Expert Survey Method Research Articles

Qalification assessment practices: new possibilities and constraints

Introduction. The transformation of the educational system and the labour market determines the need for objective procedures for independent assessment of qualifications that meet the needs of all stakeholders. The need to overcome the qualification gap is becoming more acute, and it is necessary to change the configuration of connections and relationships in the process of qualifications assessment, which determines the relevance of the current research.Aim. The present publication is aimed to analyse social processes related to the development of practices for evaluating qualifications obtained in both formal and non-formal education in Russia.Methodology and research methods. The methodological framework of the research is based on the principles of the activity approach and the concept of structuration, in which the practice of qualifications assessment is viewed as a combination of social relations between individual and collective actors in the space of social and labour relations. Data collection and analysis was carried out using a qualitative methodology of the sociological approach. A semi-formal interview was selected as the method of expert survey. Twenty-four experts from various sectors of the economy (Moscow, Ekaterinburg and Tyumen) took part in the interviews.Results and scientific novelty. The possibilities and constraints of existing practices for qualifications assessment were identified: assessment centres, qualification assessment centres, internal certification, professional evaluation of working professions within the framework of the “WorldSkills” programme in Russia. The analysis of international experience is presented. Based on expert assessments, it was established that practices specific to the industrial model of the economy prevail in Russia. Thus, the infrastructure and regulatory field were established for the development of new practices of independent qualification assessment. However, the main participants of the process are not involved enough in mutual interaction. The primary sector of the economy hinders the development of the high-technology manufacturing industry and the employers who are interested in creating a competency framework. According to experts, the importance of non-formal education in the development of relevant competencies is increasing, and new mechanisms for qualifications assessment obtained in both formal and informal training are required. The authors presented the cases, which illustrate new configurations of participants’ relationships, when independent assessment of qualifications is integrated with the formal educational system at the stage of state final certification, ensuring the interrelated procedures. The article reveals the contradictions, which are manifested in the interaction between applicants/employees, employers and the state. It is concluded that such contradictions affect the institutional mechanisms for the formation of a national system of independent qualification assessment.Practical significance. The analysis of alternative models for qualifications assessment revealed the interests of different stakeholders involved in this process, the possibility of using “hybrid” forms of qualifications assessment, as well as a number of contradictions related to regulatory, functional and institutional features. The results of the study can be useful for managers of educational institutions and employers to synchronise the processes for mutual assessment of qualifications. As a result, recommendations for the development of an independent qualification assessment system in Russia are proposed, and the prospects for further research are outlined.

DETERMINING WHETHER THE PROTOTYPE HACKATHON ECOSYSTEM FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER IN A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION MEETS THE NEEDS OF STAKEHOLDERS

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES. The development of the innovation ecosystem is one of the main vectors of development of the Ukrainian economy. One of the main elements of such policy are higher education institutions. Organizational method is an effective transition to the project approach of technology transfer management. The use of the organizational method implies the creation of a new organizational structure in the higher education institution. Such structure can be the creation of organizational unit – Hackathon-ecosystem of technology transfer, the main task of which will be the management of technology transfer projects.METHODS. The study used methods of expert evaluation and questionnaire survey of stakeholders using closed and open-ended questions; feedback grids – to diagnose the effectiveness of the created prototype of the Hackathon ecosystem; Pareto diagrams – to analyze the information by determining the total score of the survey results; A / B testing – to choose between the existing version of the site and the created prototype; usability testing – to determine the degree of convenience and intuitive interface prototype.FINDINGS. The method of creating a hackathon-ecosystem of technology transfer in higher education institution with elements of design thinking is proposed. The work of new structural unit allows to determine the needs, interest, preferences and priorities of university stakeholders. Such stakeholders are university's employees, business representatives and the state. Tools of design-thought (observation, survey, generation and selection of ideas, prototyping) of stakeholders allow to build an optimal prototype of Hackathon-ecosystem of technology transfer in higher education institution.CONCLUSION. Determination of compliance of the prototype of Hackathon-ecosystem of technology transfer in higher education institution with the needs of stakeholders allows to get feedback on directions of improvement of innovative work of university in general and new organizational structure, in particular. Questioning of technology transfer stakeholders in Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design allowed to create an optimal user-friendly and intuitive interface of Hackathon ecosystem prototype, corresponding to stakeholder needs.

Improving the Process of Developing New Services Using Uncertain Data

The rapid changes in the services sector encourage companies to improve the processes for developing and delivering new services. An effective new service development process is not possible without planning. Business entities can plan their time, organise activities, and prioritise tasks according to the complexity or the total duration of the process. However, in the context of new service development, the planning aspect is still not sufficiently emphasised. It is noted that the aim is often to identify the factors that could reduce the duration of this process. However, there is a lack of relevant data based on certain expressions of time. The lack of such research limits the improvement of the planning processes for new service development projects. In order to evaluate the possibilities of application of the proposed new service development model for companies providing services, an empirical evaluation was conducted, using methods of expert survey, program evaluation and review, and Monte Carlo simulation. Guidelines for further research were formulated based on the obtained results.

Promoting Information Products and Services in Special Libraries for the Blind

Special libraries for the blind have become the unique information and cultural centres, key organizations in the formation of the inclusive society in Russia. Their activities are carried out within the framework of the inclusive paradigm, which assumes that a person with any needs can be included in public relations. New areas of interaction with users are being developed: diversity of special and inclusive programs and projects are being implemented, and innovative services are being introduced. Libraries act as focal points for working with blind people and users with other categories of disabilities, provide methodological and consulting assistance for cultural institutions of various profiles, conduct various professional development activities and provide information support to educational institutions in the field of defectology. The relevance of the article is due to the need for comprehensive promotion of unique information products and services created by libraries for the blind for people with different physical and mental special health characteristics: those suffering from dyslexia; who has suffered from severe diseases, with disabilities, etc. The promotion of information products and services becomes possible when implementing communication strategy based on integrated marketing communications, which are focused on establishing long-term relationships with various user groups.The article presents the results of the study conducted in January — February 2020 and aimed at identifying and evaluating the promotion channels used by special libraries for the blind and other organizations that provide services to people with disabilities and special needs for the purpose of socio-cultural rehabilitation. During the research, there were used the methods of expert survey and comparative analysis. There were analyzed the promotion channels of 47 Russian and foreign institutions (public and special libraries, museums, theatres, charitable foundations and public organizations). The results of the study make the basis for creating the universal model of communication strategy of special library for the blind, aimed at promoting activities among various target audiences: increasing the loyalty of the real contingent of users, expanding the contingent of users among people with disabilities of different nosologies and special needs, the contingent of partners among institutions in the area of culture, education and social services. The author proposes recommendations aimed at improving the efficiency of various promotion channels.

Environmental culture development in population

The purpose of the article is the analysis of the key social and legal mechanisms of environmental culture development in the population. Through the method of expert survey, the authors determine the main functions of the environmental culture and the social institutions of environmental culture development in population. Environmental culture is characterized by deep versatile knowledge of the environment; the presence of nature-related values; the ecological style of thinking and the corresponding attitude towards nature; the acquisition of skills and experience of solving ecological problems; direct participation in conservation-related activities; the anticipation of the possible remote negative consequences of the nature-transforming activities of the people.

Stakeholder Involvement for Sustainable Energy Development Based on Uncertain Group Decision Making: Prioritizing the Renewable Energy Heating Technologies and the BWM-WASPAS-IN Approach

This paper proposes a multi-criteria decision framework for promotion of the heating systems based on the renewable energy sources. The objective and subjective data are taken into consideration by the virtue of the relevant quantitative techniques. The paper integrates the Best-Worst method (BWM) and modifies the Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) method. The BWM is utilized for eliciting the weights of the criteria during the expert survey. We apply the interval-normalized WASPAS for the multi-criteria ranking of the heating technologies. Thus, the uncertainty is taken into consideration. The empirical application deals with the case of Lithuania where modernization of the heating system is rather important in order to reduce energy poverty and increase the quality of life. Three heating technologies (i.e. heat pumps, solar heating and wood pellet boilers) are assessed through the expert survey and multi-criteria evaluation methods. The multi-criteria analysis suggests wood pellet boilers and solar heating dominate the heat pumps in terms of the overall utility and could be promoted as the most suitable renewable heating technologies.

INSTITUTIONAL ASPECT OF BROWNFIELDS REVITALIZATION: THE CASE OF UKRAINE

The article investigates the institutional aspect of brownfields revitalization – areas or sites that are derelict, contaminated and in need of active measures before they can be effectively used again for social and economic development of the area. The method of expert survey was used as a tool to identify problematic issues of brownfields revitalization and test the hypothesis of the need for institutional support to ensure the modernization of the economy of old industrial regions. The general conclusion that can be drawn from the conducted research is that institutional measures for brownfields revitalization should be aimed at developing special institutions that would facilitate the revitalization of brownfields in order to modernize the economy of the regions. Namely, brownfields should be transformed into locations for innovation infrastructure and organizations to support small and medium enterprises; advantageous specialization of the region should be ensured by creating industrial sites that meet the current technological requirements, have modernized production facilities, specialize in the production of science-intensive products or waste recycling, and operate on principle of circular economy.

Модели коммуникации органов местного самоуправления как субъекта современной российской политики (на примере органов местного самоуправления Республики Татарстан)

Introduction. The article presents the results of a study of communication in the system of local self-government of the Republic of Tatarstan as a subject of the Russian Federation conducted by the authors in November – December 2019. The study included a survey of representatives of regional media and press services of local authorities of the Republic of Tatarstan in order to determine the model of communication in the local government system and the role of PR-activities in the regulation of social interaction in the region. Methods and materials. The main method of studying was the method of expert survey. The authors developed a questionnaire, which was used during an interview with experts. When choosing an expert – a media representative for the interview – the authors took into account three factors: the rating of the represented media, the experience of the respondent in the regional media (at least five years) and the authority to make a key decision on the publication of the material. In order to identify the experts who are representatives of local self-government bodies, the authors of the article determined the following criteria: implementation of information and analytical activities in the structure of local self-government bodies, at least 5 years of experience as a head of a structural unit (public relations / media relations department) of local self-government bodies. Analysis. The analysis showed that the development of social media accelerates the process of establishing a two-way model of communication between the government and the public. Social media have become a full-fledged source of information both for the journalistic community and for the press services of local governments. Moreover, with the help of the content posted in posts on official accounts on social networks, local governments can attract residents of the municipal territory to participate in solving local issues. Constant monitoring, responding to comments, tracking negative content on social media are becoming everyday practices in the work of press services. Results. The results of the study indicate that over the past decade in the Russian Federation the necessary prerequisites have been formed for the formation of a bilateral symmetrical model of communication between local authorities and the population. This model is aimed at providing effective feedback that allows the local government to quickly respond to the aspirations and needs of the population, monitor their dynamics, constantly monitor the attitude and assessments of citizens of decisions made on the development of the city or region.

PECULIARITIES OF THE CONSUMER PERCEPTION OF UKRAINIAN AND FOREIGN BRANDS

Ensuring sustainable competitive advantages is the main goal of the company in a chaotic and unpredictable change in the business environment. Sustainable and long-term competitive advantages are formed mainly on the basis of the new combinations or new ways of using intangible assets: they give impetus to the company's development and innovation in a rapidly transforming environment. One of such unique assets of the enterprise becomes a brand. The brand is the bearer of the value of the product in the consumer perception, and is often more attractive to the consumer than the actual consumer value of the product. Consumer perception of the brand is determined by a large number of factors, including personal and psychological factors that reflect the patterns of human consumer behavior and order its coexistence habits. The study of these aspects of consumer behavior is an extremely important task of marketing. The subject of the research is theoretical-methodical and practical aspects of peculiarities and factors of consumer perception of Ukrainian and foreign brands. The purpose of the article is to form a theoretical and methodological basis for determining and comparing the characteristics of the perception of domestic and foreign brands by Ukrainian consumers with different socio-demographic characteristics. In line with this goal, the research methodology is based on the use of expert survey methods to determine the characteristics of consumer perception of brands using Google Forms. The sample size is 169 people. Respondents were asked to rate 14 foreign and 11 Ukrainian most popular clothing brands according to selected parameters. To confirm the hypotheses formed in the study, the calculation of the Fisher's angular transformation criterion φ was used. According to the results of the study of features and factors of consumer perception of Ukrainian and foreign brands by Ukrainian consumers, the hypotheses about the greater commitment of Ukrainian consumers to foreign brands was confirmed (consumer perception of the ZARA brand exceeds the perception of the H&M brand, consumer confidence in foreign brands exceeds the trust in Ukrainian brands). Fisher's angular transformation criterion is used to confirm the hypotheses.

За пределами статистики: качественное исследование трансформации первичного сектора экономики в постсоветской российской Арктике

The Russian Arctic is at the epicentre of economic, environmental, and social changes. At the same time, the peripheral character of the territory, its strong orientation on primary sector makes the region extremely volatile to suchlike shifts. The study concerns primary sector transformation in the Post-Soviet period when after 1991 significant changes in the economy were observed. The main aim of the paper is to identify the specifics, features and development prospects of the recent primary sector transfor-mation in the Russian Arctic. The statistical methods do not reflect the full picture of the transformation. Firstly, Russia has switched to UN national accounts system only in 1994. Secondly, the Arctic statistics after 2009 for regional level is unavailable. That is why the main method of the research is the expert survey method. The results of the study demonstrate the dominant role of the primary sector and the strong dependence of Russian Arctic regions on these activities. The study identifies the key factors and drivers of the transformation, a specific position of the oil and gas sector and the role of natural resources to be traditionally used in the primary sector. Despite the positive role of economic diversification in the long-term economic development, the corresponding effect for the Arctic regions is not fully expressed. The methodological novelty of the research is an unconventional research method of investigating primary sector transformation on the regional level in the Post-Soviet Russian Arctic, i.e. the expert survey. The method can be applied to other countries and industries.

Problem of antibioticorezistence in applicable aspects of ecopharmacy

The aim. The aim of the work was to analyze the pharmaceutical fragments as components of the global problem of antibiotic resistance, to evaluate this aspect from the point of view of applied ecopharmacy and to propose solutions to this issue.
 Materials and methods. Research materials – the results of a survey of pharmacy specialists. Analytical-comparative, system, logical, mathematical-statistical methods and the method of expert survey of specialists were used. At the first stage of the study, an expert survey of practical pharmacy workers was conducted in order to identify fixed points of correlation between such components as «practical pharmacy» – «antibiotic resistance» – «ecopharmacy». The second stage included the identification of positions at which it is necessary to develop additional informational training activities aimed at reducing antibiotic resistance.
 Results. According to the results of an expert survey of specialists of the pharmaceutical sector of Ukraine (Kharkiv, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Chernihiv regions) on key issues of antibiotic resistance from the position of ecopharmacy, it was established that over 90 % of antibacterial drugs are sold without a prescription and are not accompanied by adequate pharmaceutical care. The awareness of pharmacy specialists of the potential dangers from uncontrolled intake of antibacterial drugs rises with an increase in their level of professional competence. Not one of the respondents during the release of an antibacterial drug does not indicate how to dispose of the remaining doses of the drug, what danger does the improper utilization of unsuitable antibiotics to the ecosystem of the region.
 Conclusions. According to the results of the research conducted among practical pharmacy experts, conclusions can be drawn about the low level of awareness of the impact of antibacterial drugs on the ecology of the environment; identified key positions for which additional information is needed (antibiotic resistance, ecopharmacy, pharmaceutical care), not only in the form of planned advanced training courses, but also additionally in the format of distance education, seminars, conferences

Социологическое измерение эффективности государственной национальной политики в российском регионе: теория и практика

The article is devoted to measuring the effectiveness of the state national policy in Saratov region by means of using sociological methods and practices. The most commonly used method of obtaining social information in such studies was the combination of quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (expert survey) methods. The study revealed a number of trends in the development of the ethno-confessional situation in Saratov region. The results of the mass survey indicate a low and increasingly declining level of both national and religious conflicts in Saratov region. One of the indicators of religious and national tolerance is the characterization of emotional expression towards the representatives of different beliefs and nationalities. The analysis of these data confirms the above-described trends. A general assessment of the dynamics of interethnic relations in Saratov region also allows to speak about stability. The survey of experts made it possible to more thoroughly analyze the state of ethno-confessional relations and state national policy in this field. The significant differences in the general assessments of inter-ethnic relations in the regional context, public organizations and authorities in the field of the implementation of ethno-confessional policy between the respondents-representatives of authorities and the respondents-representatives of public organizations and the scientific community were revealed. The fundamental agreement was achieved on the current state of interethnic relations in Saratov region regarding the ethno-political situation on the part of the state authorities. The modern ethnopolitical situation is assessed as a stable and relatively calm one.

THE TARGETED COMPLEX PROGRAMME OF INVESTMENT AND INNOVATION DEVELOPMENT OF ENTERPRISES: SUGGESTIONS FOR FORMING AND IMPLEMENTING ACTIVITIES

The problem of the article is to identify the main stages, methods, organizational structures of formation and implementation of targeted complex programs for the development of investment and innovation activities of industrial enterprises, the implementation of which will contribute to the success of strategic management of economic resources. The purpose of the article is to develop proposals for the formation and implementation of a targeted complex program for the development of investment and innovation activities of the enterprise. The object of research is the development of investment and innovation activities of the enterprise. The subject of research — theoretical provisions, methodological support, tools for the formation and implementation of targeted programs for the development of investment and innovation activities of enterprises. Structural-logical analysis, theoretical generalization, statistical-analytical analysis, expert survey method, program-target management method were used as research methods.
 Based on the analysis, the stages of formation and implementation of the target complex program of investment and innovation activities of the enterprise are proposed, which include: competitive selection and appointment of responsible executors, identification of existing problems of investment and innovation activities and their complex analysis, formulation of the main objectives of the program and their structuring by hierarchical dependence, definition and development of measures to achieve alternative goals, formation of program options taking into account alternative measures, substantiation of financial and human resources according to the established criteria for program implementation, discussion and approval, coordination of program measures and volumes of financing with the existing plan of development of the enterprise for the corresponding certain term. For each proposed stage, a study was conducted on the example of 21 machine-building enterprises for 2015—2019, which proved the feasibility of the developed proposals. The practical orientation of the research results is confirmed by the calculations for the developed complex program of investment and innovation activities for the machine-building enterprise using real data and comparison of the expected results of the program with the actual ones, which testified to the growth of investment and innovation activities.

Актуализация проблем управления техническим обеспечением территориальных органов МЧС России на основе анкетирования и экспертного опроса

Introduction. The study of factors influencing the organization of technical support management of subdivisions of territorial bodies of the EMERCOM of Russia has been carried out. A questionnaire was developed, a selection was carried out and a survey was conducted of employees holding positions at various levels of the hierarchy of the technical support management system of the territorial bodies of the EMERCOM of Russia, starting from a separate unit and up to the central office of the EMERCOM of Russia. The ranking of factors affecting the organization of technical support using the method of expert survey is made. The most significant factors negatively affecting the organization of technical support have been identified. The problem of managing the technical support of divisions in modern conditions is actualized. Goals and objectives. The purpose of the study is to improve the management of technical support of the units of the EMERCOM of Russia by updating and scientific substantiation of factors that negatively affect the management processes. To achieve the goal, the tasks of selecting survey participants, experts, conducting a questionnaire and expert survey and processing the results were solved. Methods. In the course of the study, the questionnaire method and the method of expert assessments were used. Results and discussion. The most significant factors that negatively affect the process of managing the technical support of divisions have been identified. The relevance of the conducted research and its main directions, which are presented as the most significant factors, are substantiated. Conclusion. The results obtained in the course of the work can be used in the development of proposals for improving the management system of technical support units and determining promising areas of research in this area. Key words: technical support, management system, factors, experts, ranks, coordination, evaluation, technique.

Decision‐Making Optimization Design of Enterprise Standardization Management Planning Based on Mobile Network System

With the continuous deepening of enterprise management and market competition, the pressure of production and operation of enterprises is increasing, and it is urgent to improve the management level of enterprises. This paper mainly studies the decision optimization design of enterprise standardization management planning based on mobile network system. In this paper, the idea of clustering is used to integrate the customers into a customer clustering mode, which will greatly reduce the number of customers studied in the model and simplify the optimization process of the model. Through online and offline processes, these can achieve dynamic and rapid processing of data flow and can well meet the needs of users for data flow analysis. In the construction of enterprise standardization strategic performance evaluation index system, it is necessary to decompose, combine, and converge the index system. According to the construction principles and methods discussed above, the influencing factors of standardized strategic performance evaluation indicators of construction enterprises are preliminarily stratified by using the expert survey method and cluster analysis method, so as to construct the initial evaluation system. For the mobile network system testing, we use the black box test and white box test. The test content mainly includes two modules: area calculation and label calculation. Experimental data show that when the time threshold Ts is set to 1 hour, the prediction accuracy of TBM increases from 46.9% to 47.7%. The results show that the mobile network system realizes the whole life cycle management of enterprise standards and improves the management level of enterprise standardization work.

Удосконалення інституційного супроводу подальшої інтеграції України до дослідницького й освітнього просторів ЄС

The purpose of this research is to define and summarize the competent opinion of representatives of both the academic science and the higher education of Ukraine as to the level of involvement, opportunities, prospects and forms of expanding the presence of Ukrainian scientific institutions together with higher education institutions in the EU research and educational spaces, substantiating on this basis proposals for finalization of international agreements and legislation of Ukraine to increase the effectiveness of European integration processes in the educational and scientific spheres. The expert survey method was used as an instrument for identifying the opinions of representatives of the Ukrainian scientific and educational expert community. The general conclusion that can be drawn from the survey results is that Ukrainian higher education institutions and academic research institutions are interested, have successful experience and potential to expand educational, scientific and scientific-technical cooperation with the EU universities and research organizations. It was found that most experts support the idea of creating branches and representative offices of scientific institutions as well as institutions of higher education of Ukraine at research organizations and universities of the EU Member States. Based on the results of the survey, in order to form favorable institutional conditions for the further integration of Ukraine into the EU research and educational spaces, it is proposed to amend the Association Agreement with the EU, the laws of Ukraine «On Scientific and Scientific-Technical Activities», «On Higher Education» in terms of assigning rights to the scientific institutions of the NAS of Ukraine, the national branches of academies of sciences, regional scientific centers of the NAS of Ukraine and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, higher education institutions of Ukraine to establish branches/representative offices at research organizations and universities of the EU Member States. Prospects for further research are to substantiate organizational and institutional proposals to increase the level of involvement of Ukrainian organizations and enterprises in the EU research and educational spaces according to the strategic priority areas of educational and scientific-technical cooperation, based on the global challenges, potential and achievements of Ukrainian education and science systems.

Social Forecasting in Sports: Opportunities for Using the Expert Survey Method

Social Forecasting in Sports: Opportunities for Using the Expert Survey Method

Diagnostics of weaknesses and strengths of a region’s socio-economic and innovative development: Methods and its application

The article offers methodological tools to diagnose the weaknesses and strengths of a region’s socio-economic and innovative development. The topicality of the issue is determined by the need to define the priorities for the regional strategizing. The methods of analytical diagnostics, expert survey, SWOT and PEST analyses underlie the methodology of the study. The article applies the diagnostics tools to the economy of Lugansk People’s Republic and gives the results. The study characterizes the local factors of the regional economy affecting the level of the economic and innovative development in Lugansk People’s Republic. The article also gives the conclusions made from the analysis of the possible external impacts (opportunities and threats) in the COVID-19 pandemics in terms of social, economic, and innovative trends. For example, PEST analysis is used to calculate consolidated weighted indicators for the socio-economic and innovative development in Lugansk People’s Republic. A group of political factors is seen to have an adverse effect due to the Republic’s status as a breakaway region and a threat of military escalation. A lack of properly functioning banking and financing systems, flight and railway connections, low investment interest in the region’s economy show the most serious detrimental impact among other economic factors. A weighted indicator in the group of social factors is positive due to the following institutions: protection of health and labor, education, culture and sport. A negative weighted value for a technological component could be explained by an extensive physical and moral depreciation of the fixed assets, a low use of production capacities, a lack of local raw materials resources. Cross-sectional SWOT analysis makes the authors conclude about a significant impact of the weaknesses on the socio-economic and innovative development of a region, which should guide the development of priority measures in the public economic strategy. Further research is seen to be connected with the justification and development of the efficient strategy for the sustainable self-development of Lugansk People’s Republic.

Assessment of the flexibility of human resources in enterprise’s innovative projects

The article examines the actual problem associated, on the one hand, with increasing requirements for the flexibility of human resources and management systems in conditions of increased dynamism and uncertainty of environmental factors, and, on the other hand, with the lack of scientifically based and practical approaches to assessing the flexibility of human resources with its subsequent formation. The relevance of flexibility is enhanced in relation to the human resources of innovative project teams, which are characterized by an even higher level of uncertainty, unpredictability and variability of project environment factors. This determined the purpose of the study, which is formulated as the development of a methodological approach to assessing the flexibility of human resources of innovative projects. To achieve this goal, there were set tasks of defining the concept of flexibility of human resources of projects, flexibility criteria and principles of their evaluation. The author used methods of analyzing the provisions set out in scientific publications, as well as the method of expert survey, which helped to formulate the hypotheses of the study, and then test them in practice. Using this method, 155 project managers and specialists from 36 enterprises in Russian cities were involved in the study. All enterprises implement innovative projects. The main conclusions of the expert survey were the following: innovative projects require flexible staff, flexibility is reduced to the ability to quickly and efficiently update their competencies, enterprises need methods for evaluating and developing the flexibility of human resources in projects, staff flexibility can be provided with a flexible management system. These findings became the basis for the development of a methodological approach to the assessment of flexibility, which provides for the assessment of the flexibility of people in projects and the assessment of the flexibility of project human resource management. There were proposed criteria for assessing flexibility, which are related to the assessment of the speed, depth and scale of updating the competencies of human resources of projects. The proposed developments can be useful to project managers for their activities to ensure the flexibility of innovative projects and people in these projects.

Approaches for solving current problems of pharmaceutical logistics during the pandemic period

The global economic crisis, which is linked to the coronavirus pandemic, has also affected pharmaceutical logistics. Therefore, the improvement of logistics processes within the pharmaceutical supply chain to increase the access to health care to the population in a pandemic becomes especially important.
 The aim of the work is to study and summarize the main problems of pharmaceutical logistics in a coronavirus pandemic and substantiate the reserves to improve the functioning of pharmaceutical supply chains.
 To achieve the goal of the study, an analysis of the domestic scientific literature and the current regulatory framework of Ukraine was conducted. It has used abstract-logical, monographic research methods and system analysis, as well as the method of expert survey.
 Realizing the importance of providing the population with necessary medicines during the pandemic in Ukraine on October 14, 2020, the Law «Changes to the article 19 of the Law of Ukraine "On Medicinal Products" on Electronic Retail Trade in Medicines» of September 17, 2020 № 904-IX has enforced.
 It has been evaluated the factors influencing the efficiency and coordination of the activities of pharmaceutical supply chain participants. A risk management algorithm for pharmaceutical supply chains has been developed, its structural elements and relationships have been identified. The presented algorithm will allow analyzing and estimating any deviations from the planned parameters in pharmaceutical supply chains on the basis of establishment of system of the corresponding indicators and on the basis of this information to define effective methods to counter the risks.
 The urgency of the problem of increasing the reliability and safety of domestic pharmaceutical supply chains in a pandemic has proved. It is justified that the introduction of digital technologies will increase the reliability, transparency and quality of business processes in the pharmaceutical supply chains during a pandemic, drastic changes in the pharmaceutical market and low predictability of demand for medicines and medical devices. The main problems of logistics in a pandemic in the domestic pharmaceutical industry are studied. It has established that the narrowest places in the organization of pharmaceutical supply chains are the improper organization of information exchange between pharmaceutical supply chain participants and the insufficient professional level of production interaction of managers. It has established the priority directions of increase of stability and reliability of functioning of pharmaceutical supply chains which is a necessary condition of accessibility of pharmaceutical provision of the population, especially in the conditions of a pandemic.