Russian IT Companies Research Articles

Стратегии выхода российских организаций на международные рынки в изменившихся внешнеэкономических условиях

The change in the system of world economic communications as a result of sanction policy towards Russia and its allied countries forces enterprises and organizations to prove strategies of entry into foreign markets for the purpose of income generation and inclusion in new value chains. Therefore, the purpose of this research is the comparative analysis of factors and assessment of the application of international market entry strategies of Russian IT companies. Qualitative and quantitative methods of economic research were applied to achieving this goal. Qualitative methods included PESTEL analysis, situation and comparative analysis. Quantitative methods included the cost-benefit method, statistical techniques and economic analysis methods. Tabular and graphic approaches are used for text visualization. In this research the factors influencing organizations activity in the international sphere and also the main foreign market entry strategies of IT companies were analyzed. Comparative analysis revealed benefits and shortcomings of each strategy, taking into account modern forms of business and currency risks. For the Russian IT company producing software three strategies were evaluated: export, franchising and direct investments. The choice of the IT industry for considering international market entry strategies of Russian organizations is proven. It is necessary to separate the development of new technologies and infrastructure, existence of financial resources and pressure of economic sanctions from the factors influencing this process. Of the three strategies analyzed, the lowest-cost and lowest-profit strategy was the franchising strategy; it can be used when there is a shortage of financial resources. For “growth hacking” the expensive, but highly profitable strategy of direct investment taking into account currency hedging is applicable. Proceeding from the analysis of the influencing factors and legal conditions of the Russian Federation it is expedient to follow the strategy of average profitable export for ensuring company development. The practical application of strategies for organizations to enter foreign markets is a multifaceted object of research that requires a comprehensive analysis of various aspects of business expansion. The received results will help companies make weighed decisions when choosing the optimum strategy for expanding their business in the international market.

Regional features of the tax burden of IT companies in the context of increasing their sustainability

This article characterizes the dynamics of the tax burden of Russian IT-companies as a key factor in their economic sustainability. This study aims to determine regional characteristics of the level of tax burden in the field of information techno­logy in order to identify best practices with the possibility of further replication of successful experience. To achieve this goal, an analysis is carried out of changes in the tax burden in the post-COVID period compared to 2019. Particular attention is paid to the dynamics of the tax burden depending on the scale of enterprises. The results show that the trend of reducing the tax burden in the post-COVID period is not stable for all Russian regions. The low level of tax burden is associated not so much with the industry of activity (in particular, with the field of information technology), but with regional characteristics (the creation of tax preferences in certain territories). Currently, state support for business through tax methods is aimed more at supporting certain regions and not the sphere of IT. The most typical scale of enterprises in the information technology sector, demonstrating a minimal tax burden, assumes revenue from 30 to 120 mln rubles a year. Such scaling of business in this area allows not only to use tax preferences established by the current Russian tax legislation, but also to find resources for organizing effective tax planning.

Research on the implementation degree of agile project management methodologies in Russian IT–companies

In the dynamic development context of the information technology sector, especially crucial for Russia at the moment, the adoption of agile project management methodologies becomes a necessary step for companies to effectively respond to changes, enhance product quality, and achieve market success while maintaining competitiveness. Therefore, the aim of this research is to assess the degree of implementation of agile project management methodologies in IT companies in Russia. The study was conducted through online surveys of practicing specialists in the field of managing innovative projects. Specialists were asked a general question about their application of agile methodologies, as well as four questions regarding specific aspects: requirements gathering, planning, communication with clients, and team communication. The article describes which aspects of agile project management methodologies are practiced by surveyed specialists. In conclusion, it is noted that employees tend to use hybrid project management approaches more frequently than pure agile methodologies. Agile principles are more commonly integrated into client communication and team communication, and less so in requirements gathering and planning.

Holacracy as a flexible technology for managing IT companies

The paper considers the features of holacratic structure as one of the forms of flexible organization management. The aim of the paper is to investigate the possibilities of integrating this tool into the management of Russian IT companies, as well as to analyze the consequences of such an implementation. The author solved the following tasks: the main features of holacracy in the context of Agile philosophy are outlined, the features of holacratic and traditional hierarchical structures are compared from the point of view of the system approach to organizational management, the statistics of the use of this technology in the activities of domestic IT companies is studied, the most significant results of the implementation experience of recent years are given, the arguments in favor of the use of holacracy as an organizational management tool in IT companies are substantiated. Based on the analysis of the scientific literature on project management and a number of Internet sources, the authors have identified the readiness attributes that an organization should possess for successful transition to a holacratic structure. The risks and difficulties of such a transition are considered, taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of this management method. The application of flexible management methods, including holacracy, seems to be the most expedient for those Russian IT market participants, whose activity implies the presence of cross-functional teams and microservice architecture. As a conclusion, the authors emphasize the decisive role of the personal factor in ensuring the proper level of self-organization of the company and its readiness for holacracy,and recommend a compromise variant of using holacratic principles for Russian IT.

English-Russian Voice-Over Translation as a Means of Teaching a Foreign Language at a University

The article analyzes and evaluates the English-Russian voice-over translation of video materials based on neural networks of one of the leading Russian IT companies. The authors consider this technical segment for possible use in the practice of teaching a foreign language at a university. Examples of voice-over translation of popular-science and colloquial style videos and typical mistakes in conveying meaning are given. Conclusions are drawn about the possible introduction of the option under consideration, mainly in the methodology of teaching translation to students of linguistic universities and faculties and its usefulness for people who do not speak English during the initial acquaintance with various kinds of video content.

Digital Attaches in the System of Ensuring Economic Security of the Russian Federation: Using Digital Platforms and Ecosystems as an Example

The study deals with the issue of forming a strategy for the activities of digital attaches, which are currently being gradually formed at some diplomatic missions of Russia. It is emphasized that the economic security of the country in the context of digital transformations will largely be determined by a competent and balanced policy to protect the interests of Russian business abroad. The object of our research can be identified as the activities of digital attaches aimed at supporting Russian IT companies. At the same time, emphasis is placed on the fact that a number of wellknown Russian IT companies are forming their own digital platforms. The subject of the study is the mechanism of interaction between digital attaches and domestic developers and owners of digital platforms. It is assumed that smoothed work in this direction will contribute to the achievement of the tasks assigned to digital attaches. The author focuses on the fact that in the process of building work with digital platforms, it is necessary to take into account such important factors as the specifics of the economic life of the country where the digital attaches are based, as well as national legal norms regulating business. The author analyzes domestic and foreign scientific literature on the regulation of digital platforms, while emphasizing that the legal mechanism regulating the cooperation of digital attaches and IT companies has not yet received its clear regulatory outline. The study focuses on the fact that the effective activity of digital attaches is an important factor in ensuring the economic security of the country.

Influence of Top Management’s Human Capital on Efficiency of Adaptation of Russian IT Companies to Cancel Culture and Structural Crisis

Since March 2022 Russian companies have faced a structural crisis, with the IT industry being the most affected. The paper investigates the impact of quality of top management’s human capital (HC) in the domestic IT companies on the effectiveness of their adaptation to this crisis. The novelty of the paper is underpinned by (1) an insufficient number of relevantstudies at times of permanent structural crises; and (2) analysis of the entire top management team. The results showed that the HC of top managers moderately and positively impacted the effectiveness of companies’ adaptation to crisis. No difference in the strength of impact of CEO HC and HC of the rest of the team was discovered. Such HC qualities as (1)young age; (2) taking office before the crisis; (3) experience in international companies; (4) experience in IT industry; and (5) openness to stakeholders were the most instrumental in promoting the adaptation to crisis.

Dataset Analysis of the Risks for Russian IT Companies Amid the COVID-19 Crisis

The motivation for this research was to strive towards specifying the risks for businesses under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic and crisis in the IT sector in Russia. This paper is aimed at performing a dataset analysis of the risks for Russian IT companies amid the COVID-19 crisis. The sample contains the top 100 largest IT companies in Russia in 2020 and covers the data on these companies for 2019–2020. The influence of the COVID-19 crisis pandemic on the risks for IT companies in Russia is assessed with the help of the authors’ methodological approach to the dataset analytics of companies’ risks with the use of the method of trend analysis, analysis of variance and the hierarchical synthesis concept by T. Saaty. A specific feature of the authors’ methodological approach is its taking into account of the pre-crisis level of risks for companies. Due to this, the authors’ methodological approach allows for the most precise and correct determination of the scale and character of the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and crisis on the risks for companies. The role of human resources in the management of risks for IT companies under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic and crisis in Russia is determined with the help of regression analysis; the regularity of the change in revenue, and the position of the company in the ranking (its competitiveness) in terms of the growth of the number of employees, are described mathematically. The key conclusions are that the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and crisis on the risks for IT companies in Russia in 2020 was weak, and human resources played an important role in risk management. The theoretical significance of the paper lies in its rethinking of human resources management of Russian IT companies from the position of risk amid the COVID-19 crisis. The practical significance of the authors’ conclusions lies in the discovery of the high risk resilience of Russian IT companies to the pandemic and the formation of their risk profile amid the COVID-19 crisis, in which the main, though low, risk is the risk of reduction in competitiveness, whilst the risk of reduction in revenue is minimal.

Comparative analysis of professions in the field of artificial intelligence based on the competence approach

Introduction. Recently, the tasks of providing the rapidly developing field of artificial intelligence (hereinafter – AI) with professional personnel have become really urgent. Due to the insufficient saturation of the labor market with such specialists, training is the main way to solve the problem. Therefore, in order to do this, it is necessary to answer the question of how many and in which professions specialists in the field of AI should be trained, taking into account the presence of overlapping competencies in these professions. The lack of generally recognized terminology in the names of professions and competencies in the field of AI does not allow for the correct assessment of personnel needs by direct monitoring of employers' vacancies and makes it difficult to plan the training of specialists for the field of AI. The purpose of this particular study is to systematize the competencies and professions in the field of AI based on a comparative analysis of the professional competencies of the relevant professions in leading Russian IT-companies with the professional competencies of the relevant professions of the labor market of the European Union and the USA Materials and methods. The materials of the study were as follows: data from Internet sites for job search about current vacancies in the basic specializations of the IT-industry. The basis of the Russian list of professions and competencies in the field of Data Science is a family of six specialties in the field of AI, formed by the “Alliance”, the center for the development of artificial intelligence in Russia, uniting leading Russian IT-companies. While forming the list of competencies for AI professions in the USA, the information resource of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics was used; as for professions in the European Union – the information resource “European multilingual classification of skills, competencies and professions” was taken as the recourse of the material. Results of the study. Within the framework of the conducted research, a scientifically based methodology was developed for comparing professions from different national classifiers of professions based on a competence-based approach. With its help, matrices of correspondence of the Alliance's professions with the professions of the USA and the European Union were built. For each profession of the Alliance, the professions closest in competence in the labor market in the field of AI in the European Union and the United States were identified. As a result of the analysis, it was revealed that only one profession “Data Scientist” (among six “families” of basic professions considered by the Alliance) coincides with foreign ones by name. As for the other professions of the Alliance, the proportion of coincidence of third-level competencies in the professions of the European Union and the United States ranges from 0.33 to 1. Discussion and conclusion. The results of a comparative analysis of professions and competencies may be used for the vacancies search on job search sites. A quantitative assessment of vacancies will allow to build a forecast of personnel needs in the AI-field. The results obtained can be useful in the development of professional standards for professions and, as well as educational programs for training specialists in the AI-sphere.

Специфика продуктового менеджмента ИТ-индустрии России в условиях санкций

The article considers the consequences of foreign sanctions for the Russian information technology sector, the main measures to support the development of information technologies and digitalization of the country as a whole by the Russian government, features of the third package of measures to support domestic IT companies in 2022. The need to increase the competitive potential of the company through the use of a professional product manager or product manager is justified. The role of specialists of this type in Russia in the context of international market changes, features of the evolution of Russian product managers, the potential and points of growth of this profession were studied. The specifics of the work of the product manager in Russian companies are described. A deep analysis of the state of affairs in the domestic IT industry in the context of import substitution, acceleration of digitalization processes, features of the development of Russian software companies, online trading, marketplaces, features and measures of state support for these companies was carried out. Based on the statistical studies carried out, the prospects for the development of domestic IT companies are shown, which relied on the development of their own technologies due to the creation of current cyber-physical systems and modern competitive software, an analysis of the fastest growing Russian IT companies in 2022, the revenue turnover of the Russian IT sector over the past year was carried out. We considered the potential of the Russian IT business in the process of digital transformation, including due to the growth rate of net profit of new Russian leaders in this industry, awareness of the importance of the role of the product manager in the work of domestic IT companies.

Econometric analysis of relationship between intellectual capital and gross profit margin of Russian IT companies from 2017 to 2020

Subject. The article addresses relationship between intellectual capital and operating efficiency of IT companies. Objectives. Our aim is to conduct econometric analysis of the impact of intellectual capital and its individual elements on the profit margin of Russian IT companies. Methods. We employ methods of econometric analysis. The sample comprised 323 IT companies operating in Russia from 2016 to 2020. Results. We built two blocks of linear regression models with random and fixed annual and panel effects. For models of the first block, were selected indicators of structural (SCE), human (HCE), relational (RCE) capital efficiency and capital employed efficiency (CEE) as exogenous variables. The regression analysis showed that CEE and SCE have a significant positive effect on profit marginality. For models of the second block, we used a complex indicator, combining SCE, HCE, and RCE. We established that intellectual capital in general is positively associated with gross profit marginality of Russian IT companies. Conclusions. The study revealed that Russian IT companies effectively use the supporting intangible infrastructure and total assets. However, human capital, being the most significant resource of this industry, is used inefficiently and provides no potential for profit. Relationships with counterparties (consumers, suppliers, and other stakeholders), expressed in RCE, did not show a significant relationship with profitability either. Practical application of the findings may help improve business processes and management of intangible resources of IT companies.

Assessment of the Impact of Intellectual Capital on the Profitability of IT Companies in Russia

The aim of the study is a quantitative assessment of changes in the indicators of the effectiveness of Russian IT companies measured by the return on assets depending on changes in intellectual capital (IC) and its specific elements. The researc

Manager from an executor: the experience of transforming employees of Russian IT companies

Manager from an executor: the experience of transforming employees of Russian IT companies

Возможности и перспективы продвижения российских IT-технологий, искусственного интеллекта и кибербезопасности в страны АСЕАН

The purpose of the study is to determine the prospects for the export of Russian information technologies (IT) and cooperation in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity with the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The article discusses the request of the ASEAN countries in the field of AI and cybersecurity, the level of development of the digital economy in this region and its impact on the prospects for Russian IT-exports; in addition, the structure and dynamics of Russian IT-exports to the world market are presented. The scientific novelty lies in the reassessment of the prospects for cooperation between Russia and the ASEAN countries in the field of IT, AI and cybersecurity. As a result, the factors influencing the competitiveness of Russia in the field of IT were identified and the leading Russian IT-companies and their experience in the global market were analyzed. Based on this, a conclusion was made about the prospects for the export of Russian IT and cooperation in the field of AI and cybersecurity with the ASEAN countries.

Специфика и проблемы налогового стимулирования малых ИТ-компаний в России

Since 2021, Russian IT companies have been stimulated by enhanced tax incentives, which allow one to pay corporate income tax only to the federal budget as well as pay social security contributions at a heavily reduced rate. While medium and large businesses get benefits from the new government support, small enterprises are traditionally supported through the simplified taxation system, which offers alternative tax measures. For this reason, the purpose of the article is to identify problems which could arise when new incentives are distributed in the economy. Based on the structure of the IT industry and the conditions of reducing taxes, it is argued that fairness of taxation is broken as small IT (software) companies constitute the majority and, at the same time, have little chance to be included in the tax incentive scope. The new privileges addressed to IT companies actually favor some businesses with high turnovers, and even the favorable simplified taxation system cannot completely eliminate distortions in the tax burden level. Along with this, sub-central governments have a strong motivation to raise their tax revenues within the framework of vertical tax competition. There is a need to make the tax system more neutral as well to harmonize tax regimes, and the article provides relevant proposals.

ОСОБЕННОСТИ ПРОЦЕССА ЦИФРОВИЗАЦИИ НАЛОГОВОГО УЧЕТА РОССИЙСКИХ IT-КОМПАНИЙ

At the present stage, the formation of a new quality of life for Russian citizens and the creation of conditions for active economic growth is based on the process of digitalization. The article considers and defines the features of the process of digitalization of tax accounting of Russian IT companies. The subject of the study is the promising areas of activity of these companies in the process of digitalization of the economy. The methodological basis of the study was made up of general scientific methods of cognition, supplemented by synthesis. In the process of writing the article, special attention is paid to the prospects for the introduction of new information tax technologies in the framework of digitalization of tax monitoring and control, which will increase tax collection and eliminate any possibility of conducting illegal business activities. The conducted research allowed us to justify the need for further digital transformation of the mechanisms of interaction between tax authorities and taxpayers such as IT companies.

COMPETITIVENESS OF NATIONAL IT COMPANIES IN THE NEW ENVIRONMENT

In the current conditions of the economic downturn, the majority of national companies operating in the field of information entrepreneurship have identified a number of problems related to the assessment of competitors and the need to maintain their own competitiveness. The purpose of the study: on the basis of new global trends, to analyze the competitiveness of domestic IT-firms operating in a post- pandemic situation. The article presents an overview of the current state of Russian IT-companies and their competitive positions based on content analysis and descriptive method. The main results of the study: the general trends and trends in the development of the processes of competitiveness of Russian IT-companies are reflected; it is shown that the information sector has been affected by the non-economic factors of the pandemic, which should be considered not only as threats, but also as opportunities for finding new competitive niches; it is noted that national players, being present in the global market of information goods and services, are actively involved in the global digital space. The result of the study is the conclusion that domestic companies are inferior to foreign competitors in certain positions, but also have competitive advantages in the field of generating and promoting relevant digital technologies of Industry 4.0. The study makes a theoretical contribution to the study of national information sectors and allows us to expand our understanding of the practice of ensuring the competitiveness of IT companies in the changed conditions of 2020-2021.

Management vs Self-Regulation in Russian IT Companies in Search of an Effective Way to Run a Business While Promoting Happiness in the Modern World: Empirical Study Results

Most of the IT companies all around the world are increasingly turning to the project management structure, in particular, the SCRUM and Agile models, however, there are also those who are keen on a strict hierarchical model and prefer to strengthen the vertical of power, and in some cases tighten control through bureaucratization processes. Business efficiency depends on the specifics of the implementation of each specific model and many additional factors. The empirical part of our research is dedicated to identifying the direct correlation between various aspects of the management structure functioning and thorough assessments of employees’ satisfaction and business success.We think that our work will be useful for any professionals of IT industry: project managers, as well as owners of new companies and developers of start-ups and also managers of more mature businesses which are facing crises of effectiveness or problems with employees satisfaction.

Evaluation of the Imitation Potential of IT Companies Using the Cobb-Douglas Production Function

The relevance of the study has been determined by the acceleration of innovation growth, which encourages companies to use imitation strategies in response to disruptive technological changes.The study used the Cobb-Douglas production function to evaluate the effectiveness of the used production factors of Russian IT companies. A high-quality 3-cluster model of IT companies was built, as well as highly significant two-factor production functions of Cobb-Douglas, which made it possible to identify the contribution of the main factors (wage and fixed assets) to the production volume (revenue) for each cluster.

Effects of Influence of Economic and Technological Development of IT Segment on Digital Transformation of Retail Trade

This paper presents the results of measuring intersectoral economic and technological effects, allowing to determine the degree of dependence between the segments that produce digital technologies and implement them. The basis for empirical calculations was the survey data of leaders among Russian IT companies and retail organizations on the current state of digital and business activity. The purpose of the work is to identify the presence and establish the strength of the relationship between these segments in terms of existing localized industry effects, expressed in the transfer of technology from the IT segment to retail. The authors of the work identified and tested several specific hypotheses, the general meaning of which was to suggest that retail trade in the current stage of economic development in Russia is susceptible to emerging trends in the rapidly changing IT services sector that can quickly and efficiently respond to the growth of the IT companies digital activity by increasing investments in digital technologies and increasing the intensity of their application in business processes. In particular, hypotheses were tested regarding the impact of business activity in the IT services segment on the growth of electronic commerce turnover, the use of online marketplaces, Big Data technologies, virtual and augmented reality technologies in retail trade organizations, as well as hypotheses suggesting a connection between the development of mobile applications in the IT segment and the use of mobile technologies, expectations regarding the growth of electronic goods turnover in retail organizations. The obtained results confirmed the majority of the hypotheses put forward, thereby supporting the authors’ general assumption about the existence of specific effects of the development of the IT segment on intersectoral technological transfers, revealed the existing specifics of penetration and spread of modern technological trends in trade, and also showed that the IT is currently important component in the process of digital transformation of Russian retail trade organizations.