Journal archive

The article suggests the use of a training tool of a business game in the educational process aimed at the formation of a complete system of professional entrepreneurial competencies. The article aims to expand the possibilities of learning in limited classroom conditions by creating an educational situation as close as possible to the realities of modern business relations practice. To achieve this goal the author set the task of using the tools of a business game in relation to the development of competition skills and competitive relations. As the main scenario of the business game, the author creates a model of the competition situation with the participation of the buyer and several bidders competing for victory in the simulation of competitive procurement. The proposed business game is based on typical real competitive situations in the space of a set of B2B operations, which confirms the relevance of the chosen training method. The article contains a description of the basic scenario and detailed rules of the game. Each of the groups participating in the game is offered its own set of documents of initial information, on the basis of which the participants should build their tactics of negotiations and generating proposals of the competition commission. The article substantiates that in order to win the competition, participants need to take into account both professional and personal relationships of the persons involved in decision-making. The author draws attention to the importance of studying the educational situation as a complete system of relations between real companies with each other. The article shows that the important practical significance of the business game consists in the final session of the analysis of the actions of the participants of the game – the “debriefing” stage. Based on the analysis of the business games sessions conducted, the author identifies the most significant results of students’ participation in the game, their positive impressions and personal unexpected discoveries. The use of the proposed method will be useful for educational organizations as an effective exercise in the framework of courses studying the practice of competition between professional and higher education systems.

Rivalry is present in various spheres of human activity, for example, rivalry (competition) for a workplace, for a position, for the necessary resources, for a free place in transport and for points/grades in the educational process. The article is devoted to the issues of competition among students in educational activities for grades, including in the implementation of the point-rating system of assessment in educational institutions of higher education. According to various studies and based on the experience of the author’s professional activity, the use of a point-rating evaluation system in educational organizations has both its advantages and disadvantages. So, one of the indisputable advantages is considered to be an increase in students’ motivation for learning activities (to complete the task better than classmates), and one of the disadvantages is considered to be competition (sometimes unfair) for the assessment necessary for the student (often, this is a tough comparison with the scores received by classmates, and dissatisfaction (not corresponding to the real state of affairs) earned assessment, etc.). The significance of these points is enhanced due to the subjectivity of the teacher’s assessment of students, as well as the peculiarities of the distribution of points (individually for each teacher) and the evaluation of various creative educational works. Based on the study of the interaction of competing parties in educational activities for points, some methods are proposed, the use of which contributes to conscientious rivalry among students (joint gain, gain due to advantages), which indicates the practical significance of the article. The article shows that even with a detailed description and justification of the assessment (drawing up a scale and its criteria), various controversial issues will still arise in the assessment of students, leading to a certain form of rivalry in educational activities.

The article is devoted to the consideration of various methods for assessing competitiveness in the context of changes in the internal and external conditions of the functioning of enterprises under the influence of digitalization, import substitution processes and other challenges in the domestic economy. The article notes that methods for assessing the competitiveness of an enterprise are quite well developed in theory and are widely used in practice. However, a certain problem is the approach to choosing a method in relation to the system of indicators for assessing the competitiveness of a particular enterprise. The obtained competitiveness assessments serve to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise. In the future, measures are developed and implemented to eliminate weaknesses and strengthen strengths. Various methods for assessing competitiveness are considered: the theory of comparative advantage, the theory of equilibrium, the theory of J.-J. Lambin, McKinsey analysis method “7S”, enterprise competitiveness analysis method “GAP”, competitiveness analysis method “LOTS”, PEST analysis, SWOT analysis, “4P” methodology, benchmarking method, competitiveness assessment method based on the provisions of the theory of effective competition. The author supports the opinion of those researchers who consider three levels of competitiveness indicator: tactical, strategic and operational. At the operational level they will use an indicator of product competitiveness, at a tactical level – an indicator of competitive potential, at a strategic level – competitive advantages and growth in the market value of the enterprise. The author has proposed an improved algorithm for calculating indicators using a model for dynamic assessment of competitiveness, which makes it possible to identify the leader (the most promising enterprise) and use its indicators as normative ones when planning measures to increase competitiveness. In the future, the resulting deviation of actual indicators from the standard (indicators of the leading enterprise) allows us to outline operational, tactical and strategic measures to increase competitiveness.

For the implementation of the “fifth antimonopoly package”, FAS Russia has developed a draft amendment to the Procedure for analyzing the state of competition in the commodity market, approved by Order of FAS Russia dated April 28, 2010 No. 220 (Procedure-220). This project is currently going through the stage of public discussion, which makes relevant its analysis in terms of the challenges of the economy of modern digital markets in general, as well as methodological issues raised by the latest amendments to the Federal Law “On the Protection of competition” of July 26, 2006 No. 135-FZ in particular. The article reveals that the provisions of the project under discussion do not address all the main problems that arise in connection with the analysis of competition in digital markets: methods for analyzing market boundaries at zero prices are not proposed, there are no approaches to assessing network effects, problems of market power in conglomerate mergers are not reflected, the concept of a multilateral market and its relationship with the digital platform has not been clarified. The draft also contains inaccurate wording, leaving freedom of interpretation, which will subsequently create risks of incorrect application of antimonopoly legislation and increase the likelihood of enforcement errors. In addition, the article demonstrates that within the framework of the proposed changes, many questions and problems that are also characteristic of the analysis of traditional markets (the second criterion of the hypothetical monopolist test, analysis of the surmountability of entry barriers, limitations in the use of methods) remain unanswered. Economic analysis of law and Industrial organization theory are used as the methodological basis for the study. The result of the analysis is a set of recommendations for the regulator aimed at reducing the likelihood of enforcement errors arising as a result of gaps antimonopoly regulation. The article is of an applied nature and may be of interest to both regulatory authorities and antitrust experts.

The article examines the problem of the validity of regulation of airport services’ fees and tariffs. The study is relevant amid criticism of the need for regulation in the context of commercialization of the industry given the disputes over natural monopoly’ status of airports, potential competition between airports and the viability of alternative transaction governance mechanisms. The objective of the research is to analyze possible justifications for the necessity of airport services regulation and to reveal limitations of each of justifications. The analysis is carried out within the framework of two approaches: the natural monopoly model of the theory of industry organization and a comparative analysis of discrete structural alternatives from the new institutional economic theory. The following results were obtained. Firstly, the research shows that the necessity of regulation within the framework of these approaches is justified by the presence of two risks – the risk of abuse of a dominant position and the risk of expropriation of investments made by consumers of airport services. Secondly, concerning the limitations of the justifications, the article systematizes the factors contributing to the strengthening or weakening of the market power of airports. Thirdly, the research identifies the characteristics of airports that are subject to examination when examining the need of for regulation. Fourth, it is demonstrated that the level of risk of expropriation of assets varies depending on the scale of the airport’s activities and the role of the airport in the route networks of airlines. Thus, the paper concludes that within the framework of each of the approaches considered, the decision to introduce regulation of services at airports should be made not for the industry as a whole, but for individual airports, and shows the possible risks of a selective approach to regulating services at airports (the expansion of the regulator’s discretion, the increase in the regulator’s costs due to the need for analysis for the airports under consideration, corruption risks), which must be taken into account when designing relevant regulations if a decision is made to implement the proposed approach to regulation.

The subject area of the article is one of the areas of market rivalry of small businesses (hereinafter referred to as SMEs), namely, the poaching of leading specialists from competitors. The scientific position is argued, according to which, in the field of small business, the practical implementation of the above method of unfair competition has certain specifics, in particular, the active role of owners who personally act as a «bounty hunter», as well as their use of uncharacteristic for medium and large entities business motivational tools. In addition, only in the studied area of entrepreneurship is a situation possible in which the transfer of only one specialist to a competing firm can not only worsen, but completely and immediately undermine the market position of the victim of aggression. This should be taken into account by the management of any SME focused on the use of high-quality human capital. The purpose of the study is to develop proposals for choosing a strategy and tactics for managing the personnel of a small enterprise, ensuring a high degree of protection of its personnel elite from the threat under consideration. The objectives of the study are, firstly, to identify the specifics of its implementation in the area of entrepreneurship under study and, secondly, to determine the most effective methods to counteract it. Results of the study: the features of the organization of the process of poaching the best specialists from competing SMEs, as well as additional threats to their competitive positions in case of their implementation, were revealed. Taking into account these features, recommendations are formulated and argued for choosing the subsequent implementation of HR technologies that allow maintaining the quality of the human capital of a small enterprise as one of the important factors that ensure its competitive position in the serviced market.

The article is devoted to the consideration of the influence of the ESG factor (environment, social, governance) on M&A transactions (merger and acquisitions). The article substantiates the trend of economic transformations, reflecting the fact that environmental, social and corporate responsibility are becoming one of the most important areas of company development. Climate and environmental risks pose a threat to the financial stability of the business, its corporate image and social consumer loyalty. The article examines the degree of business involvement in the ESG agenda and provides a qualitative assessment of companies’ resource needs to achieve sustainable development goals. Using the opportunities provided by the green agenda, the company strengthens its ESG positions. The purpose of the study is to consider the role of the ESG factor in mergers and acquisitions. Based on the available research on the importance of mergers and acquisitions being an effective tool for business restructuring, the authors emphasize that the ESG factor is likely to be included in the overall motivational contour of concentration transactions. At the junction of two global strategic processes – the process of economic concentration and the process of sustainable development of companies in the field of ESG, the importance of studying the ESG factor, which has a motivating influence on mergers and acquisitions, is considered. The authors draw attention to the fact that the role and place of the little-studied ESG factor in the process of mergers and acquisitions, as well as the influence of the ESG agenda in the process of business concentration will increase at all stages of mergers and acquisitions. It is noted about the advantages of buying companies specializing in green technologies, which allows you to restructure the need for investment in the creation of modern and environmentally friendly technologies. The concept of sustainability is based on the efficiency of using limited resources, which is why the results of the study are of interest to companies focused on rapid growth using M&A transactions.

The article is devoted to virtual reality technology, its application and the main competitive advantages of implementation in the restaurant business. Unlike other approaches, the author extends contextual dependence to any training courses included in the training program. The main areas and competitive advantages of virtual reality technology in the hospitality industry are analyzed. Using the example of the competitive advantages of VR indicated in the article, it is shown how this technology should be applied at the enterprises of the restaurant business to successfully maintain competitiveness and further development. The article has practical significance, since virtual and augmented reality technology is successfully used in real business in competitive conditions, creating sustainable advantages for user organizations in the service market, as well as theoretical significance due to a comprehensive analysis of the essence, advantages and disadvantages, the main areas of application and competitive advantages of VR and AR technology.

The article is devoted to the study of innovative methods of crisis management of Internet platforms, which are becoming an important component of the modern economic environment. In the course of the research, various methods of analysis are used, including a detailed examination of modern crisis management strategies and an analysis of successful cases of integration of innovations into Internet platforms. The obtained results emphasize the importance of innovative approaches for effectively overcoming crisis situations and ensuring the sustainability of Internet platforms, and the analysis of practical examples shows that innovations contribute to improving competitiveness, optimizing user experience and increasing the financial performance of Internet platforms. The results of the study emphasize the importance of innovation for crisis management of Internet platforms, which also defines the main aspects of the theory, including the core and protective shell, and also shows the possibilities of its transformation based on the integration of the principles of the theories of disruptive innovation by K. Christensen and technological revolutions by K. Perez. The study demonstrates that changing the protective shell of the theory of crisis management under the influence of institutional changes caused by technological transformations is an important element of successful crisis management of Internet platforms. Thus, this article provides valuable practical recommendations and contributes to the expansion of the theory of crisis management of Internet platforms. The contribution made to the field of crisis management emphasizes that innovations are an important tool for effectively overcoming crisis situations, increasing competitiveness and ensuring the sustainability of Internet platforms.

In modern world practice, there is an increasing interest in the application of organizational and managerial innovations, and there is also an accelerated development of the global electronics industry, which requires additional sources of improving the performance of Russian enterprises in this industry, which are mainly in catching up positions relative to global competitors. Therefore, the study of the impact of organizational and managerial innovations on the effectiveness of organizations of the electronic industry in Russia is an urgent scientific task. It is worth noting that there are no studies in Russian publications on the importance of organizational and managerial innovations in the development of the electronic industry in Russia. The purpose of this article is to determine the degree of importance of organizational and managerial innovations in the development of the electronic industry in Russia. The implementation of this goal required solving the following tasks: to analyze the possible transformation in the electronic industry of the Russian Federation and the prospects of the industry in the sixth technological order and the fourth industrial revolution; to determine the aspects of the impact of organizational and managerial innovations on the effectiveness of organizations during technological changes; to determine the impact of organizational and managerial innovations on the effectiveness of R&D in the electronic industry of Russia. As a result, the high importance of organizational and managerial innovations and the need for long-term intensification of the use of this type of innovation in the electronic industry of Russia are proved.