basic principles of peaceful coexistence, aims to enrich the diplomatic concept of «benevolence, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness» in relations with neighboring states in order to strengthen and deepen them. The article puts a special emphasis on Chinese-Russian relations. It argues that the priority tasks for the leadership of the two countries should include: developing options for generating new production chains; taking into account the widening «gap between poor and rich» countries, as well as changes in the global political landscape. The implementation of these tasks can act as a stabilizing factor for regional and international development, guarantee secure borders and become a shining example of inter-state relations for the rest of the neighboring countries.