Vol. 21 No. 4 (2019)

The article presents the results of many years of research on the role of biographical events in assessing the success of managerial activity. On the basis of scientific data - factors, conditions and biographical predictors of a successful managerial career in the public civil service are identified; the characteristic of the effectiveness of the head’s work is given. The author defines the signs of managerial success, among which the actual level of the position stands out, which in comparison with the real age of the head allows to assess the fact of career success, its specific features, as well as the nature of the career - ‘gradual’ or ‘rapid’. The nature of the ‘age position’ ratio, the expressed career orientation, readiness for learning and self-development in combination with the propensity and ability to take risks and high social mobility create opportunities for changing yourself and the surrounding reality. The order of birth, leadership in the parent family, family values, the age of the beginning of the managerial career, its type and character, as well as a number of other external factors to the subject have a significant impact on the formation of the style of management and a number of personal and professional characteristics of managers acting as conditions for success.

The article presents the analysis of military and professional status of women, prospects and limitations in achieving gender equality in the Armed forces of the Russian Federation. The author makes a conclusion about partial gender integration according to the criteria of military rank, military specializations and education. The gender structure of the Russian army is characterized by a significant imbalance with a predominance of men in prestigious military ranks. The current situation of gender imbalance in the military profession is due to a set of factors. Most females perform support jobs in the military that are not associated with combat risks, personnel management or increased risk to life and health. Higher and secondary vocational military education is available to a minimum number of women, which makes it difficult to have equal opportunities for interaction and professional development. The achievement of gender equality in the military socio-professional environment is hampered not only by socio-cultural stereotypes, but also by a set of anatomical and physiological characteristics of women, as well as a number of other factors: the right to realize the social role of the mother, the lack of a clear gender policy of selection, training and order of military service by women, legal barriers, gender incompetence of military personnel and the unformed feminist movement for women’s rights. Gender stereotypes and negative social attitudes towards female soldiers act as an additional restriction on their integration into the military profession. The prospects for the expansion of gender equality are unclear due to the lack of conceptual documents and programs aimed at achieving a balance in the Armed forces of the Russian Federation and the formation of a neutral gender regime for military units and organizations.

The article discusses topical issues of allocation and delineation of duties and functions of different governmental bodies and its levels in the Russian Federation. On the example of issues which, according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, belong to so-called ‘issues of joint competence, processes and procedures of transfer of powers from one level of the power on another are analyzed. At the same time, attention is drawn to the correct and accurate definition of authority and the need for their timely adjustment in accordance with the requirements of the time. The work also covers in detail a large range of problems related to administrative and resource support for the implementation of various powers and functions. Particular attention is paid to the financial support of the functions and powers of the authorities - both at the Federal and local levels. A number of specific proposals on the formation of the federal budget, the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local self-government bodies are submitted for discussion. Thus, when drafting these budgets, it is recommended to actually abandon the principle of ‘fiscal federalism’ and ‘embed’ all budgets of subordinate-level authorities into a single (rather than ‘consolidated') federal budget. Proposals for further improvement of state and municipal administration in the country, including improvement its efficiency and the development of accurate and understandable to all evaluation criteria are formulated. All this is fully proposed to be widely applied at all levels, branches of government and for all its bodies and institutions.

The article summarizes the global trends in state and local development of the renewable energy storage market. The technologies used today and promising inter-country energy storage technologies are investigated. Separately, distributed energy storage systems based on electric vehicles during their parking period (vehicle-to-grid) are considered, including the economic aspects of the issue. German and Czech Republic experience of stimulating of the energy storage market is assessed for its applicability to domestic market conditions. The article discusses aspects of not only positive experience in stimulating renewable energy, but also provides examples of the negative impact on this segment of the energy sector due to the untimely updating of existing legal regulations that limit the possibilities for accelerated development of renewable energy, including a number of administrative barriers and direct impact on the development of industry accepted regulatory documents. Attention is paid to the resource constraints on the development of storage systems for renewable energy based on lithium-ion batteries against the background of the innovative price reduction of this storage segment in the planning horizon from five to 20 years using the example of the USA and China. In addition, a promising innovative storage technology of renewable energy through the electrolysis of conventional water (power-to-gas) for oxygen and hydrogen, which is stored up to the peak energy demand and sent to its production, is affected. The issue of expanding the number of owners of renewable energy generators at the expense of citizens and collective communities was considered.

The article discusses the features of measuring transaction costs arising in the development of strategic planning documents at the regional level, as well as research approaches to the quantitative measurement of their volume. To determine the level of such costs necessary to improve the efficiency of the strategic planning system in the Saratov region, the author proposed and tested a special algorithm. The paper defines the subject of the strategic planning process, the activities of which are associated with transaction costs, carried out their structural decomposition. Statistical data on the quantitative volume of transaction costs of the Ministry of economic development of the Saratov region are analyzed. They were obtained in a survey of public servants involved in the process of developing strategic planning documents. The algorithm of measurement of transaction costs presented by the author can be applied as a universal approach to determination of the volume of the possible costs connected with the organization of processes of development of strategic documents in subjects of the Russian Federation. The proposed approach to determining the quantitative volume of transaction costs is the first step in the formation of a methodology for identifying and measuring the costs of the strategic planning process aimed at improving the quality of public management. Analytical material on the volume of transaction costs of the Ministry of economic development of the Saratov region, spent on the development of strategic planning documents, can be useful in the practice of the executive authorities of the Russian Federation, focusing on cost optimization.

The article examines the main macroeconomic implications of using international tax optimization tools used by Russian corporations. Of great importance in studying the problems of modern low-tax jurisdictions is the purpose of their use by Russian corporations. If such jurisdictions act as a mechanism for legal tax planning and raising capital, their operation can be described as a legitimate process of obtaining private benefits from the bilateral order through the inflow of additional investments for the country’s economic growth (while investors use the advantages of offshore tax planning). However, there are other goals for international tax optimization: withdrawal of capital, illegitimate tax evasion, withdrawal of capital obtained illegally. The purpose of this article is to assess the main trends of capital outflow from Russia and its importance for the Russian macroeconomics. The paper shows that the imperfection of tax regulation in the Russian Federation, as well as the shortcomings of macroeconomic policy have led to the aggravation of the problem of legal and illegal capital outflow. Due to the shortcomings of the Russian tax system, capital is exported from the country to low-tax jurisdictions; there is an active outflow, which negatively affects the domestic macroeconomics. There is a wide variety of schemes of capital withdrawal from Russia.

The purpose of the article is to identify the institutional and organizational aspects of attracting investment in the economy of the region (on the example of the Orenburg region) to improve the investment climate and the formation of effective policy with the maximum use of various sources of funding. The article sets the following tasks: to consider the mechanisms traditionally used in economic practice to attract investment in the economy of the region; to show the strengths and weaknesses in the management of investment activities in the Orenburg region by comparing the identified stimulating and constraining factors of investment development in the region. It is also necessary to reveal the role of the Institute of public-private partnership in attracting investment and to justify possible ways to overcome the negative trends in the development of the regional investment process. The study provides an overview of the achievements of the region in the application of the institutional mechanism to stimulate investment processes, highlights the most significant gaps in this area. In the Orenburg region, a sufficient institutional and regulatory framework has been formed, including development institutions and the necessary legislative, regulatory and methodological acts, and conditions have been created for the use of all types of organizational support for the investment process, which also includes various measures of state support. The author notes the negative aspects that limit investment activity: the weak use or non-use of a number of financial institutions (such as the ability of financial markets to attract capital, the lack of venture capital funds for the implementation of risky projects), the lack of coordination of regional investment management with federal institutions, etc.

The article discusses the ability of modern corporate universities of ‘Rosneft’ and ‘Gazprom Neft’ to reproduce the necessary knowledge and technology for their companies. Corporate education becomes an important component of the company, which allows to react to market conditions in advance, upgrade equipment and improve the efficiency of management processes, which ultimately leads to an increase in profits and the implementation of the sustainable development program, as well as other competitive advantages. The main source of research data are annual company reports. Additional sources are press releases, brochures, corporate sites. The article presents modern theoretical ideas about the development of corporate education. In turn, corporate universities act as a unity of structural, intellectual, organizational capital. The author analyzes the increase in the effectiveness of corporate education and the economic effect of it for the period from 2010 to 2017. The interest in increasing the economic effect of the educational process makes companies thoroughly approach the organization of the latter. There are four basic functions: the first - training of employees at all levels; the second - knowledge management, combining the experience of employees and its dissemination; the third - the dissemination and implementation of corporate culture, the preservation of company values; the fourth - the creation and implementation of innovations. Attention is also focused on the role of educational courses of the university of the company and interaction with external educational resources, the level of investment in research and development work. Additionally, the coefficient of efficiency of investments in human capital is calculated. The author highlights the shortcomings of modern practice of corporate education, suggests its further development.

The use of more compliant and least conflicting ways to resolve differences in the implementation of state projects, especially in the public sector, is due to a systematic increase in the number of economic disputes, as well as initiated bankruptcy procedures for construction companies in the absence of prospects for financial recovery. The scale of the problems that characterize the investment and construction activity dictates the need for stricter government measures, including in the area of legislative initiative. In addition to that, the development of mediation, in its traditional sense, is also not sufficient in current conditions. In this context, we should take into account the experience of foreign countries. They also faced a crisis in the construction industry and adopted special legislation aimed at supporting small and medium-sized construction companies; they introduced such dispute resolution methods as an institution of specialized Commissions that are created at the initial stage and supervise the project performing a preventive function. The specific focus on investment and construction activity is explained by its significant distinctive features: increased riskiness, low-profit income, systematic disagreements of different ranges, the involvement of the public law element, high probability of conflict of interest. In order to develop the concept of non-judicial dispute resolution mechanisms, arising in the course of project implementation, the article explores the following aspects: competence and special qualifications of persons involved in relevant procedures (beyond the scope of mediation practices), organization of a specialized body dealing with dispute resolution, and conception of legislation.

The article presents a plan of measures (the roadmap timeline) for implementing crowdfunding - the mechanism for the deve;opment of investment and construction. The project aims to achieve the strategic goals of the national project “Housing and urban environment”, approved by the Presidium of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for strategic development on December 24, 2018, namely: increasing the comfort of the urban environment and its quality index by 30%, which will lead to a two-fold reduction of number of cities with an unfavorable environment and creation of a mechanism for citizens’ direct participation in the formation of a comfortable urban environment. The share of citizens involved in the development of the urban environment will increase up to 30%. The introduction of the crowdfunding mechanism will ensure the growth of such indicators as the amount of green areas for public use (parks, gardens, etc.) to the area of all green spaces in general (%), the state of the natural landscape (%), the state of green areas (%), the number of streets with developed street retail (units), a variety of cultural and sports events in the city (%), the availability of sports grounds for citizens (%). These are the indicators that form the “comfort of the urban environment”index.

This article is devoted to the study of issues related to the development of ideas about the provision of social services as a fundamental function of the modern state. The authors consider the stages of the evolution of scientific thought on the social essence of the state, as a result of which social services are viewed nowadays as a key condition for a decent life and sustainable development of the whole society, and not just as a way to support the most vulnerable social groups. Nowadays, the state acts as a mega-regulator, which is called upon to provide quantitative and qualitative characteristics of social services. However, the challenges of modern post-industrial society demand a revision of the role of centralized state regulations in the social sphere. The authors attribute the ineffectiveness of a prescriptive state quality management of the social services to a complex socio-market essence of the social services and the mixed nature of the provision - state guarantees versus the imperfect nature of market competition. The independent assessment, according to the authors, acts as an effective feedback mechanism needful to optimize the sphere of social services in the interests of consumers of specific territories. One of the key problems is the lack of regional communication between the introduction of independent evaluation and consistent measures to improve the work of social institutions.

This article conducts theoretical comprehending and practical analysis of using informational and analytical support for the process of interaction between authority agencies of the Russian Federation and pre-school educational institutions, as well as the possibilities for its improvement and technologizing. Current state of the problem is analyzed critically. Reliance is made on modern research and normative documents. The sociological orientation of informational and analytical support of interaction between authority agencies and pre-schools is considered as the basic condition for effective performance and modernization. Sociological information and analytical support of the process of interaction between the authorities of the Russian Federation and pre-school educational institutions at the present stage is a process of formulation, implementation and development of information infrastructure, comprehensive application of the latest information technologies, innovative methods and means of collecting, processing and storing information in order to provide each member of society and authorities with the necessary and reliable information in sufficient quantity. Creating acceptable conditions for the high-quality functioning of the information society, the socio-economic development of our society as a whole is the main task, which is solved by means of sociological information and analytical support for the process of interaction and partnership of the authorities of the Russian Federation and pre-school educational institutions at the present stage.

The article analyzes the features and problems of higher education training of civil servants in the conditions of project management implementation. Based on the normative legal acts and theoretical foundations of personnel policy in the public administration system, the authors consider the implementation of project management in the professional training system. Currently, there is an update of various areas of management development based on project activities. This applies to the introduction of modern information technologies, the development of intersectoral and intergovernmental projects, a standardization system, methodical support for project management, personnel policy, etc. In modern conditions, a new stage of implementation of such management begins. It is associated with the automation of the processes, the updating of the regulatory framework and general structural changes. However, the training of civil servants in Russian universities to new methods of work is slow; it takes place in the ‘stop-start' mode.

The urgency of the problem of pedagogical support and adaptation of students in admission to higher educational institutions is determined by the need to improve the quality of education. It depends not only on the natural abilities of students, but also on external factors - the friendly or unfriendly atmosphere that will accompany them in the educational process. The study showed that the main factors of the adaptation of students are the high level of social activity and mobile type of the human nervous system, and the activity of curators in pedagogical support of the educational process. Interactive methods for working with students have been developed for practical application. The article proposes a technique for conducting games and exercises, which were successfully tested during the ‘curatorial hour’. These exercises contribute to quick acquaintance, group cohesion, and mutual assistance, creating an atmosphere of trust, responsibility and social activity. These exercises can also be used to improve the effectiveness of the quality of education for students who are undergoing professional retraining or refresher courses. Adapting first-year students is a complex process characterized by psychophysiological content. It requires serious administrative support and pedagogical skills for the favorable adaptation of former schoolchildren to the new conditions of educational activity.

The article presents the skills gap analysis results in various regions and sectors of the global labor market. The methodological approaches used and the conceptual and terminological apparatus of the problem of assessing the quality of human resources are described. The methods and technologies for identifying skills mismatch of the staff of foreign companies are systematized. Skill disparities always determine imbalances in labor markets, especially if they are not short-lived. Qualifying deficiencies worry employers, primarily because they are associated with unsatisfactory labor productivity. The main indicator of lack of skills is that employers cannot fill vacancies for skilled workers. The surplus (excess) of skills is also regarded in foreign publications as an alarming symptom. Different sectors of the economy are experiencing inconsistencies in the qualifications of personnel in the labor market for various reasons. These include, for example, an insufficient number of graduates in these areas in the system of vocational and higher education, dynamic changes in qualification requirements for jobs, etc.

The article considers some intermediate results of Kyrgyzstan's presence in the EEU. The Republic has long gone to join this integration project. After a period of 3,5 years of its entry into the Union, publications by the EEC and Kyrgyz official statistical services show positive socio-economic results, stable growth of the economy, solving many problems of the public sector and the minimal inflation values. Meanwhile, a critical look at the indicators and a comparison of data from national and international institutions does not allow us to make so unequivocal conclusions. Over the several years that the country has been part of the integration association, the inflow of remittances relative to gross domestic product has grown from 29,9% to 33,2%. Improving the competitiveness of the labor force from Kyrgyzstan in the labor markets of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union is one of the important results of the republic joining this international organization (as well as the ensuing increase in remittances). In addition, support of the Russian Federation is very significant for the republic (the supply of petroleum products at competitive prices for Kyrgyzstan, as well as the volume of gratuitous assistance provided, including for customs and border control). However, despite the positive dynamics of a number of indicators, which is customarily interpreted as the effects of the entry of the Republic into the Eurasian economic union, trade with the countries of the Union is growing more slowly than trade with China, which is already the largest trade and investment partner of the Republic.

Any activity, including political, should be governed by the norms of law and morality. In other circumstances, the nonfulfillment or non-observance of basic norms of political ethics may lead to the fact that the government will satisfy not its national, but only its own interests while ignoring the legal, social and moral norms. If we want to avoid this, there are certain ethical norms to follow. In modern Uzbekistan, the relation of politics and ethics, politics and morals, political and moral consciousness can be defined as the increased importance of observance of the ethical principle in political actions. It is because the actions of politicians are subject to moral evaluation, ethic measurement. It shows the correctness in adopting the rules of parliamentary ethics by a deputy of the legislative chamber of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Oliy Majlis. Current change and development of society in Uzbekistan makes the problem of ethics in political activities one of the most important. The purpose of the study was to identify the problem of compliance with ethical standards in the political life of Uzbekistan. In the Republic of Uzbekistan, during the period of democratic reforms, the political life of the population is increasing as well, what, in turn, may contribute to solving national or local problems. It is also the reason for the formation of ethical policy standards.