SPAIN AS AN ATTRACTIVE PLACE FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENT

The aim of this paper is to examine the Spanish economy, identify key areas for investment and assess the risks and opportunities associated with this. The article examines all aspects related to determining the degree of investment attractiveness of Spain, as well as the current state of the Spanish investment environment and the latest trends in the Spanish investment sector. Other objectives of this study include examining the Spanish economy, identifying key areas for investment and current trends in potential investment. An analysis of the threats and opportunities associated with investing in Spain was also conducted. Various resources have been used to provide reliable, up-to-date, in-depth, detailed and comprehensive analysis. First, the world’s leading databases, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, UNCTAD, and so on. Second, data from Spanish government and financial institutions were taken into account. In order to study the problem from different angles, the media, scientific papers and journals were also involved in gathering the necessary information. The analysis allowed us to identify the most significant advantages of the Spanish economy as an object of investment, in particular: – highly developed service sectors, such as financial and insurance services, telecommunications, D&R, etc., which are constantly fueled by FDI inflows; – strategic location and opportunity to enter the EU market; – successful internal structural reforms have been implemented, which have led to increased labor flexibility; – favorable conditions for immigration (including labor immigration); – leading positions in terms of solvency and trust; – economic openness of the country and its participation in a large number of international trade agreements; – measures taken to weaken business and investment regulation; – non-interference of the state in business, fair competition and not perverted trade; – excellent infrastructure that stimulates economic growth; – one of the most innovative and efficient tax agencies – AEAT; – absence of other significant socio-economic, legal and criminal risks that hinder investment. Although Spain faces high unemployment, the current economic crisis caused by the Crown virus, and huge public debt, most of them can be turned into the benefits of foreign investment projects. Similarly, to overcome the economic crisis, the country needs an influx of money from outside, so now the conditions for foreign investors are even more favorable

IMPROVED METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE PROCESS OF COMMERCIALIZATION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, AS A TOOL FOR REPUTATION MANAGEMENT OF A TOURIST DESTINATION

The article considers the importance of the process of commercialization of intellectual property for the formation of reputable management of a tourist destination and provides an improved methodological approach to the process of commercialization of intellectual property on the example of the concept of creating a unique tourist product by a business entity. The reputation management of a tourist destination – a set of socio-economic processes of targeted influence on stakeholders of a tourist destination in order to improve their perception of its reputation characteristics, which aims to increase the importance of reputation and form sustainable long-term relationships with stakeholders.The reputation of a tourist destination directly proportionally influences the formation of tourist flow, and, accordingly, the growth of financial revenues, active development of the territory and improvement of the economic climate. With effective reputation management of a tourist destination, a strategic vision of development is formed, investment proceeds are attracted to new business projects and events, to the tourist infrastructure, to job creation. This is achieved through the creation of organizations that can bring together stakeholders and professionals to further promote resources and unique tourism offerings in the tourism arena. Its priority areas are determined by the impact on the formation of reputation through the elements of branding and image, research, analytics, the formation of services and tourism products. And most importantly, promotion through communication channels, which include: public relations (PR), interaction with the media, the involvement of promoters, experts, ambassadors, influencers of the destination through modern Internet technologies. One of the most effective channels of communication today is the Internet and the development of digital products, which include travel portals, mobile applications, digital channels, and more. By certain advantages, such channels are ahead of traditional channels, namely due to: rapid dissemination of information with a wide audience and distribution geography, with less costly control, because monitoring and openness of data simplifies the processes and global digitization of the widespread and tourism industry. And in such conditions, one of the priority steps in creating a tourist product – a unique tourist offer is its copyright protection under current legislation. This advanced method allows the tourism entity or destination as a whole to commercialize and further benefit, and thus improve its reputation in the tourism market by having unique protected tourism offerings within both the regional and national destinations.

ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT IN THE CONTEXT OF PREREQUISITES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CLUSTER FORMATIONS IN THE WORKS OF FOREIGN SCIENTISTS

The process of forming the concept of “cluster” included a centuries-old history. Theoretical and methodological aspects of this definition were presented in the works of a big number of foreign scientists, such as M. Porter, M. Enright, R. Nelson, A. Lesh, W. Rostow, W. Isard, N. Rosenberg, A. Phillips, J. Tyunen, J. Van Dein, I. Fezer, S. Sweeney, M. Janikas, S. Ray, P. Stout, A. Weber et al. The formation of the modern understanding of clusters was influenced by the theories of agglomeration, industrial complex and industrial areas. Analyzing the history of economic thought, we can say that the approach to cluster economic development was formed gradually, but ideas about the advantages of economic clusters as forms of business organization arose quite a long time ago. In the middle of the XVII century, the «theory of pure agglomeration» was wrote by J. Tyunen, V. Launhardt and A. Marshall. The formation of localization theory is usually associated with the name of the German economist J. Tyunen. The beginning of the “industrial cluster” theory was laid by A. Marshall, who saw the following pattern: enterprises will be able to achieve savings due to internal resources and a system of interaction with suppliers of raw materials and in the presence of highly specialized specialists. A. Lesh studied the agglomeration effect and the scale effect, as a result of which production has properties relative to geographical concentration. In addition, he said that each industry has its own maximum level of production concentration. The theory of the information society was associated with the concept of social networks, which was formed at the end of the twentieth century in the works of certain scientists: S. Berkowitz, S. Wasserman, B. Wellman, D. Nook, P. Marsden, K. Faust, L. Freeman and others. The formation of the modern understanding of clusters was influenced by the theories of agglomeration, industrial complex and industrial areas. In addition, technological and innovative approaches were identified, which were based on the analysis of the competitiveness of the regions. The network approach to economic development has had a significant impact on the modern understanding of clusters. The above-mentioned aspects are formed on the basis of the approaches of a number of foreign scientists, whose main research results are presented in this article. The authors present the evolution of the formation and development of the cluster approach in Economics in Western Economic Thought, give the author’s definition of the concept of “cluster” and describe the common features characteristic of clusters, provide reasoned conclusions.

TRENDS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOREIGN PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS IN UKRAINE

The paper reviews the processes of direct and portfolio investment, outlines the differences and the main directions of implementation of ways to achieve economic goals using these tools at both international and national levels. The arguments and reasons for the growing popularity of portfolio investing in the modern world are given, given the wider range of sources of primary information on the state of the stock market in global trading platforms and the ever-increasing tools for managing investors’ assets. Based on the systematization of the work of foreign and domestic scientists, the assessment of the role of investment activity in the formation and further successful development of the national economy is given. Taking into account the experience of developed countries, the need to develop the stock market of Ukraine, identify problems and, taking into account the specifics of the domestic economic and geopolitical space, proposed effective steps to improve the investment climate in our country. In order to detail and classify possible areas of investment activity, the study analyzes the types of investment instruments and identifies their likely target use in modern realities. The analysis of investment activity of Ukraine in the period 2014-2020 provided an opportunity to find out the main trends in the dynamics of changes in direct and portfolio investment. From the point of view of the root causes of the low level of investment activity in this period, gaps in the legislation, the presence of corruption schemes, inconsistencies in the strategies of regulatory financial institutions, a large share of the shadow economy, military action in industrial regions were highlighted. Therefore, despite the high level of return on capital in Ukraine, our country has found itself on the sidelines of global investment flows. The study of the ratio of direct and portfolio investments and their dynamics shows a certain pattern. First, Ukraine is characterized by a constant excess of direct investment over portfolio investment. Secondly, the gap between these types of international capital movements in our country is narrowing due to the increase in portfolio investment. This situation makes it possible to state the invariability of the negative level of investment attractiveness of the domestic economy in the real sector, and the problems of economic imbalance are covered by external borrowing through the use of one of the portfolio instruments, namely placement of foreign and domestic government bonds. The main emphasis is on the inadmissibility of such a state of affairs, which makes it possible only temporarily to maintain Ukraine’s economy in a stable state. A review of the dynamics of the country’s debt growth and the decline in the competitiveness of domestic production in the context of a very high degree of depreciation of production capacity, only confirms the need for urgent measures to stimulate the process of direct investment. Regarding the development of the portfolio investment process, it is proposed to bring the regulatory framework to international standards in the first place. Combining the stimulation of direct investment, especially in the real sector of the economy, in the presence of relevant laws and financial institutions, inevitably revival in the stock market, which in turn will change the structure of portfolio investment in Ukraine. The opinion also expresses the need to take into account the external effects of the investment process, namely to pay attention to increasing the indicators of inclusive economic development.

APPLICATION OF CLUSTER ANALYSIS TO STUDY THE SOCIOECONOMIC SITUATION OF EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

The article considers issues related to the assessment of the socio-economic situation of Ukraine and 12 countries that are its close neighbors in the Eastern European region. It is established that today Ukraine is in a severe socio-economic crisis, which covers all spheres of society and affects the economic and political aspects of the entire Eastern European region. The deepening of the crisis in Ukraine is observed in all areas: the curtailment of production, declining employment, falling incomes and demand. With the deepening recession and budget crisis, it is difficult to carry out the necessary reforms of the Ukrainian state and economy, while the living standards of the majority of the population continue to fall, unemployment and inflation are rising. The socio-economic potential of Ukraine and selected countries of Eastern Europe in the context of those indicators that directly relate to the social status of the population is studied. Using the World Bank statistics for 2019, the following indicators were analyzed: GDP per capita, unemployment rate (% of total labor force), inflation rate (%) and corruption index. The study found that Ukraine lags significantly behind its neighbors in macroeconomic indicators. Analysis of the data of the State Statistics Service shows that in Ukraine there is a deindustrialization of the economy and a decline in industrial production. At the same time, there is a decline in the science intensity of the economy in many sectors of the industrial complex (engineering, chemical, energy), which has significantly led to rising unemployment. Indicators such as low life expectancy at birth, high inflation and corruption also indicate a difficult socio-economic situation. It is established that the illustrated tendencies are largely due, on the one hand, to the unsuccessful institutional policy of the Government of Ukraine, and on the other hand – to corruption and domination of oligarchs in the leading sectors of the economy. In order to classify the countries of Eastern Europe and identify among them the place of Ukraine in the context of selected characteristics of the socio-economic situation, cluster analysis was used, in particular the hierarchical method of Ward. As a result of using this method, a dendrogram was obtained, the visual analysis of which allows to form 4 clusters. The K-means method was used to form clusters. Based on the analysis of the constructed clusters, it was found that the highest rating in the selected indicators have the countries included in the 3rd cluster: Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic, which are characterized by high welfare, low unemployment and corruption. Countries in the 2nd cluster have a slightly lower rating: Belarus, Bulgaria, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Romania and Hungary. These countries are characterized by a high level of corruption and a fairly high level of inflation, the rest of the indicators in this group are average. The 1st cluster includes: Latvia, Lithuania and the Slovak Republic, which have a high level of welfare, low levels of corruption and inflation, but at the same time high unemployment (average value – 6.1%). The lowest rating is given to Ukraine, which is characterized by falling incomes, high unemployment, inflation and corruption. The study proves the need for urgent effective reforms and systemic transformations in Ukraine, which will promote the rational use of its own investment potential, improve the level of management and investment policy, as well as lobby for national economic interests and create conditions for economic and institutional stability

CHINA’S INVESTMENT CLIMATE AND IT’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ACHIEVEMENT

The article analyzes the factors affecting China’s investment attractiveness, the features of creating a favorable investment climate in China, and investigates new trends of FDI in China. The article highlights the main directions of attracting foreign direct investment in the Chinese economy. The paper aims to systematize the theoretical aspects of the state’s investment attractiveness and analyze the investment attractiveness of the Chinese economy at the present stage of development. The purpose of the article is to determine the PRC’s contribution to global sustainable development, taking into account the fact that the PRC is strengthening its position in the world arena due to the inflow of foreign investments. The article initially examines the role of foreign direct investment in the development of the state’s economy. Each country has a specific approach to attracting foreign investment, which is predetermined by the level of socio-economic development, the degree of external openness, and the established objectives. Therefore, the first stage of the research was an analysis of investment inflows and outflows. Changes that took place due to the implementation of the “open door” policy were considered. Then the advantages and disadvantages of China’s policies aimed at stimulating foreign investment were analyzed in detail. We studied the state and dynamics of investment processes in the PRC, examined the specifics of the regional and sectoral structure of foreign investment in China, evaluated the economic essence and classification of foreign investment, forms and methods of state regulation of foreign investment, as well as some aspects of the legal regulation of investment activity in China. We have systematized the main advantages and risks of the PRC investment climate. It was found that, despite the significant investment attractiveness of China, there are many investment risks. Still, the Chinese government continues reforms aimed at improving the investment climate of the state. A review of China’s position in the ratings of investment attractiveness, such as the Ease of doing the business score, the Global Competitiveness Index, and the Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index was carried out. It was made an intermediate conclusion that foreign capital is increasingly rushing to developing countries, especially to the dynamically developing economies of the BRIC countries, the undisputed leader in attracting foreign investment among which is China. The work results give every reason to predict the growth of foreign investment in the PRC’s economy since the country is characterized by stable and positively dynamic development. It is also assumed that the inflow of investments into the PRC’s economy is reciprocal since China is smoothly turning from a recipient of investments into an investor ready to contribute to global sustainable development.

TOURISM POLICY UNDER GLOBAL CHALLENGES: EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE

The article provides the analysis of tourism policy under global challenges. The authors consider the main aspects of the implementation of tourism policy in European countries in modern conditions proceeding from the fact that Europe has been one of the centers of tourism for a long time due to a number of factors, among them are: geographical position, level of life, accessibility (railway and air connections) and other factors that facilitate the development of tourism. Moreover, there is a large number of historical and cultural artifacts in most of the European countries – the fact that in combination with their long and successful experience of tourism policy facilitates the attraction of tourists. It has been proved that an important prerequisite for an effective tourism policy is the carefully shaped tourist image of a country. Some countries have formed it relatively recently (France, Italy, the Netherlands), while others are developing it now (Latvia, Romania). Some of the post-Socialist countries have demonstrated considerable progress in forming their images and tourism policies. The article analyses certain country-specific types of tourism: recreation tourism in Croatia with its picturesque seashore and favourable ecological situation; cultural tourism in Germany and Finland – famous for their ancient and modern artifacts (e.g., the Berlin Wall or Raatteen Porti); event tourism in some countries where annual events are held, e.g., Oktoberfest in Germany or Koningsdag in the Netherlands. Other types of tourism, such as educational, medical, religious, etc., are also specified in their connection with certain European locations. As to the tourism policies of European countries – they have much in common bearing some differences. Eloquent example of successful implementation of state tourism policy are given in the article with the accent on the experience of France, Italy, Latvia, Romania and other countries. In most of them tourism policy is run by ministries or departments responsible for culture and sports. The role of the European Union and the World Tourism Organization is also specified in the article. Some dramatic consequences of COVID-19 for the development of world tourism industry, which changed this sphere radically, are also mentioned in the article as well as a certain shift in tourists’ preferences and motivations – from extremal to safe practices. Recognizing and realizing new reality many countries keep on supporting tourism business through modification of their plans, strategies and policies

THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN GLOBAL CONSULTING SERVICES AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

The Covid-pandemic forces governments, individuals, and legal entities to transit from business-as-usual approach to digital, inclusive, innovative, and adaptive management and producing models. Maintaining the old ways of decision-making became increasingly difficult, if not impossible. The lack of adequate knowledge, know-how and time deficit increases the demand for professional advice from peers or individuals and companies specialized in consulting services in different spheres, including management in general, personnel, information technologies, security, etc. The global consulting services industry in general and its most successful representatives, both individuals and firms, seem to prosper in any case, but the question is whether their consultancy really improves business results and stimulates economic growth. The article aims are disclosing the connection between global consulting services and economic development applying correlation analysis to the size of global consulting services market and the World Bank’s data on GDP. The paper discloses recent changes in the size of global consulting services market and world GDP growth. The size of global consulting services markets constantly grew and the change equaled 44.4 percent in 2011–2020. Financial advisory and operations consultancy were the fastest growing segments demonstrating the increase of 54.5 and 53.6 percent, respectively. The global GDP increased by 14.2 during this period reaching $83.8 trillion in 2020 and showing the peak of $87.6 trillion in 2019. Our calculations have shown that the linear correlation coefficient of the size of global consulting services market and world GDP is statistically significant. Therefore, there is a direct and strong connection between consulting services and economic growth, namely the global GDP. The increase of the size of global consulting services market by 1 unit ($1 billion) causes the average increase of the world GDP by 0.139 units ($ trillion). The perspectives of further investigations embrace the analysis of efficiency of consulting services in key segments of the global market, namely strategy, operations, human resources, financial advisory, and technology

FEATURES OF IMPLEMENTATION OF MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS BY IT ENTREPRENEURS

The article forms the theoretical basis for the development and implementation of managerial innovations. Sectoral features of the IT sphere in terms of innovative changes in management processes are identified: staff dependence, high level of unpredictability of consequences, the need for appropriate research environment, creative nature of decisions, high complexity, the presence of external barriers from the state and internal resistance, within labor collectives, active use of outsourcing, the predominance of project and team forms of activity. It is proved that every managerial innovation has a technological basis, while almost every technological innovation is based on a managerial decision. The components necessary for the implementation of managerial innovations are formulated: a problem that does not have an existing solution and needs new ideas; new principles and views that should provide new approaches; revision of traditions and dogmas that limit creative thinking; examples and analogues that will help to rethink the possibilities. Management innovations in the IT sphere are structured and the following are distinguished: innovations in management methodology (synergetic management, tender management, network management, creative management, team management, communicative management, etc.), innovations in internal structural subtypes of general management, financial innovation, marketing), innovations in the basics of science and practice of classical management (innovations in the principles, methods, management functions and elements of regulatory information and staffing). The main management innovations used by IT companies in Ukraine are analyzed: quality management, controlling, reengineering, system intervention strategy, neural network technologies, information-associative modeling, structural-functional modeling, etc. It is proved that the successful implementation of these management innovations requires the following conditions: a systematic vision of managerial change by management, formed innovation infrastructure, high level of management professionalism, timeliness of innovations and their compliance with overall objectives, staff loyalty to innovation change and development, approval or decisions by external consultants. The application of cloud technologies for the implementation of management innovations in the IT field and the introduction of service consulting, which is a comprehensive solution of business problems of the client based on an individual approach. It is determined that as management innovations spread, they improve, acquire new qualities and properties, adapt to new requirements and ultimately modernize themselves and become more efficient and effective. It is proved that innovation requires a certain management culture that requires managers of IT companies to be prone to risk and experimentation, as well as constant monitoring of the environment, requires an appropriate system to assess the current state of the system and the desire to improve it.

MARKETING STRATEGY AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE OF ENTERPRISE

The article considers the concepts of marketing strategy and organizational culture of the enterprise, their interaction. Suggestions for eliminating conflicts between marketing strategy and organizational culture of the enterprise are given. Marketing strategy is a promising approach to planning in order to achieve a competitive advantage in the market. Organizational culture is a specific product of life and development of the organization, values that are shared by most members of the firm, and which is formed under the influence of internal and external factors both spontaneously and purposeful actions to instill in staff common cultural stereotypes. Despite the complexity of the restructuring of organizational culture in cases where it is necessary for the management of the enterprise should conduct painstaking work at the enterprise and gain an understanding of the need to restructure the organizational culture of the vast majority of employees. The following measures can contribute to this: 1. Carry out explanatory work with the team on the prospects of marketing strategy and possible results in its implementation. 2. To organize the active participation of the majority of members of the firm in determining the gap between the existing and future state of the organizational culture of the enterprise. 3. Involve in the definition and discussion of measures aimed at adjusting the organizational culture and achieving the goals of marketing strategy the maximum possible number of employees of the organization. 4. Conduct a survey of employees to determine the readiness of the team to implement measures to improve organizational culture. 5. Review, if necessary, the organizational structure of the enterprise, taking into account its compliance with the objectives of marketing strategy. 6. Bring the management system of the enterprise to a state that reflects the collective values that arise in the employees of the enterprise. 7. Create, if necessary, a compensation fund to support employees who were harmed in the restructuring of the organizational culture of the enterprise.