Purpose: this study aims to assess the impact of independent directors’ characteristics on voluntary ESG disclosure by Russian public non-financial companies. Methodology: this study conducts an econometric analysis of panel data on 56 large Russian public non-financial companies listed on the Moscow Stock Exchange, which published standalone ESG and sustainability reports from 2017 to 2023. Findings: the significant positive impact of female independent board members on voluntary ESG disclosure has been identified, while greater representation of foreign independent directors prompted Russian companies to continue publishing standalone ESG reports in the period of massive sanctions in 2022–2023. The results do not support hypothesis on the positive impact of independent directors with an MBA and higher academic degrees on voluntary ESG disclosure. A higher percentage of independent board members with technical professional experience negatively affected voluntary ESG disclosure by Russian public companies. Companies with greater percentages of independent directors with CEO-level managerial experience tended to continue publishing ESG-reports in 2022–2023, while the effects of independent directors’ experience in finance and public services were insignificant. Originality and contribution: the findings confirm the significant impact of knowledge and competencies brought by independent directors on ESG disclosure by public companies. These findings are highly relevant for business practitioners in the context of requirements for mandatory non-financial disclosure by Russian public companies, as well as for researchers investigating the impact of corporate governance characteristics on the ESG disclosure by Russian companies.
Purpose: the study aims to substantiate the feasibility of developing and implementing integrated service quality management systems in the practice of Russian health resort organizations, using an example of the pilot organization in the Southern Federal Region of Russia. Methodology: the research is based on a systematic literature review and a mixed-method empirical design including a survey of 200 clients, 20 in-depth interviews with patients and managers and a survey of 100 employees of a resort organization in the Southern Federal District. Findings: a multifactor service quality management model consisting of four managerial blocks was developed, and a step-by-step implementation framework was tested, within which managerial decisions are made taking into account the identified organizational maturity level. The pilot implementation of this multifactor service quality management model in 2023–2024 demonstrated a consistent increase in the organization’s maturity level from reactive to proactive, confirmed by progress in service development. Originality and contribution: the study proposes the operationalization of a multifactor service quality management model for health resort organizations and a framework for its integration into the practice of Russian health resort organizations.
Purpose: to assess the degree of aggressiveness of accounting strategies of companies and to investigate the incentives and consequences associated with a company's choice to pursue an aggressive accounting strategy. Methodology: a quantitative approach employing discriminant and comparative analysis tools were used. Findings: the research identified key reporting discriminant indicators and aggregates companies based on presence of aggressive accounting practices. Earnings management and market capitalization growth are primary motivators for management to adopt such strategies, while the potential repercussions of these choices are often underestimated in the current business landscape. Originality and contribution: the findings illuminate the underlying factors driving industry players' market behavior, enabling a more precise understanding of their market strategies. This enhanced comprehension empowers investors to optimize their investment strategies by gaining deeper insights into companies' motivations. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm for evaluating accounting strategies aids in pinpointing the key actors shaping the Agent-Based Model of industry market participants. Ultimately, this research enriches the ongoing discussion on accounting and business development strategies and the crucial role of management in ensuring the effectiveness of these strategies.
Purpose: to identify the features of socially responsible human resource management (SR-HRM) in Russia by studying the SR-HRM practices in large Russian companies. Methodology: The empirical study is based on a quantitative methodology, using a survey to collect data from large Russian companies in 2024–2025. The collected data were analysed using frequency analysis and t-statistics. Findings: a comparative analysis of SR-HRM practices in large Russian companies is presented, and common patterns enshrined in the labor and employment legislation of the Russian Federation are identified. The features of the conceptual framework of SRHRM and its evolution in Russia are also examined. Originality and contribution: the research contributes to enriching the theoretical and methodological analysis of the SR-HRM phenomenon in Russia. The study identifies potential gaps in the conceptual approaches to understanding SR-HRM within Russian and international academic traditions, particularly for definitions and the principles for implementing SR-HRM practices in companies.
Purpose: to identify the key elements of a customer-centric approach to managing Russian IT companies under digital transformation. Methodology: the study is based on a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative big data analysis (semantic analysis), qualitative methods (indepth expert interviews), and desk research. Findings: ten thematic clusters have been identified that describe the specifics of customer centricity in Russian IT companies. The features and shortcomings of existing practices for quantitatively assessing the level of customer centricity have been revealed, and ways to overcome these shortcomings have been proposed. Originality and contribution: the study establishes a relationship between technological development and managerial transformation, through the unity of technology-driven managerial processes, including intra-corporate integration, external consolidation of the value chain, proactive interaction with the customer, and the co-creation, development, and promotion of products with them.
Purpose: to identify promising directions for studying entrepreneurial activity in Russia using data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and the Entrepreneurs of Russia: Research Monitoring (PRIM) projects, taking into account global research trends reflected in scientific publications from 2016–2024 based on GEM data. Methodology: the methodological framework of the study is based on a systematic literature review and descriptive analysis of GEM and PRIM data to characterize the state of entrepreneurial activity in Russia over the period 2016–2024. The primary data sources for the systematic literature review are the Scopus database and the eLibrary.Ru information portal. To describe entrepreneurial activity in Russia, data from adult population surveys conducted within the GEM and PRIM projects in 2016–2024 were used. Findings: the systematization of publications over the period under review allowed to identify four key thematic clusters of research utilizing GEM project data. A subsequent comparative analysis of the GEM and PRIM datasets available for Russia revealed both opportunities and limitations for studying the identified thematic clusters. This analysis not only helped structure current research directions in entrepreneurship but also identified significant gaps in Russian data concerning topics explored in international scientific literature. Originality and contribution: the value of the research findings lies in the identification of both new relevant directions for studying Russian entrepreneurship and existing gaps in the GEM and PRIM project data that currently hinder their full implementation.
Purpose: to explain the change in the balance of incentives within marketing decisions made by producers of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and digital advertising platforms and channels. Methodology: a combination of field experience in corporate strategic marketing with academic research on digital marketing within the business model of digital platforms. Findings: the article raises the issue of interaction of the incentives of FMCG producers and digital platforms within digital marketing. FMCG producers should take into account both the strategic incentives of digital platforms and the limitations of their recommendation systems when developing marketing strategies. We also demonstrate the support of the Russian legal environment for the bargaining power of producers and sellers vis-& agrave;-vis digital platforms. Originality and contribution: marketing issues are investigated as part of the value creation chain, where marketplaces and digital search engines play a bigger role than FMCG producers. For the very first time, we show the connection between digitalization and redistribution of roles and responsibilities in the process of value creation, as well as Russian antitrust and retail regulation impact on this change.
Purpose: to substantiate the necessity of developing a new conceptual framework for marketing (paradigm shift) in the context of structural changes in the external environment, and to outline the contours of the emerging paradigm. Methodology: this paper is based on the author's extensive experience teaching and researching the field of adapting marketing concepts to environmental changes in Russian conditions and systematizing key changes observed in the supply-demand ratio in the Russian market and marketing practices. The work is methodological in nature and reflects the results of two round tables initiated by the author and supported by the organizers of the first and second Eurasian Marketing Conferences. The author relies on the implementation of the approach from the abstract to the concrete and the ascent to the abstract in an attempt to establish a correspondence between the stages of changing the marketing concept and marketing practices. Findings: the author proposes a vision of the contours of a new marketing paradigm and the basis for developing criteria for evaluating marketing practices in a dynamic context, considering new management model benchmarks. The necessity of paradigm shifts and the transition to the next stage of marketing development in both concept analysis and marketing practices is substantiated. Originality and contribution: the dynamic context in considering marketing concepts forms a theoretical and methodological basis for classifying existing marketing practices, allowing their evaluation based on correspondence to a specific stage of the evolutionary development of the concept. The research contributes to the development of scientific approaches to studying marketing in the context of global challenges and modern emphases on human-centricity. The author strongly urges the continuation of the discussion on this pressing topic within and beyond the journal's pages, and the popularization of new practices generated the present-day process of seeking sustainable development in highly turbulent conditions.
Purpose: the goal of this study is to determine the main financial indicators of potential bankruptcy of medium-sized and large Russian mining and manufacturing companies on the basis of machine learning methods, and to identify the thresholds for these indicators that allow for measuring the degree of risk of corporate bankruptcy. Methodology: the sample comprises data on 3624 companies from 2013 to 2022 and consists of 32 613 firm-year observations. During the first stage of research, random forest method is used in order to identify the most significant variables affecting bankruptcy risk of companies. During the second stage of research, classification tree method is applied to formulate quantitative criteria that determine the degree of bankruptcy risk of companies on the basis of the indicators identified previously. Findings: the main financial indicators of bankruptcy risk for Russian companies in the mining and manufacturing industries have been identified. The most significant indicators affecting the bankruptcy risk for the whole sample of data are profitability indicators (Net Profit/Sales, Operating Profit/Sales) and the amount of working capital. Analysis of industrial subsamples allowed us to specify the thresholds for these indicators for bankruptcy prediction models tested on different time periods. Originality and contribution: we extend the results of prior research on bankruptcy prediction of Russian companies that use machine learning methods by applying these methods to a large sample of Russian manufacturing and mining companies over an extensive time period of 10 years and by providing a cross-industry comparison. Additionally, our paper empirically studies the possibility of predicting bankruptcy of Russian companies a varying number of years beforehand, i.e. one, two, three, and four years. The research shows that the most accurate predictions occur only during the range of one-two years prior to the bankruptcy event.
Purpose: this study introduces a methodology for innovative product ideation grounded in objective data. It also demonstrates the applicability of this approach through a series of case studies. Methodology: the methodology of the study is based on the synthesis of foresight methods. Findings: a new product idea generation methodology toolkit has been developed and tested. The developed approach systematically employs foresight techniques, including weak signal and trend analysis, bibliometric and semantic analysis, patent analysis, brainstorming, expert evaluation, and technological roadmapping to facilitate the generation of new product ideas. Originality and contribution: this study proposes a novel foresight-based supply-oriented approach to new product idea generation, which complements generic customer-oriented methods. This logic enables companies to achieve sustainable competitiveness through proactive technology development. The use of data-driven foresight methods such as bibliometric and patent analysis helps identify key stakeholders and create a preliminary plan for the development of new products. This approach focuses on long-term partnerships based on highly specialized assets.
Purpose: to explore the co creation practices of Russian companies, focusing on their pre ferred partners, organizational forms, key drivers, and barriers influencing customer oriented innovation processes, and how these elements have changed in a constrained environment caused by recent sanctions. Methodology: the empirical study was conducted through an exploratory survey of managers responsible for innovation and new product development in large Russian companies, with data collected in March and April 2023. Findings: prior to the sanctions, Russian companies actively engaged in co creation with diverse partners and employed mature practices while facing barriers such as employee skill gaps. Sanctions have shifted the role of co creation from fostering growth to ensuring resilience, pushing firms to rely more on local talent, favour incremental improvements, and carefully select projects due to budget constraints. Originality and contribution: this is the first empirical cross industry study done on the usage of co creation by Russian companies, confirming that despite limited prior research, Russian firms actively use co creation for innovation with a higherthanex pected level of maturity. It reveals how sanctions have reshaped co creation dynamics, shift ing its focus from growth to resilience, promoting reliance on local talent, and fostering a "localized open innovation" model that prioritizes internal capabilities and incremental im provements. Moreover, it offers managers and policymakers the opportunity to better under stand where they are and what they may need to do in the future.
Purpose: this study explores determinants and temporal changes in the senior management appointment process in emerging markets, especially in transitional economies. Methodology: we organized a comparative case study of Japanese automotive firms' subsidiaries in Russia, analyzing data through a process research lens. Findings: temporal effects in foreign subsidiary development impacted the senior management appointment process through evolving determinants. The determinants, such as HRM cost or expatriation advantages, varied in the middle and most recent stages, while speed advantages were prioritized in the early stage. Originality and contribution: scholars have previously discussed determinants in the senior management appointment process in foreign subsidiary development likely to impact the subsidiary's performance. Yet, their debates have been largely dominated by institutional perspectives, lacking temporal framing. Therefore, this study advances scholarly discussions through the introduction of temporal aspects, whereby we present a novel process model and constructs.
Purpose: to identify key trends in consumer behavior among Russia's urban population in the face of external shocks. Methodology: the study analyzes R-TGI data collected by IPSOS in 2020-2023 . Findings: between 2020 and 2023 the Russian population experienced two external shocks - the COVID-19 pandemic and the onset of the special military operation. Though noneconomic in origin, both had systemic impact on the economy with cumulative effects. The pandemic's influence was more pronounced, particularly in wage reductions and job insecurity, whereas employment and income stability were less affected during the special military operation. In 2020-2023 a saving-oriented (economizing) consumption model emerged. Originality and contribution: the research provides a dual perspective, analyzing both cognitive and behavioral consumer responses to external shocks. It offers comparative insights into consumption patterns and consumer perceptions across multiple sectors during consecutive crisis periods.
Purpose: to explore operations strategies of Russian football clubs based on the proposed method of identification of the dominant model of operations. Methodology: two basic strategies are identified: acquiring skilled players and generating revenue through sporting achievements or developing young talents and generating revenue through their sale. The dynamics of production assets (teams) and sporting performance differ greatly for clubs implementing these models, which allows to identify their operations strategy. Findings: Russian football clubs do not have stable operations strategies, the model changes depending on sponsor funding. The main factors that hinder the main models of operations in Russian football are identified. Originality and contribution: the presented method relies on quantitative analysis of open data, which allows us to form objective judgements about the nature of the operations strategy of a particular club. Understanding the specificity of a football club's operational performance is important for owners, investors, analysts, and managers. A method of measuring sporting performance is also proposed, which can be used in analyzing the effectiveness of football management.
Purpose: to highlight the current problems of marketing development in Russia and identify possible ways to solve them. Methodology: benchmarking the development of marketing in offline and online environments based on a comparison of current trends and challenges in digital transformation. Findings: relevant problems in the field of scientific, educational and practical marketing activities and structural imbalances in the development of marketing theory and practice are conveyed and detailed. The interrelation of these problems is shown. Recommendations are offered on increasing strategic marketing tools and reducing the gap between innovative and evolutionary solutions in favor of the latter. These recommendations serve to identify the target audience more precisely and increase conversion, mix marketing competencies with other areas of expertise, create marketing teams, and modernize the marketing training process. Originality and contribution: in contrast to existing works, the directions and technologies for solving the identified problems are proposed based on the adjustment of goal setting in marketing. It creates an additional impetus for the emergence of new marketing paradigms and concepts that exclude the stimulation of irrational consumption.
Purpose: this investigation delves into the impact of organizational entrepreneurial orientation (OEO) on the intrapreneurial behavior of employees, specifically their strategic renewal and venturecreating behaviors. Furthermore, the study examines the role of organizational identification (OI) as a mediating variable within the dynamic between OEO and employee intrapreneurial behavior. Methodology: the study's empirical evidence is derived from a crosssectional survey, gathering data from 292 employees working in private enterprises in China. To test the proposed hypotheses, the research utilizes Model 4 of the Hayes PROCESS Macro analytical tool. Findings: the findings reveal a statistically significant positive correlation between OEO and the OI of employees. Moreover, a significant positive relationship between OEO and employee intrapreneurial behavior is established. In addition, OI is found to partially mediate the relationship between OEO and employee intrapreneurial behavior. Originality and contribution: this research advances the literature by demonstrating the mediating role of OI in the relationship between organizational OEO and employee intrapreneurship. It provides a novel perspective on the social identification process within organizational entrepreneurship, drawing upon insights from social identity theory. For leaders aiming to achieve entrepreneurial goals, our findings suggest that enhancing OI can serve as an effective approach to boost innovation and intrapreneurial spirit among employees.
Purpose: identify the key drivers of R&D ecosystem creation by Big Pharma companies, analyze the specifics of their emergence in the pharmaceutical industry, and define archetypes of governance mechanisms employed in these ecosystems. Methodology: qualitative content-analysis of international empirical studies to find similar patterns of innovation activity and forms of collaboration between global pharmaceutical firms and their external partners in the area of drug development; strategic analysis of organizational behavior of these companies to identify the main archetypes of governance mechanisms applied in the ecosystem environment. Findings: the study defined the main types of ecosystems created by companies, including their specific characteristics; the key drivers of Big Pharma's transition to the ecosystem model of corporate science were identified; three main archetypes of governance mechanisms were distinguished - investment-related, contractual and platform-based - which are used by Big Pharma giants to coordinate collaborative activities in R&D ecosystems. Originality and contribution: the novelty of the paper lies overall in its definition of R&D ecosystems including a set of their distinguishing features. Another notable contribution of the study lies in its conclusions on the multi-level governance architecture in the R&D ecosystems, characteristic of the global pharmaceutical industry, wherein Big Pharma companies simultaneously apply different types of governance mechanisms.
Purpose: to review and analyse the existing range of artificial intelligence technologies in the context of digital marketing, and to empirically assess their effectiveness using a real case study. Methodology: includes theoretical research methods, such as critical analysis of domestic and foreign scientific literature on the research topic and classification of existing neural networks through application in marketing communications. The empirical research method is a case study, with an online mineral water store as the object of the study. Data collection included the development, implementation, and analysis of the effectiveness of publications developed with artificial intelligence, relative to the materials created the traditional approach. This study analyzes the effectiveness of AI-powered targeted advertising using three online communities with different target audiences and three themed landing pages of an online store. Findings: there is no definite conclusion about the effectiveness of applying AI in generating creative and content marketing: in some cases, the results may outperform traditional methods, but in others they may be less successful. However, the use of AI can reduce the time and costs of content creation, although it cannot completely fill the place of content marketers and designers, requiring the supervision and support of highly qualified specialists. Originality and contribution: lies in the collection, analysis, and classification of data on existing artificial intelligence models in the context of applications in digital marketing. This publication explores the possibility of the effectiveness of the application of artificial intelligence in marketing and discusses the prospects of this technology.
Purpose: to identify the areas and objectives, as well as to demonstrate the possibilities of applying Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods as relevant scientific methods of marketing research and analytics of unstructured marketing data, which can be used autonomously or along with traditional research methods. Methodology: the theoretical study was based on a systematic analysis and critical literature review to determine the areas of application of NLP methods and the typical tasks to be solved. The methodology of the empirical study using NLP technologies was based on the data parsing procedure. Findings: it was proven that the use of NLP methods is strategic in nature, since it provides the company with new knowledge based on the processing of unstructured text data in the form of market trends, news, reviews, opinions, customer sentiment, etc. This data is used to generate a 360 customer base providing extensive information on customers in terms of not only descriptive and behavioral characteristics, but also contextual variables characterizing the circumstances of the formation of the purchasing experience for use in personalization strategies. The evolution of the methodology of marketing research under the influence of NLP is demonstrated through research on the plastic surgery market conducted for the purpose of building a content strategy on social media. Originality and contribution: this is the first overview of NLP technologies in marketing in Russia that presents the specifics of the methodology for conducting marketing research using NLP methods and the possibilities of using natural language information analysis throughout the stages of the decision-making process in addition to traditional data analysis methods.
Purpose: developing resilience is considered an effective response to stress and environmental uncertainty and has garnered extensive attention. The purpose of the study is to explore whether and how talent management practices influence employee resilience in the context of technological turbulence. Methodology: the empirical study was conducted via a survey of 531 Chinese employees in 2024. The PLS-SEM approach was then used to test hypotheses. Findings: talent management practices are directly and indirectly related to employee resilience through agency thinking and pathway thinking. The impact of talent management practices on employee resilience becomes stronger in a highly turbulent technological context. Originality and contribution: the originality of this study lies in examining the mechanism between talent management practices and employee resilience and the moderation role of technological turbulence. The findings contribute to companies' responses to technological changes and disruption through talent management practices.
