Vol. 25 No. 6 (2023)

Since May 2023, the applicant’s or civil servant’s professional level is the primarycriterion for competing for vacant positions and during performance review. In this regard, it became essential to update performance review and competitive processes to enhance motivational influence on civil servants’professional development processes and the productivity,efficiency,and performance quality of their service activities.The article presents a system-activityapproach for modernizing the process of determining the professional level of civil servants.The scientificand methodological basis for creating the concept is based on the results of the author’s implementation of the system-activity approach in the process of developing a model of professional competence for public managers,determining the effectiveness,efficiency,and qualityof publicadministration,and designing professional and educational goals for publiccivil servants’training. As a result,the concepts of potential and actual professional levels are developed.The article presents the types of professional levels, criteria used to determine them, and organizational conditions the civil servants need to improve their professional level.

The article continues the author’s series on applied analytics in publicadministration and law.Due to the objectivelydetermined complexityof the subject-object areas of state regulation and publicadministration, as well as the resulting complexity of state regulation and administration itself, the author argues for the necessity of using situational analytics and situation centers in public administration.The paper presents the author’s concept for explaining the technology to achieve predictive situational awareness through describing a sequence of complex active cognitive actions: 1) visualization of the future; 2) scenarios of the future; 3) predictive situational-scenario modeling and predictive-projective representation of the future events in their diverse possible variations.The study provides a detailed description of the positions that represent the functional-target load of a situation analysis center.The author presents the theoretical basis for understanding and interpreting the theories of distributed cognition, distributed situational awareness, and distributed situation centers and shows their significance. The research is based on applying the research methods of analysis and synthesis, induction, deduction and abduction, generalization, classification and modeling, approximation,and formalization.After conducting the research,the author was able to uncover the meaning and fundamental descriptive qualities of situation analytics and evaluate its potential.

The study of the evolution of inheritance succession in Russia has gained attention due to the rapid development of inheritance law over the past 20 years (the third part of the Russian Civil Code came into effect in 2002),as well as changes in notarial and judicial practice.Implementation of the new norms of the inheritance law institutions by judges and notaries is constantly evolving. New institutions, such as the institutions of joint wills and inheritance contracts between spouses,are becoming more prevalent.The author emphasizes the need to study the reasons and purposes for introducing these institutions to determine the general features and differences between them. Given that both institutions have foreign origins, we should pay close attention to how they were integrated into the Russian legal system. This requires an examination of the challenges associated with applying these institutions in the countries where theywere established and where theyreceived lawenforcement practice.These changes connect the civil law regulation and family law development issues more closely.

The issues of protecting the rights and legitimate interests of children are becoming an increasingly frequent focus of legislators’ attention, both at the federal and regional levels. This leads to the adoption of numerous normative legal acts, some of whose provisions are not always harmonized with one another, resulting in significant difficulties in legal practice. In addition, the issues that have not received a consistent doctrinal basis within one branch of law affect law enforcement in another. Another issue is that different scholars in the legal and medical sciences have different perspectives on the same situation. The author discusses the need for systematizing legislation in this area, citing both historical and foreign experiences while addressing specific issues with the legal regulation of relationships involving children. According to the author’s opinion, codification for these purposes is hardly applicable, considering the methods of implementation that have been developed in Russia. Given this, the practicality of applying the Code of Laws to these objectives is supported, outlining the primary methods used in its creation.

The article examines contemporary economic transformation mechanisms and how they can facilitate domestic innovative enterprises to grow and adapt to new conditions with limited investment resources. The authors consider the efficiency of the early-stage corporate innovation subsidy mechanisms that have been put in place and the creation of the federal legislative framework necessary for their implementation. The work analyzes the activities of the Government Commission and the subcommission established on its basis. Its main functions include control over the turnover of foreign investments and the limitation of issuing permits for investment transactions in cases when the norms of the current legislation are violated. In conclusion, the authors offer suggestions to improve the process of securing permissions from the subcommission established on the basis on the Government Commission to conclude investment deals involving citizens and non-citizens of «unfriendly countries».

The article examines the Hindalco Industries Limited subsidiary business network, emphasizing the importance of such analysis for Russian businesses. Hindalco’s network primarily focuses on India, the USA, and Canada. The company’s subsidiaries engage in various activities, such as accessing natural resources and promoting skilled labor. The choice of industries and activities depends on the subsidiaries’ locations. Hindalco’s domestic market subsidiaries focus on diverse businesses, while foreign companies focus on steel manufacturing. The company invests in the new ways to automate production and concentrates on the domestic market, with significant resources invested in the energy and computer software development sectors. Hindalco’s multinational network focuses on its innovative position as a leader in the primary industry sector. Applying business network analysis can help Russian businesses identify efficiency and cost-saving opportunities amidst sanctions.

Identifying and assessing the main geo-economic factors in the development of the Far East and, specifically, the stable growth of its energy sector is of fundamental importance today. Within the context of national and global trends, the importance of this region for the Russian Federation, both in economic terms and in strategic development, is significant. Implementing technological and organizational innovations in the Far East’s energy sector will positively impact the economy if renewable and non-renewable energy resources are used in a balanced manner. This will guarantee additional solutions to several issues typical of the Russian Far East, as well as boost economic growth in the region and positively affect the export component, which ought to satisfy ESG standards considering its emphasis on several friendly countries in the Asia-Pacific area. Therefore, the article focuses on the established and emerging ESG philosophy and its corresponding investment framework in such countries as the People’s Republic of China, India, and several others. Within the framework of national and international solutions, the author suggests practical advice on encouraging and implementing a range of solutions aimed at growth of energy reliability, local economy, and environmental safety in the Far East region. Furthermore, the article assesses the prospects of the energy sector’s impact on the socio-economic sphere of the region and approaches to attracting additional investments.

The article examines how dynamic corporate culture impacts the ESG transformation of leading Russian companies and government agencies in the context of attaining sustainable development goals. The author studies various socially-oriented corporate practices realized to implement sustainable development policies. Given the severe sanctions pressure on the Russian economy and society, implementing the ESG agenda is now focused on addressing social issues and improving corporate governance efficiency. Developing a corporate culture that contributes to the organization’s sustainability and global competitiveness is one of the elements influencing the ESG transformation of businesses and governmental institutions. To date, the share of modern technology penetrating the process of ESG transformation in Russian organizations is still lower than in the world’s leading economies. The article highlights the connection between adopting new corporate culture models and the resolution of issues in achieving the state’s and organizations’ strategic success. Despite facing severe sanctions and global military and political confrontation, Russia’s state and large companies continue to evolve within the framework of sustainable development.

The article provides the results of the developed instruments for representing personnel practices: a structured description on the example of mentoring practices of the Government of the Lipetsk Region and a checklist for reviewing the comprehensiveness of data of these practices. The study is based on research work that aims to analyze both domestic and foreign personnel practices. The authors bring their experience of participation as experts in the Ministry of Labor of Russia's All-Russian contest: "Best HR Practices and Initiatives in the System of Public and Municipal Administration" from 2013 to 2023.

The article presents the results of a long-term sociological study of the cadets’ motivation to serve in one of the most dangerous military specialties - piloting army aviation. The traditional institutional structure of military service has been showing signs of infiltration by market mechanisms since the second part of the 20th century, which has had a detrimental impact on professional conduct of the servicemen. Several sociological surveys were used to identify long-term trends in the shifting social base and motivations of future pilots. The study showed an increase in the average age of applicants, the educational status of their families, and a decline in the number of military dynasties over the past twenty years. Maintaining intergenerational continuity of traditions and corporate foundations in the military profession will assist in stabilizing the number of military dynasties’ continuers. Pragmatic motives for choosing a military profession are replaced by non-material values. The Special Military Operation increased the conviction among the cadets in the social significance of their profession, as well as the importance of patriotic motivation.

The Russian Federation and the other BRICS countries are assigned leading roles in the modern multipolar world. Therefore, we need to examine the organizational and functional models of the management apparatuses that support the supreme executive authorities’operations.Such analysis aims to enhance coordination and interaction among these authorities in addressing shared challenges,as well as to understand their specifics.The article considers the functions and structural elements of governmental bodies and organizations ensuring the activity of the governments of the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China,the Republic of India,the Federative Republic of Brazil,and the Republic of South Africa. The author pays particular attention to revealing similar and distinctive features of the construction and functioning of the governmental apparatuses of the mentioned countries and possible options for sharing successful experiences in improving their operation.The article provides a comparative study of structural and functional models of government apparatuses in the BRICS countries.These models are found to be an integral part of the supreme executive authorities and reflect their specificity. Accordingly, historical, political, state-legal, and other factors influence the formation and functioning of the bodies and organizations that support the governments of each of the BRICS countries. The countries differ in their form and state structure, which has not only influenced the formation of the BRICS governments but also the construction of their functional apparatuses.

China’s digital banking market is actively developing.At the same time,in the digital transformation area,Chinese banks achieve uneven results,thus hindering a comprehensive assessment of their competitiveness level.This creates the necessityfor developing an impartial instrument to perform such an assessment.To assess the effectiveness of commercial banks based on the extent of their digitalization,the author suggests using the Bank Digitalization Index (BDI),which he developed.The index was calculated based on the annual accounts of ten large listed commercial banks in the PRC for 2022. To provide more specific examples, the digitalization strategies of three banks with distinct attributes -the Bank of China,the Bank of Communications,and Ping An Bank - were examined. The index criteria were selected according to the experience of previous studies and based on the available data. Relative criteria were of higher value.All criteria were grouped into three blocks: corporate,research,and mobile banking.Following the evaluation results,Ping An Bank, China Merchants Bank, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China were the ranking leaders. The author concludes that the Chinese banks’digital transformation strategies have taken on similar characteristics at this stage, making state-owned and private commercial bank groups equally competitive in digital and financial technology.

The evolution of information technology and the Internet has made the issue of personal data security relevant to new types of risks and vulnerabilities. The article focuses on the core international legal norms, standards, and conventions centered on protecting individual rights in the field of digital security. The authors identify the strong and weak points of existing mechanisms and their relevance in addressing the challenges of today’s digital environment. The author emphasizes the significance of constant updates and adaptations of international legal instruments in order to ensure efficient protection of individuals from digital risks, given the rapid advancement of technology and the emergence of new categories of security threats. Digital technologies have the potential to both reduce and exacerbate discrimination in different areas of life. It is important to keep in mind that technologies are generally neutral, but their design, application, and algorithms can be a source of discrimination. Threats in cyberspace are often cross-border in nature and addressing them requires the joint efforts of the global community.