Large Industrial Corporations Research Articles

Reconnecting Spatialities in Uninhabited Industrial Spaces: Ruination and Sense of Place in a Coal Town (Datong, Shanxi

Far from dense Chinese cities that experience fast demolition, ruination in Kouquan, a coal town in Datong, is a slower process that generates new practices and meanings. Uninhabited industrial spaces continue to produce a sense of place where large industrial corporations no longer operate and where most residents have moved away. This article brings out new perspectives on the effects of ruination in an industrial area by moving away from the lenses of the work unit, demolition, heritagisation, or decline. Based on direct observation, informal discussions with local residents from 2016 to 2019, and an online review, this article shows that ruination produces spatialised narratives and practices closely entwined with the local population’s experiences, as well as with other actors’ direct and indirect interactions with places: these actors reconnect to the uninhabited town through dwellings, artistic production, religious practices, or simply through their visits to Kouquan, becoming urban explorers themselves. Ruination leads remaining residents, former locals, visitors, government actors, journalists, and artists to the production of new representations of the uninhabited town.

Process Safety Management Quality in Industrial Corporation for Sustainable Development

In recent years, also in connection with Covid-19 pandemics and enforced restrictions, there has been the formation of large industrial corporations gathering separate companies with similar, sometimes complementary production profiles. This evolving trend has brought usually positive economic effects; however, it has also created some integration problems that include the process safety management. The Texas City BP accident in 2005 and its tremendous human and economic losses underlined the obstacles in defining a well-structured corporation process safety management. The main causes of the above-mentioned accident were connected to an inadequate safety culture at the managerial level. Strong leadership and high standards of corporate governance are required to inspire correct safety behavior in the staff. The so-called soft skills become even more important in the Industry 4.0 arena, where the foundation of the whole system is based on an intelligent use and interpretation of data. The importance of this aspect is confirmed by several post-accidental analyses of past events. Although some research on this topic has been already done, it is worth it to dedicate some effort to identifying specific factors which influence the corporate process safety management quality, and, once identified, to assess them. This paper applies the concept of “lessons learnt” for the identification of organizational and managerial aspects worth consideration in process safety management. Based on accident and literature reviews and expert opinions, the aim is to identify the major contributing factors among leadership and safety culture, risk awareness, knowledge and competence, communication, and information and decision-making processes. To self-assess the level of commitment of the top leaders in process safety management, a checklist approach is proposed, combined with a quantitative, weighted evaluation based on the Relative Efficiency Indicator (REI). Positive value of REI may ensure the effectiveness of process safety management in major hazard industries and their appropriate adaptation to the corporation community. The proposed method, which is validated in an actual case study, underlines the importance of an appropriate education, and of a more careful selection of HSE managers.

Forensic Expertise in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0)

The fourth industrial revolution basing on computer and information technologies, various software, hardware is rapidly gaining momentum in the modern world. First of all, these include big data processing technologies, blockchain, Internet of things, virtual and augmented reality, 3D printing, printed electronics, artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology. Alongside the positive effects, it is expected that the revolution will lead to some negative social consequences, including the growth of intellectual and high-tech crime. The article aims to analyze the causes and conditions of emerging new crime resulting from Industry 4.0 and their effect on the development of forensic science.The author highlights that the specific factors which will determine the future of forensic activity are: the appearance of creative and well-educated individuals, the emergence of “grey areas” in law, the development of global partnerships interested in international supranational rule-making, increasing of transnational crime. The rapid development of science and technology will require investigators and courts to promptly solve various specific scientific and technical tasks, eventually determining the objects and subjects of new forensic examinations, primarily from the field of information technology. Specialists predict a breakthrough in the development of cognitive computing and expert systems equipped with artificial intelligence, which has considerable potential in forensic science. There are signs of the shaping of a common forensic space, which will include not only existing elements of the institute of forensic examination (state and non-state institutions) but large industrial corporations, as well as the most active, technologically advanced individuals.

LARGE CORPORATIONS IN PROJECTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESOURCES IN SIBERIA AND THE FAR EAST

In modern Russia, large industrial corporations, some of which are the direct "heirs" of socialist factories, are traditionally the main initiators, operators and beneficiaries of projects to develop the resources of Siberia and the Far East. An approach to assessing the impact of large-scale natural resource development projects on the economic performance of individual regions through the performance of individual companies involved in these projects is proposed. Testing the approach based on the financial statements of 300 largest companies in the real sector of Siberia and the Far East for 2014-2019 showed that resource projects of large corporations are the main revenue generator, and their dynamics largely determine the trajectory of economic development of individual regions. Financial indicators of divisions of large corporations. the companies involved in these projects grew faster than the rest of the companies. At the same time, a significant part of the largest projects for the development of mineral resources has not yet reached the stage when a noticeable decline in volume and cost indicators begins, and therefore large corporations - operators of these projects will continue to play the role of key players determining the economic growth potential of Siberia and the Far East.

On the Internal Political Situation in the DRC and the Prospects of the UN Mission (MONUSCO)

This article examines the activities of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the main problems associated with its organization and conduct. The author analyzes the prospects for effective modernization of the UN mission in this country, taking into account the historical, socio-political, ethnic, economic contradictions existing there. Based on his own experience of participation in the UN mission in the DRC and the experience of his colleagues, the author provides a comprehensive assessment of the conflict and possible ways to resolve it. The research has shown that mission work can be significantly more efficient under certain conditions. The author, on the basis of personal participation in the UN mission in the DRC, for the first time summarized the problem zones in the work of the mission and the reasons for their existence and proposed direction for increasing the efficiency of the UN mission in the DRC, the prospect for its development. Despite the multimillion-dollar infusion, the country has remained one of the most economically backward in the world for decades. Many analysts agree that expensive development projects tend to work for themselves rather than for the Congolese. The shadow economy in the DRC is flourishing, and with it the illegal export of the most valuable minerals (coltan, tungsten, cassiterite, gold, diamonds and much more), the final destination of which is in the largest industrial corporations in Europe and America. As the analysis has shown, the colossal financial flows going to the DRC are primarily aimed at protecting the sphere of raw material interests of foreign companies in this country. This is precisely where the policy of double standards of Western and now Eastern partners is manifested.

Cluster mechanism of industrial development based on the possibility of saving on the growth of production scales

In recent years, the economic development trend in Russia and other countries has been based on the cluster approach. Increasing competitiveness through the use of the cluster mechanism is an effective means of developing industrial production, where the main goal of any enterprise is to obtain maximum profit. For a good and successful confrontation in the conditions of market competition, Russia needs to create large industrial corporations - centers, conduct integration processes and form large regional clusters. The formation of large regional engineering clusters within the subjects of the Russian Federation will ensure the inflow of investment from outside, and will create conditions for competitive advantage for large, small and medium-sized businesses in general. Therefore, we can conclude that the development of the tasks presented in the research, which identified the main ways of cluster development based on the creation of a regional industrial engineering cluster, is relevant, and has novelty and practical significance.

Issues of assessing the effectiveness of implementing modern information technologies in project management of an industrial corporation

Project management has received significant development in recent decades. The project approach to management is also applied in the field of communication, information technology, and research. The article analyzes the prerequisites for improving the modern theory and practice of project management. Problems and methods of project management in large industrial corporations are considered and the necessity of implementing an information management system designed to automate and maintain management processes. Authors identify the main prerequisites for implementing a corporate project management system: a sufficient level of the company development; limited financial and human resources; simplification of control over the activities of project managers.

Achieving Interorganizational Ambidexterity Through a Nested Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

In this article, we examine the mechanisms through which corporations can achieve ambidexterity based on entrepreneurial ecosystems. The emergence of entrepreneurial ecosystems provides an alternative approach for large corporations to capture and cocreate value across institutional boundaries. This article explores this perspective by connecting the interorganizational ambidexterity literature with the emerging concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems through a case study. Specifically, we examine a space dedicated to collaboration with external actors initiated by a large industrial corporation in collaboration with 22 other selected organizations and start-ups stemming from the Parisian entrepreneurial ecosystem. Our results reveal the necessary configuration (spatio-material and sociocultural attributes) for supporting explorative activities and the balanced management (democratic governance combined with leadership) of a nested entrepreneurial ecosystem for ensuring ambidexterity in large corporations. Our findings shed new light on the ambidexterity and entrepreneurial ecosystem research streams and provide guidance for managers and future research.

Configuring and Governing a Nested Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for Interorganizational Ambidexterity

This paper examines the mechanisms through which corporations can achieve ambidexterity based on entrepreneurial ecosystems. The emergence of entrepreneurial ecosystems provides an alternative approach for large corporations to capture and co-create value across institutional boundaries. This paper explores this perspective by connecting the interorganizational ambidexterity literature with the emerging concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems through a case study. Specifically, we examine a space dedicated to collaboration with external actors initiated by a large industrial corporation in collaboration with 22 other selected organizations and start-ups stemming from the Parisian entrepreneurial ecosystem. Our results reveal the necessary configuration (spatio-material and sociocultural attributes) for supporting explorative activities and the balanced management (democratic governance combined with leadership) of a nested entrepreneurial ecosystem for ensuring ambidexterity for large corporations. Our findings shed new light on the ambidexterity and entrepreneurial ecosystem research streams and provide guidance for managers and future research.

Prediction of Operational and Innovation Processes in a Large Industrial Corporation

The article discusses the role of a modern corporation in solving the problems of the country’s economic development compared to the world’s major companies. It is emphasized that insufficient attention to corporate business organization and the choice of the national model of corporate governance leads to the incomplete use of market mechanisms of investment, excessive export or misuse of undistributed profits, and restraining the development of corporations themselves and their activities aimed at the modernization of the economy. Sales ratings of the largest Russian and foreign corporations are compared. An optimization and simulation model for evaluating investment strategies and developing a new product is considered by the example of the Novosibirsk-based company NEVZ-Soyuz.

Electronic Wholesale Services: Advantages and Promising Directions of Development

It has been demonstrated in the presented study that the use of services plays a key role in the formation of a new type of the competitive economy based on the information technology and involves the innovation of mutually beneficial commercial interactions. Qualitative and quantitative changes in the content, forms, and mechanism of the workflow management have been investigated in the aspect of the main trends in the development of the monetary relations. The search for the modern business technology predetermined the development of the electronic wholesale market and the possibility to improve the convenience of the service of doing business. The subjects of this sector of commodity circulation confirm the efficiency of the formation of economic relations in the segment of online trade services and the prospects of the electronic business.
 The analysis of the electronic market trade workflow allowed to establish the main trends in its development, to identify the specifics of partnerships, their establishment, and the online implementation of trade procedures through the electronic document workflow.
 As a result of the study, the authors have established the reasons for the increase in the number of participants of electronic marketplaces, changes in the commodity structure in the corporate procurement sector, the mechanism for reducing purchase prices through electronic auction, and the possibility of optimizing costs and increasing the efficiency of managerial processes in the organization by improving the service automation of business selling processes in a competitive environment.
 Based on the comparison of the number of auctions conducted and the amount of deals concluded, it has been noted that the largest number of auctions were held in consumer goods, where the average deal value was the least, while the deals of the highest value were in the provision of services, with the lowest proportion of the conducted auctions.
 The authors of the study have analyzed potential commercial and technological risks and identified the main fraudulent schemes in electronic commerce and measures aimed at preventing or eliminating certain risk factors and conditions of uncertainty of the result.
 Based on the opinions of the experts, the promising directions for developing the electronic market and electronic wholesale services have been noted in the study, which can be achieved through the creation of independent electronic trading platforms by large industrial corporations, as well as through the use of the information and communication network functions in the internal corporate interaction in large holdings. Combining the capabilities of the marketplaces of the corporate and public procurement sectors and launching a joint service for electronic trading while maintaining established business processes will improve the efficiency of the commercial activities of participating organizations.

Has Exploitation Transformed? A Critical Analysis of the Theory of Cognitive Capitalism

Abstract In this article we critically analyze the theory of cognitive capitalism as developed by Yann Moulier Boutang in his book of that name. He emphasizes a new category of exploitation, seeks to explain the behavior of finance capital, and foretells a coming dominance by cognitive capitalism over industrial capitalism. While his theory has merit and is a useful starting point for further analysis of the interaction between digital technology and capitalism, it has major flaws in: its treatment of financialization, the employment relationship, and the power and dominance of large industrial corporations; its claims regarding the alleged superiority of cognitive capitalism; and its exposition of a second category of exploitation.

High-tech small digital manufacturing in mechanical engineering

The article proposes creation of small high-tech engineering enterprises, which, in the context of a complete transition to digital technologies, will be able to solve effectively specific technological problems of large industrial enterprises and corporations. An example of an existing small digital enterprise is considered, where the technology for manufacturing foundry equipment for producing flat ingots for UC RUSAL is developed and implemented. Digital technologies are described using aggregation elements that were introduced during the modernization of the 6M610 longitudinally milling machine.

Incumbent-led transitions and civil society: Autonomous vehicle policy and consumer organizations in the United States

The transition to connected and autonomous (or automated) vehicles (CAVs) in the United States is used to explore the role of civil society in the acceleration and deceleration of sociotechnical transitions. This is an “incumbent-led transition,” which occurs when large industrial corporations in one or more industries lead a systemic technological change. This type of transition may generate public concerns about risk and uncertainty, which can be expressed and mobilized by civil society organizations (CSOs). In turn, CSOs may also attempt to decelerate the transition process in order to develop better regulation and to change technology design. Based on an analysis of CSO statements in the public sphere and media reports on CAVs in the U.S., the political strategy of CSOs is examined to improve understanding of the role of civil society in incumbent-led transitions. The analysis indicates that the strategy includes four main aspects: articulating an alternative political goal (slower introduction of advanced autonomous vehicles and more rapid introduction of existing driver-assisted technology), engaging multiple targets or venues of action (different government units and the private sector), forming and expanding a broad coalition, and selecting effective tactics of influence (lobbying, media outreach, and research involving public opinion polls).

Risk Control in Modeling Financial Management Systems of Large Corporations in the Digital Economy

Purpose: Growth in the uncertain business environment leads to the formation of demand for new institutional and legal conditions for the financial and investment strategies. The article discusses features of risk-oriented control in the context of digitalization. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study involves modern concepts of uncertainty theory and risk management solutions coupled with the analysis of factors affecting the system risk formation and development. Findings: Authors have developed the features of a modern global economic system, influencing risk formation and development, highlighted the prospects for the digitization of business systems and concluded that in terms of digitization interactive interagency cooperation of the real economy development support is main and required element of the Russian economic system’s institutional matrix. Practical Implications: The research results may be implemented into financial management systems of large industrial corporations. Originality/Value: The main contribution of this study is the modern digitalization pattern affecting the financial systems‘ development.

Natural resources and primary sector-dependent territories in Latin America

ABSTRACT A renewed discussion about the problems associated with the productive and commercial specialization of Latin American countries in the export of commodities (agricultural, mining and energy) and raw materials to developed countries is important due to certain characteristics of the contemporary era, namely: the productive offshoring of large industrial corporations and the associated logic of ‘butterfly capital’; the rise and crisis in particular of financialized capitalism; the scientific–technological revolution based on information and communications technologies; the leadership of new players in world trade with the expansion of demand from Asian countries and particularly from China; and the rise in commodity prices.

Venture Capital Financing as a Mechanism for Impelling Innovation Activity

Introduction The ability of national economies to create, implement, and successfully domesticate cutting-edge scientific-technological solutions, make effective and intensive use of human (including intellectual) capital, and come up with funding commensurate with need is what determines, in large part, their competitive potential and strategic positions in external and internal markets (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Quinn 1992; Birkinshaw, Hamel and Mol, 2008; Dzhukha et al., 2017; Cipovova and Dlaskova, 2016). This issue is topical not only for more economically developed countries whose economies may already now be regarded as post-industrial but also for countries with transitive economies, i.e. those transiting from industrialization to post-industrialization. What is crucial to the intensive and science-driven development of the global economy is that innovation systems formed at national levels must be in a fit state. The rationale behind this tenet is that the shift from a stochastic to an institutionalized innovation environment requires significant funding (above all, from sources other than the state's operating budget) if the nation is to implement a series of major investment-infrastructural projects. Yet, at the same time it is worth understanding that business entities operating presently within the real sector of the economy are substantially limited in the ability to self-finance their innovation activity, which is quite capital intensive. That being said, the use of traditional tools utilized in commercial banking and the financial market (loans, debt instruments, etc.) does not bring in much funding for them to invest in long-term projects (Pfirrmann, Wupperfeld and Lerner, 2012; Kormishkin et al., 2016; Vovchenko et al., 2017; Theriou, 2015; Thalassinos et al., 2015; Thalassinos and Kiriazidis, 2003; Thalassinos, 2008). This is due to the fact that under present conditions of financial-economic instability credit risk, as well as the risk of a business failing to meet other financial obligations, is quite high. This aspect is compounded by the fact that the innovation activity of business entities operating within the real sector of the economy is not only capital intensive but quite risky as well. A special role here is played by venture capital financing, a special form of syndicated (collective) investing in innovations that presupposes setting up special venture capital funds that act as an intermediary between venture capital investors and the senior management of the business entity engaged in innovation activity. Since the venture capital fund is an intermediary that institutionalizes venture capital financing, economic gains from innovation projects (investment venture capital profit) go to the business entity (termed a 'venture capital firm') and also to the venture capital investor. The venture capital investor may be a private (natural) person or a large financial, industrial, commercial-and-intermediary, insurance, or service corporation (i.e., legal persons). Furthermore, quite often venture capital firms are set up in the form of joint stock companies (corporate establishments). The venture capital fund, representing the interests of its investors, gets an ownership share in the capital of venture capital firms, and in some cases this share may account for up to 50-75% of the cost of the venture capital firm, but in practice the venture capital fund normally receives a blocking stake in the venture capital firm (25% + 1 share). Consequently, by reducing its participation share in the capital of the venture capital firm the venture capital fund does not take on any obligations respecting the management of the business, which makes it possible to keep risk levels down (Dudin, Lyasnikov, Kuznetsov and Fedorova, 2013; Vanacker, Heughebaert and Manigart, 2014; Novokreshchenova et al., 2016; Fetai, 2015; Boldeanu and Tache, 2016; Akopova and Przhedetskaya, 2016). Of no less importance is the motivation component of venture capital business, consisting in the following: in the event the founder (founders) of a venture capital firm does (do) not hold a majority stake in the investment, they may engage in corporate opportunism, reducing the level of their interest in the outcomes of the firm's activity, or pursue additional gains on the side--via, say, disclosing confidential information to the firm's competitors or other potential investors (Bigus, 2006). …

The Responsibility Gap in Corporate Crime

In many cases of criminality within large corporations, senior management does not commit the operative offense—or conspire or assist in it—but nonetheless bears serious responsibility for the crime. That responsibility can derive from, among other things, management’s role in cultivating corporate culture, in failing to police effectively within the firm, and in accepting lavish compensation for taking the firm’s reins. Criminal law does not include any doctrinal means for transposing that form of responsibility into punishment. Arguments for expanding doctrine—including broadening of the presently narrow “responsible corporate officer” doctrine—so as to authorize such punishment do not fare well under the justificatory demands of criminal law theory. The principal obstacle to such arguments is the large industrial corporation itself, which necessarily entails kinds and degrees of delegation and risk-taking that do not fit well with settled concepts about mens rea and omission liability. Even the most egregious and harmful management failures must be addressed through design and regulation of the corporation rather than imposition of individual criminal liability.

U.S. Government Contractors

Until 2009, U.S. Government Contractors (USGC) had been growing by 12% to 15% a year, but starting in 2009, growth slowed to 2% to 4% a year as customer spending decelerated. Traditional competitors such as USGC were also challenged by new entrants to the market, including large non-U.S. companies and large commercial service companies. Many new entrants enjoyed advantages in scale and cost position that allowed them to undercut USGC on price, causing loss of market share and increasing the challenges to market growth. Excerpt UVA-BP-0558 Rev. Jan. 8, 2013 U.S. GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS Introduction U.S. Government Contractors, Incorporated, (USGC) served the $ 80 billion market for technical, administrative, and support services to the U.S. federal government with a work force of 16,000. As a major working unit of a large diversified industrial corporation, it had operating profit of $ 150 million in 2011 on revenues of $ 2.5 billion, which represented about 25% of total corporate revenues. Until 2009, USGC had been growing at 12% to 15% per year, but starting in 2009, growth decelerated to only 2% to 4% per year as customer spending slowed and customers became far more price sensitive. Traditional competitors such as USGC were also challenged by new entrants to the market, including large non-U.S. companies and large commercial service companies. Many of these new entrants enjoyed advantages in scale and cost position that allowed them to undercut USGC on price, causing loss of market share, furthering the challenges of slower market growth. . . .

From Local State Corporatism to Land Revenue Regime: Urbanization and the Recent Transition of Rural Industry inChina

This paper examines the transition of rural industry in China, particularly changes in the recent decade following the privatization of collective enterprises. Based on fieldwork in aJiangsu county and drawing on national data, the author shows that rapid urbanization has fundamentally altered the nature of rural industry, with previous village‐based rural enterprises replaced by large industrial corporations and urban real estate. While urbanization seems to many an inevitable outcome of economic development, this paper argues and shows that the current form of urbanization inChina has been driven by an unsustainable accumulation regime that prioritizes the needs of local revenue, real estate development and large capital at the expense of the previous broad‐based rural industry. This is thrown into sharp relief by comparing with the accumulation regime based on local state corporatism during the early reform period.