Volume 2, Issue 4, 2022

The article features the strategic management of coal mining companies in Russia under the current Western sanctions. The research objective was to identify the optimal methodological approaches and priority strategic measures that would ensure the sustainable long-term development of coal-mining enterprises affected by the sanctions. The authors identify the threats to coal mining enterprises caused by the sanctions, as well as their impact on the sustainable development of the mining industry. They compiled a list of strategic measures that could change the development strategy of coal mining enterprises in the context of external sanctions pressure. First, the logistics chains between the Eastern ports and the Asia-Pacific market should be reorganized. Second, coal mining enterprises should be technologically independent. Third, the interaction between the regional authorities and coal mining businesses requires new models. The article also proves the expediency of the strategic approach and methodological recommendations to managing the sustainable development of coal mining companies in the context of a long-term sanctions. The scientific and methodological apparatus of the coal mining strategic management is a promising scientific matter that requires a further analysis.

Problems, threats, and risks are often considered selectively in national strategies and projects. As a result, new factors appear during their implementation: they limit the solution of strategic tasks, cause crisis phenomena, and recurrent gaps in the socio-economic development. The authors developed a procedure of causal analysis. It focuses on entire path of problem development, from the establishment of its root and indirect causes to the determination of direct and visible changes in the human living environment. The analysis features the completeness of factor accounting in problems, threats, and risks. It also covers strategic objectives and targets to assess the feasibility of strategic priorities and the effectiveness of project activities. The article also introduces some methodological tools of the causal analysis. They can be applied to factors that affect strategic planning and can be used to assess national projects, i.e., their feasibility of strategic objectives and effectiveness.

The article features the concept of regional identity in Kuzbass. On the one hand, regional identity is based on the policy of strategizing the management and promotion as part of the Regional Development Strategy through 2035. On the other hand, it reveals various semantic identity structures in the long-term strategic initiative of Kemerovo State as part of The Kuzbass Development Strategy through 2071. The analysis involved the challenges of systemic and functional problems of regional development that appeared as a result of socio-economic changes in the digital economy. It also described the projects of innovation and leadership centers. The authors believe that the traditional values and social meanings transform as a result of the state strategy aimed at increasing the competitive advantages of the regions. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study relied on the fundamental provisions of V.L. Kvint’s theory of strategy, certain methodological provisions of regional strategizing, the theory of social identity, and the mission of the region. The authors performed a selective OTSW analysis as an effective tool for monitoring and substantiating strategic opportunities. They constructed a model of regional development component that consisted of a system of social meanings. This system determined the joint efforts in achieving goals and the basic principles of ecology of interaction between flexible business strategies of regional companies, social movements, the youth, ambassadors of investment projects, etc. The approach provided a holistic vision of semantic orientation, which incorporated every stakeholder. Sustainable innovative strategies of regional development define the region as a unique territory with a unique socio-economic organization. They provide a single cognitive environment and a stable regional identity in determining the priority socio-economic bases for the integrative structures that trigger innovations. Strategic priorities in these areas ensure unique long-term development of the regions, as well as give the multiplicative impulse to the socio-economic development of the entire macroregion.

The difficult-to-control processes caused by trade wars and sanctions can be analyzed only post factum, since the large-scale state-level decisions need time to take effect. Modern trade-war methods usually include a collective pressure on the competing country, and the economic leverage is accompanied by the power politics. In recent years, national economies have undergone many crises, trade conflicts, and black swan events. The International Monetary Fund predicts no return to former economic growth rates. The IT industry is an advanced digitalization driver and a promising direction for state investments. The sphere of IT technologies will also have to adjust to the new circumstances. This study focuses on the IT industries of the world’s leading economies and the sanctions policy of the recent years. The research relied on domestic and international scientific papers, analytical reports, statistical collections, and expert assessments related to the topic of international trade wars, political sanctions, and the IT industry. The author considered international trade conflicts both diachronically and synchronically. The current state of the leading economies was described in terms of their GDP. Some experts report the low effectiveness of full-scale sanctions in defending political and economic interests. Since Western Europe and the United States were responsible for most trade wars in the past, they probably find this mechanism beneficial in conducting a dialogue with their opponents. The author believes that the IT industry will be able to adapt to the new economic reality as the era of the unipolar world imposed by the United States is fading into history, triggering inevitable changes in the international economic relations.

The current macroeconomic challenges have affected the oil and gas complex, which remains the locomotive of Russian economy. Foreign partners are leaving Russian projects as the European Union and the United States initiate unprecedented sanctions against Russian economy. As a result, the oil and gas industry has to change its logistics to compensate for the lack of supply of goods and services from unfriendly countries. The industry has to turn to the best world practices in the sphere of procurement. Effective procurement activities can solve the problem of technological independence and import substitution in Russian oil and gas companies. The author analyzed the experience of foreign companies in the sphere of mineral resources, industry, and trade. The research objective was to identify the best practices that allowed these enterprises to become leaders in their economy sectors.

Russian enterprises need technological independence and new strategies for non-standard solutions in such spheres as import substitution, novel production processes, effective management of complex engineering facilities, high labor productivity, etc. This research featured the digital transformation of an economic entity, which was chosen based on a list of seven principles that determined the importance of the enterprise for the national economy. The author used the method of OTSW analysis developed by Professor V.L. Kvint to determine the strategic priorities for the digital development of the Russian Television and Radiobroadcasting Network (RTRN). The initial data were obtained from its employees via a questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 37 questions divided into functional groups. It served as an aggregator of information about the current state of the enterprise and its readiness for digital transformations. The RTRN was evaluated as an “exemplary enterprise”; however, its digitalization level did not reach that of a “smart enterprise”. The survey made it possible to define the strategic priorities for the prospective digital transformation, as well as to describe the concept of digital development. The author also calculated the economic effect from the practical implementation of priority digital development measures. The resulting digital development strategy can be applied to digital transformation projects in other sectors of the national economy.

As a result of economic digitalization, the library acts a social institution that performs an extremely important adaptive function: it improves social stability by preserving, exchanging, and disseminating the accumulated spiritual, scientific, and technical potential. As a result, libraries need innovative management approaches. In particular, they need a long-term cultural policy to create a single information space for authors, readers, publishers, and book traders. The digital economy offers new opportunities to provide an expanded list of services that go in line with the interests and needs of various categories of readers. The author used the strategizing methodology developed by Professor V.L. Kvint as a universal tool for building advanced development strategies. The approach made it possible to form a new library innovation management system. The OTSW method provided new program activities for the development strategy of the Russian State Library and revealed its innovative potential. The analysis also made it possible to prioritize the temporal and strategic goals, as well as to identify the promising development technologies. The resulting principles define the development strategy of a modern library as a center of digital competencies and new electronic services. The article introduces the practical methods and their application procedure to enhance the existing and potential opportunities of libraries.

Nowadays, digitalization is affecting all sectors of global economy, including higher education. This process should be conscious and well-structured. This study featured the digitalization phenomenon in higher education, namely its impact on human resources and the strategizing of digital transformation.The author used the theory of strategy and strategizing methodology developed by Professor V.L. Kvint to design the strategy of the digital transformation in the sphere of higher education in Russia. Other methods and approaches included analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, and scientific abstraction. The study resulted in a conceptual framework for strategizing the digital transformation of higher education in Russia. The OTSW analysis proved that the digital transformation of higher education is currently experiencing various difficulties. Most of them are associated with the penetration of digital technologies into academic environment, the socio-psychological risks, and the personality digitalization. The Russian system of higher education needs effective digital strategizing and a clear methodology to overcome all these difficulties.

Regional employment depends on the level of education in that particular region. An effective education system makes it possible to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations. Access to quality education boosts economic growth, increases employment prospects, and reduces gender and income inequality. This research featured the strategy of employment development in the Amur Region. The author believes it should be based on the global, national, and regional trends, one of which is public access to quality education. The methodology relied on the theory of strategy and strategizing developed by Professor V.L. Kvint. According to this approach, the high quality of human life is the ultimate goal of any strategy. The analysis revealed Russia’s place in the global education ranking, as well as the national objectives, their indicators, and directions of regional projects as part of the National Education Project in the Amur Region. The strategizing made it possible to define the areas of employment development which are affected by the quality education trend. By implementing the quality education trend, the Amur authorities will be able to identify the opportunities, threats, strengths, and weaknesses to define the strategic priorities in the employment strategy, which will eventually improve the quality of life in the regi on.