Pennsylvania State University Statewide Cultivar Evaluation Program Model

Cultivar selection is an important managerial task for commercial farmers. Numerous available options provide marketing opportunities for farmers; however, they can also make cultivar selection time-consuming. For the past 13 years, a team of Penn State Extension educators and university faculty has implemented a new model to evaluate cultivars for key vegetable crops to assist farmers. Our approach started by building relationships within the vegetable industry with farmers, seed company representatives, and farmer-driven organizations who support our program with funding and gift-in-kind donations. We also added rigor to cultivar evaluations by conducting trials of key vegetable crops over 2 years at three locations. The results were used to develop cultivar recommendations, which were disseminated through various face-to-face and distance Extension avenues. The results were also published in refereed journals. The combination of funding, Extension products, and refereed articles led to university support. A drawback to our approach was the difficulty implementing uniform production methods at three experimental sites. The input of a statistical consultant assisted with overcoming this drawback. This model also required the use of strategies common to successful teams. Our methods are described here for those who desire to build a similar program.

Classification of factors of influence on the formation of financial and economic culture of Russians

Formation of financial institutions in society, development of the financial services market and effective financial relations is impossible without formation of a developed financial and economic culture. Today, such a financial and economic system can be viable, which will take into account the social aspects of society's life, its factors and prerequisites, as well as values that really contribute to the survival, preservation and development of humanity, strengthening its unity, expanding its potential. Taking this into account, formation of a financial and economic culture based on universal principles in the context of new trends in the socio-cultural development of the country is one of the most acute modern problems. Each financial and economic system corresponds to a special basic model of financial and economic culture and values, which is manifested in national specific forms in each country. There are no «good» and « bad» cultures, but there are functional or dysfunctional cultures relative to the financial and economic system. According to the criterion of the essence, financial and economic culture is a type of social culture of society that provides for the needs of multidimensional human activity in specialized types of financial and economic activity. In modern society, there is a tendency to raising the cultural level of production. It finds expression in use of the latest technology and technological processes, advanced methods of labor organization, progressive forms of management and planning, scientific achievements. The direction of this development is determined, on the one hand, by the opportunities contained in the set of conditions that define the boundaries of economic culture, on the other hand, by the degree and ways of realizing these opportunities in the conditions of changes in the innovative economy. In view of this, analysis of patterns of financial and economic culture and creation of mechanisms for influencing them is an important managerial task, no less important than creation of an innovative economy and construction of a rule-of-law state. Based on the study of factors affecting the formation of the financial and economic culture of Russians, the authors developed classification, which includes the factors of the Russian cultural archetype; of the socio-economic context; of vertical and horizontal socialization.

Aviation industry during the siege of Leningrad (on the materials of the City Committee of the CPSU (b)

The subject of this research is the aviation industry during the siege of Leningrad. This topic is gaining relevance due to the recently published documents dedicated to the work of the higher party authorities in the period from 1941 to 1944. In the summer-autumn of 1941, Leningrad was detached from the “main land”. In these conditions, the full operational control over resource base of the city fell on the shoulders of the Soviet and party authorities, who received additional powers, and thus, responsibilities. The author provides an alternative outlook on the activity of the Leningrad plants under the People's Commissariat of Aviation Industry of the USSR, not from the perspective of classical reconstruction of the history of aviation industry in the USSR during the war, but a specific managerial task that was resolved by the party leadership using the general resource base. The conclusion is made that despite the evacuation of the vast majority of production facilities of aviation industry during the war, the resource base was adapted to the specific tasks of the Leningrad Front. The city manufactured the industrial products in accordance with the orders and requirements of the Soviet Air Force. Mobilization of the Leningrad industrial base for the tasks of aviation units during the war years in many ways became a crucial factor in maintaining the combat effectiveness of the Air Force, namely during the rough winter of 1941/1942, when the replenishment of aviation units with new equipment ceased  for the most part.

Holistic Modelling Approach for the Management of Organisations

Developments in digitalization are in actual scientific discussion with leading focus on the automatizing of tasks especially in managers´ decision making, but also cover the view on the daily managerial task-fulfilment with digitalized solutions. Challenge for the managers is hereby the design of the digitalized work in a human-task-technology system by using advanced working models, methods and solutions. This compels to rethink causal-deterministic approaches and find new solutions, which especially occur in tasks of the strategic management. The purpose of this study was twofold. The first target was to identify and analyse the models and characteristics of strategic management decisions using approaches of the system theory, cybernetic management, and quantum theory. The second aim was to outline a framework of design parameters for creating causal-deterministic and holistic approaches in complex and complementary decision situations, so that they can be designed and processed digitally and implemented into human-task-technology systems, with outline the way how managerial decision-making will be changed.

“Green infrastructure” of urbanized territories

Currently, there is a process of spatial concentration of the population and the spread of urban lifestyle, which inevitably leads to the expansion of the boundaries of cities and their sphere of influence, an increase in the diversity of activities. In this regard, the creation and maintenance of a comfortable urban environment of a megalopolis is becoming an increasingly urgent managerial task. The decisive factors in supporting urbanized territories in a comfortable state for living are the objects of” green “ infrastructure. One of the important issues, at the same time, is the information support of the management system for the territories of land plots with green spaces.

Formation of Competencies of Heads for Management of Digital Culture Devel-opment of Employees of Educational Organizations

In the conditions of the intensive transformation of modern culture, due to the mass dig-italization of various spheres of society, the traditional education-culture relationship acquires significant features. A significant cultural layer (especially mass culture) is formed in the digital environment. Today's education requires that all subjects of the educational process not only correctly use the artifacts of this culture, but also successfully participate in its creation. One of the key conditions for solving this problem is the formation of a digital culture of employees of the educational organization. And effective management of the development of such a culture becomes an important managerial task of its leader. Of course, such a task requires the head of special competencies, which can be mastered by an effective system of continuing education of the education manager.

Managerial discretion and structures in organizations: The case of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Due to the turbulent of business environment, complexity of managing human resource and volatility of customer needs, it is a formidable managerial task to design structures which will be suitable to meet such requirements and free to exercise course of action for managerial discretion. However, in most of the case the structure type that can be designed and implemented in many organizations are to the interest of stakeholders and owners. Research also shows that the latitudinal action of management staffs and autonomous decisions are a theme of discussion in managerial discretion. The researcher used a conceptual study of both a qualitative and quantitative approach coupled with case study for this study. Based on the study, the research findings show that organizations that have managed by owner-manager has less experienced managerial discretion, and thereby came to conclude that managers who are free to choose course of action have led to company success than those company which managed by owner-manager.