Interest Of Companies Research Articles

Linking of Financial Data with Non-Financial Information on CSR of Companies Listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange

Purpose: Reporting on CSR activities has become the essence of reporting for modern business entities. In this regard, particular attention is paid to public interest companies. Therefore, the following paper aims to answer the question of whether there are differences in the linguistic structure of the studied CSR reports in three selected industry indices on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) in Poland, i.e. WIG-energy index, WIG-fuel index, WIG-mining index and their relationship with the performance of selected companies. Approach/Methodology/Design: The study was conducted on a purposely selected sample of companies between 2013 and 2018. A total of 138 CSR reports and 138 annual separate financial statements prepared in accordance with IAS/IFRS were collected. The study was carried out based on a panel regression model. Findings: It was found that CSR reports contained similar average percentages of parts of speech such as nouns and adjectives. When linking the economic performance of companies, expressed with selected indices, to the information on the implementation of CSR concepts, it was revealed that the results are more likely to describe business performance when it is satisfactory. Practical Implications: The article indicates an important issue related to the attempt to answer the questions whether the description of the companies' activities is related to the financial data. This issue is extremely important from the point of view of an external recipient who uses the financial statements. Originality/Value: The results of the reaserch and theoretical considerations contained in the article complement the existing research in accounting. Previously, such studies were not carried out.

The role of governance in the dehybridization of social enterprises

This paper examines the challenges of organizational governance in the transformation of hybrid organizations. Hybrid organizations, studied in the context of 33,350 Community Interest Companies from 2006-2020 in the United Kingdom, highlight tensions and contradictions arising from pursuing multiple goals. In the world of hybrid organizations, an important problem is how and why hybrid organizations shed one or more logics, which I conceptualize as the process of dehybridization. Dehybridization has implications which can transpire by the hybrid changing form to a dominant logic form, a new hybrid, or dissolution of the organization. Governance in the form of board heterogeneity is examined along eight dimensions—age, gender, title, education, occupation, directorships, tenure, and nationality—to find whether boards that are more heterogeneous are more adaptive in dehybridizing. This paper finds that boards with more overall heterogeneity are 4.5 times more likely to adaptively transform by shedding logics and dehybridizing than any other type of community interest company.

Environmental key performance indicators: the role of regulations and stakeholder influence

Environmental protection is of vital importance and needs to be considered in the context of business strategies, including companies’ reporting decisions. This paper aims to investigate the importance of stakeholders for environmental key performance indicators (KPIs) and the significance of different types of environmental KPIs to various stakeholders. The study is based on a content analysis of the disclosures provided by large public interest companies operating in Poland. The data were processed to produce descriptive statistics as well as classification and regression trees (C&RTs). According to the study results, the sample companies provide a variety of environmental indicators, with a total of 735 KPIs identified. The research confirms the importance of stakeholders interested in environmental issues for corporate decisions regarding environmental KPI disclosure. The study contributes to the extant literature by providing new insights into the importance of different stakeholder groups for the disclosure of environmental KPIs. It may serve as an incentive for standard setters and practitioners to take a proactive approach in further developing and improving environment-related reporting regulations.

British social enterprise law

ABSTRACT The community interest company (CIC) is designed for private actors seeking to engage in pro-social entrepreneurship and investment for public benefit. Although there are a handful of studies that focus on the CIC, knowledge gaps remain in the legal literature. The aim of this article is to fill two of those gaps. First, it shines a spotlight on the political drivers that spurred the CIC. Second, it offers a comprehensive analytical model of the CIC.

حقوق الشرکاء وواجباتهم فی عقود الشرکات

حقوق الشرکاء وواجباتهم في عقود الشرکات ناجي عبد الله الخرس . امام وخطيب بوزارة الاوقاف ، الکويت . البريد الإلکتروني :Naji Abdullah55@gmail.com ملخص البحث: عقد الشرکة کسائر العقود يقوم على أرکان وشروط يتوقف عليها انعقاده وصحته ونفاذه ولزومه، فالتراضي يتم بالإيحاب والقبول بکل لفظ يدل على المشارکة أو ما يفيد معناها. فالتصرفات التي يملکها کل شريک حال إطلاق العقد ترجع إلى أصلين کبيرين وهما مصلحة الشرکة وعوائد التجار بخصوصها. وکذلک نفقة عامل المضاربة تثبت له إذا جرى بها العرف واقتضها العوائد. فيد الشريک وعامل المضاربة يدهما يد أمانة على مال الشرکة لا يضمنا ما تلفا فيها إلا بالتعدي فيه أو التفريط في حفظه، ثم ذکرت في نهاية البحث القواعد الفقهية المتعلقة بأمانة الشريک وضمانه وتصرفاته مع بيان الأمثلة التطبيقية على هذه القواعد. ومن أهم نتائج البحث القول بأن عقود الشرکات التي تناولها الفقه الإسلامي قاصرة عن مواکبة مستجدات عقود الشرکات غير مبني على الدراسة، فإن جميع عقود الشرکات التي تذکر في الأنظمة والقوانين، وجميع مستجداتها لا يعدو شکلا من أشکال عقود الشرکات التي تناولها الفقه الإسلامي.الأصل في العقود الجواز، والشرکة من العقود الجائزة.يجوز ضرب المدة للعقود الجائزة.لا يشترط الاختلاط في أموال الشرکة. إطلاق لفظ الشرکة يقتضي التساوي بين الشرکاء في عين المال أو نمائه، فلا يعدل عن ذلک إلا ببيان.هلاک المال المشترک من ضمان الشريکين إذا کان بعد العقد، ولو کانقبل الخلط أو التصرف، ومن ضمان صاحبه إذا کان قبل العقد.استحقاق الأجرة في شرکة الأبدان مرتبطة بضمان العمل فقط.کل ما جاز أن يکون ثمنا، جاز أن يکون رأس المال في الشرکة.الربح بين شريکي الوجوه على قدر ملکيها في المشتري. يصير المضارب ضامنا بالتعدي، والربح بينهما على ما شرطا. الکلمات المفتاحية : حقوق الشرکاء ، واجباتهم ، عقود الشرکات ، مصلحة الشرکة ، القواعد الفقهية المتعلقة بأمانة الشريک وضمانه وتصرفاته ، نفقة عامل المضاربة . Partners' rights and their duties in corporate contracts Naji Abdullah Al-Khars. Imam and preacher , the Ministry of Awqaf , Kuwait . E-mail: Naji Abdullah55@gmail.com Abstract : The company’s contract, like all contracts, is based on elements and conditions on which its conclusion, validity, enforcement and imperative depend, so compromise is done in the affirmative and accepted with every word indicating participation or what benefits its meaning. The actions that each partner possesses upon launching the contract are due to two major origins: the interest of the company and the returns of merchants regarding it. Likewise, the speculative worker’s expense is proven to him if they were customary and required by the returns. The partner registered the speculative factor in their hands of trust on the company's money, which does not guarantee what was spoiled except by infringement or neglecting its preservation. One of the most important results of the research is to say that the corporate contracts dealt with by Islamic jurisprudence are not able to keep pace with the developments of corporate contracts and are not based on the study. All corporate contracts that are mentioned in the regulations and laws, and all their developments are no more than a form of corporate contracts dealt with by Islamic jurisprudence. Permissibility, and the company is one of the permissible contracts. It is permissible to multiply the duration of the permissible contracts. It is not required to mix in the company’s funds.The profit between the two partners faces to the extent of its ownership in the buyer. The speculator becomes a guarantor of the infringement, and the profit between them is a condition. Key words: Partners' rights , Their duties , company contracts , The company's interest , The jurisprudential rules related to the trust guarantee and actions of the partner , The speculative expense of the worker.

How to Value Private Companies using Multiples and Discounted Cash Flow Analysis

In this paper we outline how to value private companies and work through a real case study. The corporate finance and valuation techniques on display can be used to value any private company or project that is illiquid with little or no market data. Together with this paper we provide the full background information for the case study, including consolidated balance sheet, cash flow and income statements and an Excel workbook with a full valuation breakdown . Two valuation approaches are presented. The first approach is called ‘multiples’ and requires we first identify sensible comparable companies with public data and can serve as a reasonable proxy for our underlying firm or project. Known proxy enterprise values are converted into multiples of EBITDA and extrapolated to value the private company or project of interest. Enterprise value can be measured as a multiple of sales, earnings, EBITDA, EBIAT and many income factors. Typically practitioners measure enterprise value as a multiple of EBITDA to exclude sales margin, capital structure, debt and leverage and other idiosyncratic biases. The second valuation method takes a discounted cash flow (DCF) approach. This approach is forward looking; it projects and values the future cash flows of a company. This method lends itself to richer analysis compared to the multiples approach, but relies heavily on assumptions surrounding cash flow projections, growth rates and the weighted average cost of capital (WACC). The WACC acts as a yield or discount factor and is required to value the cash flows of the firm or project (Burgess, 2020). Finally we compare the prices from several different approaches to arrive at a suitable price range. It is important to note that all approaches involve assumptions and approximations of some kind. Therefore practitioners seek to establish a reasonable price range rather than a single price. Transactions however must take place at a single price and law suits are a popular commonplace negation tactic to squeeze for additional value.

Is ‘Growing Better’ ripe for development? Creating an urban farm for social impact

‘Growing Better’ is a micro-social enterprise Community Interest Company (CIC), based in the Leeds City Region (UK), which provides a supportive working environment for people with mental health issues at an urban farming facility. This case study explores the business model and informs the challenge of growing a social enterprise with limited human and technical resources. Findings suggest that the potential for growth lies with the social entrepreneur’s ability to harness external stakeholder support; however, any development of the venture should also inform the effective utilisation of resources through operations management. Practically the case explores how aspirations for social and environmental impact drives the need to acquire and manage resources effectively and efficiently.

The Political Foundations of British Social Enterprise Law

The community interest company (CIC) is a corporate organisational unit designed for use by private actors seeking to engage in pro-social entrepreneurship and investment for public benefit. Although the UK introduced the CIC in 2005, it has not received any serious academic treatment to date. In this article, I argue that this is a mistake for three reasons. First, an analysis of the CIC gives us a deeper understanding of how politics, specifically welfare state politics, can catalyse the production of corporate rules. Second, the CIC is an example of how corporate law can be used to promote objectives other than shareholder wealth maximisation. Third, because the CIC’s political economy manufactured a new and unfamiliar type of corporation with its own unique regulatory infrastructure, it opens another avenue of inquiry into the wider literature on corporate theory. These insights have some implications for the future trajectory of UK corporate law.

ТРАНСФОРМАЦІЯ БАЗОВИХ ПІДХОДІВ ДО ОРГАНІЗАЦІЇ УПРАВЛІНСЬКОГО ОБЛІКУ В УМОВАХ ГЛОБАЛІЗАЦІЇ

Анотація. Визначено роль загальноприйнятих принципів бухгалтерського обліку для організації як фінансового обліку, так і управлінського обліку на підприємствах України. Досліджено низку специфічних принципів, які не використовуються системою фінансового обліку, але є підґрунтям для організації управлінського обліку. Доведено, що перелік принципів управлінського обліку є більш розширеним, аніж загальноприйнятий. Виділено три підходи до ідентифікації принципів управлінського обліку (управлінський облік ґрунтується: на загальновизнаних принципах бухгалтерського (фінансового) обліку і специфічних принципах управлінського обліку; принципах бухгалтерського (фінансового) обліку, загальних та специфічних принципах управлінського обліку; тільки на загальних (або власних) принципах). Досліджено сутність принципів управлінського обліку та визначено їхні особливості внаслідок специфіки означеної підсистеми обліку та використання різноманіття облікових технік і методик. Виділено чотири глобальні принципи управлінського обліку: комунікація породжує інформацію, що має вплив; інформація є релевантною; аналізується вплив на вартість; розумне керування вибудовує довіру. Розкрито сутність глобальних принципів управлінського обліку і з’ясовано їхнє значення для ключових сфер діяльності. Доведено, що глобальні принципи управлінського обліку сьогодні мають рекомендаційний характер, однак регуляторами обліку в майбутньому пропонуються до обов’язкового застосування підприємствами, що представляють суспільний інтерес. Запропоновано перелік специфічних принципів управлінського обліку, що дозволяє поглибити розкриття його сутності, основних завдань і функцій. Визначено взаємозалежність принципів бухгалтерського (фінансового) та управлінського обліку при ухваленні рішень. Ураховуючи тісний взаємозв’язок принципів бухгалтерського обліку, глобальних принципів управлінського обліку та специфічних принципів останнього, їхню ієрархічну взаємозалежність запропоновано пірамідальну модель принципів бухгалтерського обліку в умовах глобалізації, використання якої дозволить підприємствам, що представляють суспільний інтерес, побудувати раціональну систему управлінського обліку, яка відповідатиме національним і міжнародним вимогам регуляторів обліку та сформувати фундаментальне обліково-аналітичне забезпечення управління діяльністю суб’єктів господарювання. Ключові слова: управлінський облік, принципи, інформація, глобалізація, підходи, організація. Формул: 0; рис.:2; табл.: 0; бібл.: 18.

OBLIGATORY CSR VIA SOCIAL ENTERPRISE CORPORATE BUSINESS ENTITIES

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is primarily a philanthropic concept. The underlying principle that CSR is merely a business voluntary endeavor has become the main problem in the implementation of CSR. One of the developments of CSR enforcement is through the Corporate Code of Conduct (CoC) which is a standard procedure in a company conducting its business activities on the basis of economic, legal and ethical factors. Recently, there are a new business entities known as Low Profit Limited Liability Company (L3C), Benefit Corporation (B Corps), and Community Interest Company (CIC) introduced in the UK as a new vehicle to promote social well-being through business activities, which is believed to be more effective than corporate social responsibility, whereby these new business entities enforce CSR as an obligatory obligation rather than a voluntary act. Main purpose of this article is to examine legal jurisprudence behind establishment of these business entities. This research adopted the doctrinal legal research which focus on review of the regulation and policy contained in primary sources such as, case law, and statutory provisions. Reference will also be made to secondary sources such as textbook, journal articles, report, seminar papers, as well as data from official website.

Abuse of Rights by Majority Shareholders in Indonesian Family-Owned Company: Is It Likely?

The familial relations entwining the ownership and management of a family-owned company creates a significant opportunity for majority shareholders to exercise their rights to others' detriment. Various jurisdictions have addressed such issue by projecting the concept of abuse of rights by majority shareholders (abus de majorité). The concept aims to detect which behaviour could be considered an abuse and provide legal protection for minority shareholders and companies. In Indonesia, however, such a concept has not been explicitly adopted nor discussed at length. This work examines what behaviour which could be considered as a form of abuse of rights by majority shareholders under the Indonesian company law, and how the protection and practice of Indonesian private company law against such behaviour. This work is a normative legal research using conceptual, comparison, statutory, and case-law approaches. The comparison and case-law approaches will be utilized to examine the universal concept of majority shareholders abuse of rights by examining the adoption of the concept in various jurisdictions and examine several relevant cases brought to the Indonesian court. As a result, it concludes that there are still problems surrounding the legal measures available, as this behaviour is still prevalent, especially in Indonesia's family-owned companies. Hence, more stringent rules are needed to protect minority shareholders and the Indonesian Company's interests effectively.

Social economy advancement: from voluntary to secure organizational commitments to public benefit

Purpose This paper aims to explain the development of the social economy by analyzing when, why and how the community interest company (CIC) legal structure was established in the UK. The CIC legal structure was designed for social enterprise to ensure that company assets are committed to public benefit in perpetuity. Design/methodology/approach This research paper uses archival data and semistructured interviews to analyze the historical development of the social economy, emergence of social enterprise and the establishment of the CIC legal structure. Findings The historical analysis describes why and how the idea for the CIC emerged from practitioners and explains how collaboration between practitioners, lawyers, civil servants and politicians established the CIC as a new legal structure for social enterprise. Practical implications The analysis explains how practitioners influenced policy development and demonstrates how practitioner influence can be usefully incorporated into policy development. Social implications The CIC legal structure advanced the social economy by creating an institutionally recognized brand identity for social enterprise that locks assets to public benefit in perpetuity. Originality/value The paper presents a detailed empirical account of the establishment of a new legal structure for social enterprise and applies theoretical concepts to develop an integrated account of social economy advancement.

FINANCIAL FORECASTING AND PLANNING AS A PREREQUISITE FOR MAKING MANAGEMENT DECISIONS

Today, the modern conditions of economic activity constantly require competent financial planning and forecasting of economic activity of the enterprise. In countries with developed market economies, the improvement of tools and methods of financial planning and forecasting is constant and quite significant. Without financial planning, it is impossible to achieve the level of enterprise management, which ensures its market success, continuous improvement of capacity and social development of the team. No other type of planning can have such a general, global significance for the company, as finance covers all parties and areas of its activities without exception. The relevance of this work is to study the construction of plans and forecasts that allow the company to forecast and take into account current and future changes in the external environment, as well as adjust the internal factors of financial and economic activities for their development and further growth. The article examines the historical aspects of the emergence of financial planning and forecasting in enterprises, and defines the essence of planning (forecasting) as a management function. The paper highlights the types and functions of financial planning and forecasting, which significantly helps to understand the meaning of these concepts. The methodological aspects of the organization of financial planning and forecasting at the enterprise in making managerial decisions were also studied and the organizational and economic stages of financial planning and forecasting were determined. It is substantiated that the financial plan development is a logical conclusion of the enterprise business planning process as a whole and makes it possible to assess the net results of its management in the planning period. It is emphasized that the results of the financial plan are necessary to generalize information concerning the sources and time of flow of funds as well as the amount of these flows, their scope, meeting the demand for funds and their availability, as well as possible financial status during and at the end of the planning period. We analyzed the economic efficiency of financial planning and forecasting of the enterprise and highlighted methods for optimizing planning and forecasting in management decisions. It is proved that the company of interest can significantly improve its index number in the coming periods. It is concluded that the stability of the enterprise is achieved by efficient and rhythmic restructuring of the enterprise due to skillful management of the production assets and sources of their formation. Through planning or forecasting the enterprise’s activity is accompanied by optimal solutions and the right company profile, which contributes, to high financial performance.

МОДЕЛИ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ СТРОИТЕЛЬНОГО КОНСОРЦИУМА ПРИ РЕСТРУКТУРИЗАЦИИ КАПИТАЛА НА РЫНКАХ ЦЕННЫХ БУМАГ

The central issue when choosing a strategy for consolidating or restructuring the consortium's capital is the task of determining the «value» of acquired or sold assets, the effectiveness of actions to change the structure of controlled capital from the point of view of the company's interests. Uncertainty and subjectivity of estimates is an inherent property of the very concept of «asset value». It would be naive to assume (although this belief is explicitly or implicitly present in many economic publications): - that any statistical data, measurements, observations, calculations on models, statistical estimates, etc. can «objectively» identify asset values. The book value of assets is their formally recorded accounting estimate (for the purpose of calculating depreciation, taxation, etc.), which is not directly related to their value for the company. Market value (stock price) is also not an objective measure of asset value for a manager, but only provides an important guideline for possible financial transactions; - that the manager (meaning a good manager) can and will make or propose to the management decisions on investments-divestments by simply comparing the estimated estimates of the values of assets. He will do this on the basis of his beliefs, ideas about the future, intuition, and calculations, research, etc. can only affect these beliefs and give arguments for the formation of the opinions of those persons on whom decision-making depends. It can be argued that the main content of the work of a financial manager is the correct assessment of values from the point of view of the company. If value in the common sense could be measured by objective methods, bidding and negotiating when making deals would lose all meaning. The main content of any transaction (free, of course) is precisely the mutually beneficial exchange of values, which fundamentally have different utility (subjective assessment of benefits) from the point of view of the parties to the transaction (actors). This explanation goes back to the works of one of the founders of economic science, R. Marshall. A transaction in which actor 1 exchanges good A for good B belonging to actor 2 is possible only if for actor 1 utility A is less than utility B, and for actor 2, on the contrary, utility B is less than utility A. Therefore, all exchanges are possible only after clarifying the subjective assessments of the usefulness of the goods exchanged (fundamentally different for the parties to the transaction), and the introduction of «objective» values into consideration only takes away from the essence of the matter. Let us illustrate the proposed approach to the quantitative assessment of subjective measures of the utility of assets by the example of the formation of schemes for the exchange of one means of payment for others between a certain set of actors.

Life cycle phases and design morphology for the implementation of a cooperative inventory pooling-system

Cooperative inventory pooling-systems are a promising solution for increased efficiency in spare parts management by reducing necessary inventory levels and costs. However, there is no methodical approach to enable interested companies to realize the advantages. No required modules and necessary tasks in the life cycle of the cooperation are specified. In this contribution, a specific life cycle model for a cooperative inventory pooling-system is presented. Necessary tasks and modules are described for each phase. We identified three inventory-pooling specific sub phases that are essential for the final implementation of the cooperation. Furthermore, we developed a morphology for the design of the cooperative inventory pooling-system, which provides a framework to describe the cooperation in its structural elements. The method and the framework introduced in this paper allow a structured and systematical implementation of cooperative inventory pooling-systems.

Keeping the ancient world relevant for modern students with Suburani

Engaging students with the far-distant past can be a challenge. We established Hands Up Education, a non-profit community interest company, in 2017 in recognition of the need for materials that reflect the priorities of today’s students and teachers. Writing a new textbook series provided an opportunity to reevaluate the traditional perspective and prioritise what is important for students learning Latin in the 21st century.

IP Nationalism: Addressing the COVID Crisis and Beyond

This Article coins and explains the phenomena of IP nationalism. Just as some nations engage in vaccine nationalism by hoarding limited COVID vaccines, so, too, some nations are hoarding critical knowledge and technology by resisting modification of usual IP rules during the pandemic, such as a proposed waiver of international IP obligations. Countries that are home to IP-owning pharmaceutical companies often benefit from strong global IP rights, since that usually improves domestic GDP for IP-intensive products such as drugs. Even nations without strong IP exports may embrace IP nationalism because current international laws provide economic benefits to these countries in terms of increased trade for non-IP goods. As this Article explains, countries that embrace IP nationalism raise incomplete, or affirmatively false arguments asserting that barriers to accessing medicines are primarily caused by non-IP issues, which hides how IP and IP nationalism are nonetheless creating barriers to access.IP nationalism is harmful. Failure to modify traditional IP rights has contributed to inadequate supply of COVID vaccines, which will likely result in more variants that threaten global health and suppress global economic recovery due to disruption of global supply chains. Even outside a pandemic, where IP nationalism could economically benefit countries with IP-intensive exports, it still creates other harms. For example, IP nationalism results in strong global IP rights that often make necessary goods, such as life-saving medicines, unaffordable to many people worldwide. Furthermore, these rights primarily promote innovation that is most profitable, rather than what is most socially desirable. For example, companies are incentivized to pursue and market treatments of questionable utility, such as the newly approved Alzheimer’s drug that may not even be effective, simply because they generate substantial profits. In contrast, vaccines beyond COVID and antibiotics, though desperately needed by all, are generally not pursued due to low profitability.This Article argues that IP for essential treatments such as COVID vaccines should be considered “global public goods” available to all, contrary to beliefs held by supporters of IP nationalism. This would be an admittedly radical, yet necessary change from current norms. First, this could encourage countries to embrace the proposed waiver of international IP rules for COVID treatments. Although waiving traditional IP rights will not immediately increase vaccine supply, it would permit available and interested companies to expand vaccine capacity and create competition that would likely increase supply and lower costs, allowing poorer countries greater access to the vaccine. In addition, recognition of IP covering pandemic treatments as global public goods would help avoid replicating the current vaccine apartheid in subsequent pandemics and begin to counteract well-documented racial and ethnic disparities regarding access to medicines.

Evaluation model for cooperative inventory pooling-systems

Spare parts management is the basic requirement for ensuring the continuous availability of technical systems, but uncertainties in demand and delivery times can necessitate a large spare parts inventory. It is possible to reduce the required inventory levels and costs by using a cooperative inventory pooling-system, but there is as yet no suitable method of estimating the benefits and requirements. To address this deficiency, an evaluation model was developed, allowing interested companies to examine cooperative inventory pooling-systems. The model presented qualitatively evaluates the aptitude of specific companies and environments and subsequently demonstrates the economic potential based on the data provided.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF USING COWD TECHNOLOGIES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL STRUCTURES

In modern business conditions, the problem of finding advanced tools to improve the efficiency of enterprises and management of all processes has been relevant. The methodological basis of the study has consisted of scientific works of domestic and foreign scientists, analytical materials on the research problem. The article provides a theoretical justification for the essence of crowdfunding as an economic category. Crowd technologies have been proven to be ways, methods, and tools to pool the resources of an interested group of people to solve various problems based on the use of virtual platforms. As a result of the study, the following types of crowd technologies have been identified in the activities of enterprises: crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, crowd work, crowd recruiting, crowd staffing, crowd training, crowdlending, crowd investing, crowd marking. Crowdsourcing is the organized work of a large number of like-minded people, which aims to solve key problems by incorporating innovative ideas. Crowdfunding is the collaboration of people (donors) who voluntarily pool their money or other resources, usually over the Internet, to support the efforts of other people or organizations (recipients). Crowd work – attracting labor from the outside to speed up production processes. This method involves performing paid, short-term tasks that are transmitted over Internet platforms. Crowd recruiting is the selection of qualified employees for a project to employ them permanently. Crowdstaffing – a technology of search and selection of personnel based on the involvement of external recruiters to work on a specialized virtual platform, to assess candidates for vacant positions. Crowdtraining is a method of staff training, which is based on the analysis and justification of the evaluation of the proposed options for solving the problem by other participants in the process and the development of their own ideas. Crowdlending is a modern crowdfunding technology that is carried out online by providing credit for investment projects of individuals and legal entities basis on an Internet platform. Crowdinvesting – investing funds and getting the maximum benefit from investing in a project – the object of crowdfunding. Crowd marketing is the management of a wide range of consumers in a community to pursue a company's commercial interests. The main advantages and disadvantages of the outlined crowd technologies are substantiated and the directions of their use in the activity of enterprises are indicated. It is proved that the main areas of application of crowdfunding in the activities of enterprises can have been considered such as production, marketing, investment, innovation, finance, and administration. Keywords : crowd technologies, crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, crowd work, crowd recruiting, crowd staffing, crowd training, crowdlending, crowd investing, crowd marking.

Expert consensus on microbiome sequencing and analysis

In the past ten years, the research and application of microbiome has continued to increase. The microbiome has gradually become the research focus in the fields of life science, environmental science, and medicine. Meanwhile, many countries and organizations around the world are launching their own microbiome projects and conducting a multi-faceted layout, striving to gain a strategic position in this promising field. In addition, whether it is scientific research or industrial applications, there has been a climax of research and a wave of investment and financing, accordingly, products and services related to the microbiome are constantly emerging. However, due to the rapid development of microbiome sequencing and analysis related technologies and methods, the research and application from various countries have not yet unified on the standards of technology, programs, and data. Domestic industry participants also have insufficient understanding of the microbiome. New methods, technologies, and theories have not yet been fully accepted and used. In addition, some of the existing standards and guidelines are too general with poor practicality. This not only causes obstacles in the integration of scientific research data and waste of resources, but also gives related companies unfair competition opportunity. More importantly, China still lacks national standards related to the microbiome, and the national microbiome project is still in the process of preparation. In this context, the experts and practitioners of the microbiome worked together and developed the consensus of experts. It can not only guide domestic scientific research and industrial institutions to regulate the production, learning and research of the microbiome, the application can also provide reference technical basis for the relevant national functional departments, protect the scale and standardized corporate company's interests, strengthen industry self-discipline, avoid unregulated enterprises from disrupting the market, and ultimately promote the benign development of microbiome-related industries.