Research on Supply Chain Efficiency in COVID-19: The Role of Information and Communications

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have become an integral part of our life. Currently, supply chain (SC) management is also in a digital transformation, especially during the period of disruptions in global and local supply chains caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to provide an empirical descriptive analysis of the role of digital technologies in improving the efficiency and recovery of SC in the pre-crisis period as well as in a pandemic. The research is based on the processing of statistical data and macroeconomic indicators that are freely available. The following are considered as basic indicators: Gross domestic product as a characteristic of the country's economic development level before the crisis; logistics efficiency index; digital life index. The authors have chosen few countries from different categories for the comparative analysis in the context of the selected assessment indicators The obtained study results confirmed the significant role of ICT in the efficiency improving and restoration of SC which had been destroyed in COVID-19. It is concluded that developed economies showed a high efficiency of their logistics systems at the national level and high values of the digital life rating. At the same time, the influence of ICT on the logistics system performance was not decisive in countries with average economic development and below ones. The results of this study can be used by companies' top management of various levels to build a strategy and tactics for their development including crisis management. The research methods and data can be applied to further explore the impact of ICT on the recovery and efficiency of global and local supply chains, including the updated data with the account of coronavirus pandemic impact to indicators which were used in the paper.

On the Application of Information Audit for the State Public Audit

The paper analyzes methodological approaches to the implementation of information audit by public audit institutions. The aim of the research is to analyze instruments of the traditional information audit developed as a part of information management theory and to make propositions on its basis on the creation of methodology of information audit as a form of public audit. It is based on general scientific methods, including comparative analyzes. The article substantiates the necessity for public audit institutions to conduct information audit due to the key value of information and information resources for the legality and efficiency of the public resources' management. The authors analyze basic approaches to the definition of the traditional information audit and its instruments. Based on this the authors made a conclusion that such general approach could be used for the purposes of public audit with necessary amendments due to specific aims of this type of public financial control, legal status of public audit institutions and position of auditees in the public management system. The study defines basic stages of the information audit conducted by public audit institutions and unique characteristics of its aims due to their interrelations with the tasks of audits and analytical research performed by such bodies. The paper also proposes basic instruments for the data collection as well as a general approach to interaction between auditors conducting information audit, auditees and other stakeholders.The practical results of the research are relevant for the introduction of information audit instruments into the practice of public audit institutions and for the development of applicable methodological documents.

Banking Ecosystems: Development Specifics

The topic of the research is the phenomenon of ecosystems created by banks, as well as related technological innovations introduced by credit institutions in order to increase their efficiency and obtain new opportunities for cooperation with non-financial organizations. One of the strategically important management decisions which affect the bank's business model is to determine the specifics of ecosystem growth. The study's goal is to figure the optimal balance between traditional activities and non-banking services of credit institutions. This suppose to strengthen their position in the face of penetration of digital competitors into banking operations (Internet banks, financial and large technology companies, telecoms). The theoretical and methodological basis of the research was formed by the scientific works of foreign scientists and experts on improving the efficiency of banking institutions. There were used methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis of scientific publications, analytical materials of well-known consulting companies, statistical data. As a result, the author found a technological transformation is required using such approaches to customer service (retail and corporate) that reflect their needs in banking with the intensive use of relevant competencies in cash management, means and risks. That will cause to protect the banking business from digital competitors and increase its market capitalization. All these measures will be able to induce clients to use more extensively the banks opportunities and help them to increase investments in their core business, thereby contributing to its growth. The author concludes that being developed ecosystems, it is advisable for banks to focus on services close to their core work, as well as on increasing the efficiency of their own activities and providing new services. Meanwhile, the marketplaces development within the banking ecosystems does not give the latter advantages in the competition in the banking services market.

Energy Management of Municipal Solid waste in the Context of Low Carbon Development

The paper comprehensively links the solution of the processing municipal solid waste (MSW) problem with the production of energy, the development of renewable energy and the greenhouse gas emissions reduction. There was determined being based on the analysis of global trends in the field of MSW management that the generation of energy from waste, the production of non-recyclable fractions of renewable energy on the basis of processing is an important direction of a low carbon economy and reducing the burden on the environment. There was carried out an ecological and economic assessment of the main technologies of thermal processing of MSW. The contribution of the implementation of investment projects for the construction of waste energy plants to the implementation of Russia's national goals in the field of waste management is shown in the Moscow region and Sochi. Taking into account the existing foreign experience, measures for financing and supporting investment projects for energy waste disposal were proposed: the introduction of a green tariff for MSW-to-energy processing facilities; the use of an investment incentive mechanism based on capacity supply agreements (PDMS); the implementation of an extended producer responsibility mechanism; state support measures; the attraction of green bonds; the use of equity and project financing methods, and quotas trading in greenhouse gas emissions. The practical significance of the research is to substantiate the possibility and necessity of developing and implementing investment projects for energy waste disposal, energy generation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Human Resources in Russian Industry: why Do Employees Increasingly Quit Companies?

Voluntary dismissals are a problem that has long existed and is rapidly gaining momentum in the modern world. Almost any company has encountered it. The paper considers the case of one of the largest industrial companies in Russia which was also affected by increased staff turnover. Unlike many published studies on this topic, this paper is an organizational case-stage and is based on a mixed methodology that combines qualitative and quantitative analysis methods. Moreover, its uniqueness lies in the binding of the results to the theory of generations X and Y. The empirical basis is: a factor analysis which is based on the survey results of 51 employees from three departments; a series of 10 interviews of employees; a three-month included observation. The authors concluded there was a serious problem in the HR policy at the company, namely, voluntary dismissals and they gave recommendations for taking emergency measures for retaining employees. This research partially confirms conclusions of other Russian studies devoted to this topic. They consider the level of material remuneration is one of the main reasons that influence the desire to quit the company. Other important factors are satisfaction with the degree of independence in decision-making within their own competencies, as well as the career advancement possibility. The special feature of this work is the management recommendations which are focused on a comprehensive solution to the problem of the stuff turnover at the particular industrial company. They include a special approach to personnel control eliminating the reasons caused people to quit their current jobs. All above can be used by other industrial enterprises having the similar problem with the staff.

“Corporate Social Liability and Business Ethics” (based on the materials of the XVII International Scientific and Practical Conference)

20–21 мая 2021 г. в Финансовом университете при Правительстве Российской Федерации прошла XVII Международная научно-практическая конференция «Корпоративная социальная ответственность и этика бизнеса» при поддержке Ассоциации менеджеров России (АМР) и Ассоциации этики бизнеса и КСО (Russian Business Ethics Network).

Effective Management of Crisis Communications

In a view of the fact that in modern realities of post-industrial information society, the share of intangible assets in the companies' value has significantly increased. The monetized value of an organization's reputation is a part of such assets which is mainly determined by external communications had arised an issue of ensuring reputation security that has become especially relevant. One of justifications for need to apply crisis communication management is also changed direction of modern business. The reason for the change in modern concepts of effective business management was the new criteria for the service sector efficiency, which is a consequence of intense competition inherent in this highly profitable field of activity, which increases the importance of reputation issues. In turn, the abstract concept of a company's reputation is formed by specific parameters that are important for target audiences and are expressed in the numerical characteristics of the value of intangible assets. Considering the fact that intangible assets often make up a significant part of the companies' value and determine their financial performance, the issues of managing the value of these assets represent one of the most responsible tasks of modern management. There is a definition of the concepts of crisis, crisis communication and communication management as an integral component of crisis management of an organization is given in the terminology of leading Russian and foreign academics. The paper shows the successful result which is critically dependent on communication management effectiveness. Thus, the subject of the study is crisis communication management; the goal is to build a model for analyzing the effectiveness of managing crisis communications. The achieving method of that is to use a mathematical apparatus similar to the apparatus of multi-discriminant analysis (MDA) of Professor Edward Altman. The scientific novelty consists in the application of numerical methods for analyzing the effectiveness of crisis communications, and the result is in describing a model for analyzing the effectiveness of managing crisis communications. The use of the model for analyzing effectiveness of crisis communication management would provide an organization with the opportunity not to lose the achieved level of capitalization, provided that the reputation/communication component is effectively used in its crisis management.

Risk management for telecommuting in the pandemic

The paper discusses the essence and features of telecommuting, communication costs and the problems of implementing compliance procedures to reduce the costs and risks. The paper’s aim is to analyze the risks with the introduction of telecommuting procedures in Russian and foreign companies in the period of lockdown caused by the new coronavirus infection COVID-19. Today, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a negative impact and create a critical situation in all spheres and industries, which causing destabilization of the economy and the labor market. One of the main recommendations of the World Health Organization is a physical distancing, limits of movements freedom, closure of some companies that are not vital, etc. Judging the above, the employer has to learn not only to carry out his activities, but also to survive in these conditions. This is the reason that many companies have to switch into the remote work process fully or partially as a temporary or alternative way of organizing work. The paper focuses on the directions and complexity of the tools choice for building connections between a workforce and management. Also, it analyzes the use of compliance to regulate communication relations, control communications and manage risks that arise from violations of the legislation, the regulations of regulators, the rules of self-regulatory organizations and internal documents. The authors compare a conception of compliance control, goals, processes, stages and effects of the use of the regulatory mechanism in the pandemic. Also, the authors give the respondents’ answers regarding the importance of compliance control, digital competencies for the high-quality performance of functions and communication at telecommuting. The results led to the conclusion that freelancing is not only a powerful incentive for changing employee’s behavior in conditions of uncertainty but also it brings an additional risk for all companies. Various digital monitoring tools aim to reflect the balance between security and personal freedom in the society infrastructure.

Overcoming ambiguity in assessing the financial sustainability of Crimean hospitality companies for anti-crisis management

The subject of the research is the system of methods of financial management of a company, in which a contradictory situation of conflict of goals of its development has developed, with the obligatory occurrence of systemic crises on the one hand, and the rule of constant preservation of a low risk of financial destabilization, on the other. The relevance of the study is due to the significant distance of system analysis in its categories from strategic financial analysis. Systemic destabilization of active investment outwardly looks the same as the end-of-life bankruptcy crisis, which significantly distorts the perception of potential investors in the industry in general. The scientific novelty lies in the substantiation of a method that makes it moving from a simple identification of the transitional (crisis) development stages of an unstable system (company) to the substantiation of the parameters of a strategic program, including within the framework of anti-crisis management. The aim of the research is to adapt analysis methods of the system’s crisis states to the provisions of the most system-oriented financial analysis techniques have being applied to disclose the unstable states of the “system-enterprise”. The system analysis has been chosen as the research method in various areas of its manifestation: from a general philosophical description of unstable system with characteristics of a company’s life cycle to a model for assessing the company’s financial stability for strategic purposes. The result of modeling the financial condition of such unstable companies taking into account provisions of the system analysis, was the formulation of a new category of strategic financial management — the Strategic zone for the financial stability transformation, which serves as the basis for a long-term program for the transformation of the financial condition. As a conclusion, it can be noted that applying of the financial analysis method for strategic purposes (“Fregat” model) in a single connection with the system analysis provides the possibility to identify the most dangerous crises from the standpoint of the identification complexity and consequences of the cochirid stage crises of the system development. Also, this allows to separate the investment (justified) destabilization from instability which could be the cause of wrong actions of the company’s management. All this makes it possible to objectively assess the macroeconomic indicators of the hospitality industry in general.

Knowledge management model based on organizational and motivational mechanisms

Knowledge management is among strategic tasks of a modern company. However, there is a gap in the literature considering the mechanisms of organizational knowledge intensification and its transformation into company competitiveness. The paper presents the knowledge management model based on the vector of proactive employee behavior, which is formed with the help of organizational and motivational mechanisms, including flexible organizational structure, transformational leadership, and a culture of knowledge. According to elaborated model proactive behavior of employees is oriented to knowledge intensification and active participation in the processes of organizational development and learning, which in turn determine innovation activities and financial performance of a company. The model has been tested using the database of 110 Russian companies that had been participated in the survey in 2019. Empirical results have been estimated in the software smartPLS using the method of structural equations and had confirmed the validity of elaborated knowledge management model. Obtained mediation effects allow making a conclusion about complementarity of the knowledge culture, transformational leadership and flexible organizational structure; therefore, these mechanisms should be implemented simultaneously for the successful transformation of knowledge into a company competitiveness. Also, the practical implication has an empirical evidence of the highest impact of transformational leadership on innovation and financial performance, determining this mechanism as a key one for Russian enterprises.