Publications

Highly complex, ambiguous and turbulent business environment forces the leading multinational companies to search new strategic capabilities, and management innovations (MI) are considered as an imperative for this development. However, among the local companies operating in the Russian market, management innovations do not have sufficient focus from the company top-management. Major objective of this paper is to study the process of management innovations and the key areas of its implementations within domestic and MNCs operating in Russia. The empirical study involved 1,025 employees from 791 companies operating in Moscow and the Moscow Region. The analysis of the collected data shows that the companies operating in the Russian market, primarily focus on employee motivation (20%) and building an effective communication process (18%) as the priority implementation areas of management innovations. Influence of the different type of economic activity, as well as the business size, and the degree of the company internationalization have been studied in the framework of the research, which revealed the number of peculiarities of the implementation areas of management innovations for Russian and multinational companies, operating in the Russian market.

Innovations in management is one of the most relevant research topics within the global scientific community, as well as one of the leading drivers for the development of multinational companies. The purpose of this article is to investigate the key sources of managerial innovations within Russian and multinational companies operating in the Russian market. Over one thousand employees from nearly 800 companies operating in Moscow and the Moscow Region participated in the empirical study. Research results show the importance of “the internal know-how” and “access to consulting services” as the key sources of managerial innovations for companies operating in the Russian market. “Collaboration with other Russian players” is limited mainly to Russian companies. The “collaboration with multinational players” is an underdeveloped source of managerial innovations among Russian companies, resulting in the slowdown of Russian managerial practices’ development. Additionally, the analysis of the significance of managerial innovations’ sources depending on the economic activity, size of the business and the degree of internationalization revealed a number of specific features that elaborate the general understanding of the research topic and its conclusions.

Abstracts presented at 18th World Organization of Systems and Cybernetics Congress

Abstracts for 32nd International Congress on Project Management

Auditors use behavioral red flags (BRFs) to examine which individuals are more prone to unwarranted behavior like corruption and asset misappropriation. Using a rich data set from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), we analyze the impact of BRFs on loss sizes from asset misappropriation. We control for anti-fraud mechanisms established at the company level and other factors both at the individual and the firm level. Performing an exploratory factor analysis yields six factors for BRFs which capture the principal perpetrator’s situation at the private level and the workplace. A general wheeler-dealer attitude and financial distress significantly increase loss sizes. By contrast, we find no evidence that non-monetary private problems lead to higher losses.

The trend on electricity grids digitalization is gradually leading to the shift of busi-ness value towards more sustainable and efficient electricity services. Sustainability and efficiency are challenged by the increasing demand for electricity which is fol-lowed by a dramatic transformation of energy systems. While smart grids seem to be crucial in this process, there is a discrepancy in understanding the costs and benefits for the multiple actors involved. In addition, there are benefits of smart grids that cannot be measured directly in terms of money, such as higher energy system reliabil-ity or commitment to carbon reduction. Despite the rise of interest to the managerial aspects of smart grids implementation and development, many aspects remain out of the scope. This paper contributes to the research of smart grids by providing a con-ceptualized business model that would allow for value co-creation, delivery and cap-ture. A Russian energy sector perspective is primarily considered throughout the pa-per and the results are supported by evidence from interviews with of industrial ex-perts

In reaction to the environmental challenge, many firms are looking for the ways how to integrate sustainability into their operations, business models and strategies. Very often sustainable initiatives go beyond the boundaries of a focal firm engaging a wide variety of partners within the supply chain. In conditions of countries with institutional deficiencies and voids such as emerging economies, the task of sustainability integration is challenging as many critical conditions needed for sustainability development are missing. To understand how firms can integrate sustainability initiatives in their supply chains under the conditions of environmental uncertainty, this paper aims to investigate firm-level and supply chain drivers that stimulate sustainability implementation in Russian firms.

Abstract

A new global scenario and “a new digital world” is coming, and we cannot ignore it. Project managers leading projects online face an added complexity which cause additional ethics issues to cope with. This paper will explore how a project manager defines and establishes ethics on an online project. Some project managers may rely on standards and legislation, while others lead by example. A combination of the authors’ personal experience combined with an academic literature review was done to support the conclusions and recommendations presented in this paper

Ethics does have impact on performance and results of a company or a project. When making up a new code of ethics in digital era, one should keep in mind that it must serve the following three functions well. Firstly, it must be directive and tell employees what they should do within their project/company. Secondly, it must encourage people to learn more about, for example, ethics dilemmas, which we are going to discuss in this paper. Thirdly, the code must be a simple and obvious standard of assessing behavior.

Projects of a new digital era depend on technology for communication and are separated geographically. This paper presents results of research taken during recent months of COVID-19 pandemia and fast digitalization. Hundreds of projects found themselves in new conditions, transformed toward new online technologies and faced new ethical  challenges. Ethical dilemmas and issues a project manager may face can be caused by four reasons: 1) possibility of misinterpreting data for individual benefits; 2) conflict between individual and business moral priorities; 3) conflicts between work cultures of employees; 4) ordinary unprofessional behavior. When the issue is faced, the manager is recommended to follow these steps of ethical decision-making: 1) Identify the ethical problem; 2) collect the facts on the case; 3) assess all the solutions possible; 4) make the decision and reflect on it. During the process the manager should keep in mind organizational ethical standards, professional code of ethics and their own values. We asked more than 50 participants of 17 projects from different industries about their reflection on ethical issues in projects of new digital era. This paper will demonstrate the results of our study.

Russia is the largest country in the world, ranking 9th by population with 146.8 million people living on its territory. Russia contains 30% of the world’s natural resources, making it the most resource-rich country in the world. The Russian economy is 6th in the world in terms of GDP (purchasing power parity), according to the IMF. In the Global competitiveness report, Russia ranked 43rd out of 140. Our study of companies’ strategic capabilities is based on a comparative analysis of 5 firms operating in Russia. Three of them are domestic – SIBUR (Siberian-Ural petrochemical and Gas Company), Gazprom Marketing & Trading (part of the Gazprom group), and ByTerg, all representing exporters in the high-tech industry, and 2 multinational companies (MNCs) – Ecolab and Swilar, representing the high-tech and service industries respectively. This qualitative study, relying on semi-structured interviews, revealed that customer orientation is a crucial strategic capability, highlighted by all firms. Very important strategic capabilities also include product manufacturing and general sales capabilities (highlighted by 80% of respondents).

This study presents a snapshot of investment projects in manufacturing that were implemented by foreign investors in Russia during 2017–2018. We assemble a unique database of all new plants opened by foreign companies in Russia during 2012–2018 to clarify the distribution of investment projects implemented during 2017–2018 across industries and territories with different tax regimes. We also identify the most interesting individual investment projects, interrelated investment projects, and elements of collective actions. In general, foreign investors in manufacturing demonstrate high ingenuity in discovering and exploiting the remaining emerging growing market segments and promising niches in consumer and professional markets and express significant persistence in realizing investment projects. We also demonstrate the methods applied to decrease the uncertainty of the project costs by establishing partnerships with local foreign- and domestically owned companies and the attempts to correct the government’s decisions and regulatory measures that are uncomfortable for foreign investors.

Background. Fraud- or theft-related crimes account for the highest number of crimes in the mental health industry in the U.S. Aim. This exploratory study aims to demonstrate a fraudster’s and respective victims’ profiles as well as to identify the loss predictors’ hierarchy in the mental health industry in the U.S. Materials and methods. The Psychiatric Crime database and mixed-effects models are utilized for this purpose. Results. A typical fraudster’s profile is defined as a 53-year old male psychiatrist who victimizes one or two of the largest federal insurance programs in states with high property crime ratios. The results revealed the year and state where the fraud is prosecuted explained the largest portion of the variance in loss size. Predictably, case-specific factors also have a significant impact on the loss. Specifically, Medicaid, the existence of collusion, and fraudster’s age are associated with the fraud loss. Conclusions. This study empirically justifies considering loss, due to healthcare fraud, from a multi-level perspective. Identified typical fraudster’s and respective victim’s profiles helped to elaborate on specific practical recommendations aimed at fraud prevention in the mental healthcare system in the U.S.

Companies invest in sustainable development in more and more innovative ways through business model innovation which “offers a potential approach to deliver the required change through re-conceptualising the purpose of the firm and the value creating logic, and rethinking perceptions of value”. This chapter provides several demonstrative cases of Russian and international companies operating on the Russian market that have made attempts to become more competitive through the adoption of sustainable practices and business models. The circular economy involves a more meaningful use of resources aimed at applying the principles of the “green” economy and is characterized by new business models and approaches, as well as innovative business ideas. Business leaders are in constant search for a better way to hedge emerging risks and introduce new approaches and models that can effectively respond to the challenges faced by the world community on the verge of a new industrial revolution.

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The article focuses on the differences of medium-sized companies’ management methods: on the one hand, from companies in small (micro) business, and on the other hand, from large companies. The application of the method was tested at a medium-sized poultry farm. The analysis of projects of the real program was made, the network model of the program was built, and the probability of projects’ and the program at all success was estimated. The evaluation of the program indicators allowed the authors to make conclusions about priorities of separate projects. The proposed approach can be used in various companies, regardless of industry affiliation

Using the secondary data sources, we identified all new factories, opened by foreign multinational corporations in Russia in 2012-2018. Almost 80% of the 261 factories opened in the last seven years are located in just 20 Russian administrative regions. Moscow (city and oblast), Kaluga oblast, St.Petersburg and Leningrad oblast, The Republic of Tatarstan, Lipetsk oblast, Nizhny Novgorod oblast and Ulyanovsk oblast are the leaders in accommodating foreign industrial investments. The majority of foreign investors preferred special economic zones and industrial parks as territories for installation of new facilities. Proximity to suppliers, availability of the local market, preferred tax regime, guaranteed infrastructure and articulated care of the local authority about the needs of foreign investors are the main factors that determine the choice of the region for industrial investments of foreign corporations.

According to UNCTAD, the global number of foreign direct investment projects in manufacturing announced in 2018 reached 8049 (UNCTAD, 2019: 9-10). Although the real number of realized projects will be much smaller in 2020-2021 because of the global fall of foreign direct investments (UNCTAD, 2020: xi) the overall number of newly installed factories will be still counted in thousands. In many developing and emerging markets, especially in South-East Asia, Latin America and Russia, ribbon-cutting ceremonies for new facilities opened by foreign investors are mandatory. We ran a study identifying all videoed ribbon-cutting ceremonies for new facilities opened by foreign investors in Russia in 2012- 2018. Using a detailed analysis of the content of speeches delivered by representative of foreign investors and representative of local authorities at those ceremonies, and information obtained through personal observations and interviews, we were able to discover the surface and deeper level meaning attaching to these ceremonies, to propose the definition of efficient plant-opening ceremonies and to demonstrate how it is possible to amend the design of such ceremonies to increase their effectiveness and also to increase mental coherence between the corporate center and oversea subsidiaries.

Over the last decade academic literature faced a boom of publications devoted to the notion of ecosystem, which resulted in the emergence of various research streams and corresponding fragmentation of the research domain. Existing variety of meanings and contradictory definitions necessitates conducting a thorough literature review on three tightly coupled concepts of innovation ecosystem, business ecosystem and entrepreneurial ecosystem. This study is based upon a mixed technique, which combines bibliometric analysis and in-depth investigation of papers devoted to these research streams. Trough examining their theoretical background, constructing conceptual structures and in-depth analysis we were able to define the essence of innovation, business and entrepreneurial ecosystems as well as their distinctive features. Then we proceed with the comparative analysis of these concepts, which allowed us to outline existing similarities and to demarcate them from an ontological perspective. This study provides certain clarification for the existing conceptual mix in the field of ecosystem research and can be used as a foundation for a further investigation of the concept.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to assess the effectiveness of healthcare spending among the leading Asian economies.

Methods: We have selected a total of nine Asian nations, based on the strength of their economic output and long-term real GDP growth rates. The OECD members included Japan and the Republic of Korea, while the seven non-OECD nations were China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Thailand. Healthcare systems efficiency was analyzed over the period 1996-2017. To assess the effectiveness of healthcare expenditure of each group of countries, the two-way fixed effects model (country- and year effects) was used.

Results: Quality of governance and current health expenditure determine healthcare system performance. Population density and urbanization are positively associated with a healthy life expectancy in the non-OECD Asian countries. In this group, unsafe water drinking has a statistically negative effect on healthy life expectancy. Interestingly, only per capita consumption of carbohydrates is significantly linked with healthy life expectancy. In these non-OECD Asian countries, unsafe water drinking and per capita carbon dioxide emissions increase infant mortality. There is a strong negative association between GDP per capita and infant mortality in both sub-samples, although its impact is far larger in the OECD group. In Japan and South Korea, unemployment is negatively associated with infant mortality.

Conclusion: Japan outperforms other countries from the sample in major healthcare performance indicators, while South Korea is ranked second. The only exception is per capita carbon dioxide emissions, which have maximal values in the Republic of Korea and Japan. Non-OECD nations’ outcomes were led by China, as the largest economy. This group was characterized with substantial improvement in efficiency of health spending since the middle of the 1990s. Yet, progress was noted with remarkable heterogeneity within the group.

Communities of practices (CoPs) are groups of people with a common area of expertise or professional practice who interact to exchange, share, and learn from one another. CoPs play a crucial role in distinguishing, memorizing, and exchanging novel effective practices within the organization, enabling the organization to improve its performance. In ―normal‖ circumstances, CoPs rely on channels with high media richness (i.e., personal meetings in informal settings, short- and long-term visits to sister subsidiaries, participation in joint task forces) that transfer tacit knowledge. We demonstrate how it is possible to preserve effective functioning of CoPs using communication channels with lower media richness.

The modern world is project-oriented.  Social, research, business, government – different kinds of activities in different areas can be characterized as projects. Project is a set of actions limited by time, budget, resources, technical specifications aimed at customer satisfaction. Project management is a strong and rapidly developing  profession with a high level of standardization. There are some world-wide project management methodologies such as traditional described in PMBOK standard ( Project Management Body of Knowledge, developed by the PMI Project Management Institute) and ISO 21500, and Agile methodology  (Agile manifesto), which includes four points: people and interaction are more important than processes and tools, a working product is more important than comprehensive documentation, cooperation with the customer is more important than coordination of contract conditions, readiness for changes is more important than following the initial plan. Agile is focused on team work, quality of result, the relation to the customer, adaptation at modification of process in designing a product.  Agile methods is a set of consecutive actions aimed at product development, focused on the use of iterative interaction, dynamic requirements formation and ensuring their implementation as a result of constant work within self-organizing working groups consisting of specialists of different profiles. There is a wide range of different Agile methodologies and their types. For example, Scrum, Extreme Programming, Kanban, Lean Software Development. Project management methodology is in the process of transformation from traditional toward Agile methodology which has to be analyzed based on third-order cybernetics approach.