Strategic Issues Research Articles

Developing sustainable logistic strategies in the context of cognitive biases

Cognitive biases often occur even in the decision- making process of highly qualified company managers due to the drive for efficiency and time pressure in operations. At the same time, there are also long-term strategic decisions where time pressure is no longer a factor, and yet cognitive bias appears, which has to be considered properly. In strategic issues, decision- makers tend to see their wishes and desires rather than the objective reality. The proposed system of fuzzy indicators based on technical and objective data supports decision-making between logistics strategies by mitigating cognitive biases, which is extremely important in the logistics field, where the decisions have to be made partly based on subjective, vague, or uncertain parameters.

МЕТОДИ ДЛЯ НАПРАЦЮВАННЯ, АНАЛІЗУ ТА ПРОГНОЗУВАННЯ ВАРІАНТІВ УПРАВЛІНСЬКИХ РІШЕНЬ В ПРОЦЕСІ ЇХ ПРИЙНЯТТЯ

Methods for managerial decision-making in the process of decision-making are considered. Management decisionmaking tools are studied in the field of management and analysis. They include methods, models and approaches that help managers make informed decisions. Decision-making in any organization is a key task. It begins with determining the type of activity and strategic issues, without which the existence of the enterprise becomes impossible. Managers are guided by decision-making to minimize possible risks and achieve strategic goals. To make optimal decisions, it is necessary to carefully analyze all existing risks and optimize the decision-making process. To achieve successful solutions to these problems, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive analysis of management decision-making methods. It is noted that the effectiveness of a decision depends on the decision-making methods. Since the stages of development and adoption of a management decision form a full cycle of the management decision-making process. At the same time, the composition and content of the stages depends on the specific management problem. The effectiveness of a managerial decision is determined by the methods used in the process of its adoption and implementation at an enterprise. The stages of development and adoption of a managerial decision from the point of view of different scientific schools are considered. The basic requirements for a managerial decision in the process of management activity are characterized, namely, realism, specificity, informativeness, and consistency. The peculiarities of applying these terms in relation to management decisions made at an enterprise are analyzed. A review of existing technologies for developing and making management decisions in the enterprise management system is carried out. The range of research methods for substantiating the adoption, development and implementation of a management decision is grouped into classes. The article also discusses the variety of decision-making methods, from those based on the intuition and experience of managers to formalized methods that use mathematical tools. This work is important for understanding and improving the decision-making process in various areas of management.

How to use generative AI as a human resource management assistant

Human resource management (HRM) professionals are often overworked, and their jobs are increasingly complex. Therefore, many suffer from job burnout, and only some can allocate the necessary time to strategic issues. We show how generative artificial intelligence (AI), particularly ChatGPT, can be a helpful HRM assistant for both strategic and operational tasks. But, for this to happen, we demonstrate the need to create valuable prompts that result in specific, helpful, and actionable HRM recommendations. Accordingly, we provide eight guidelines for creating high-quality and effective prompts and illustrate their usefulness in general across eight critical HRM domains and in more depth in the particular areas of workforce diversity and strategic HRM. We also provide recommendations and demonstrate how to implement a critical verification process to check on ChatGPT’s suggestions. We conclude with a list of “dos and don’ts” and that when used by sufficiently trained HRM professionals, it is a very useful tool because it helps complete tasks faster, hopefully reducing their job burnout and allowing them to allocate more time to strategic and long-term issues. In turn, these benefits will likely result in helping achieve the as-of-yet-unrealized aspiration of “having a seat at the table.”

ЧЕЛОВЕЧЕСКИЙ КАПИТАЛ КАК ОСНОВА ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ ИННОВАЦИОННО-ИНФОРМАЦИОННОЙ ЭКОНОМИКИ РЕГИОНА: СИСТЕМНО-КРИТЕРИAЛЬНЫЙ ПОДХОД

Focusing on current dynamics, the article examines trends in regional development and innovation activity in Russia. In the context of the growing role of local communities in innovation processes, their influence on the overall economic situation in the country is emphasized. The variety of unique features of each region, which can become the basis for innovative development, is analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the negative impact of economic inequality between regions on the effective use of human capital and the formation of a national innovation system. It is noted that economic inequality can be a significant obstacle to economic growth, both at the regional and federal levels. In the context of global practice and historical precedents, the article discusses the impact of economic isolation on accelerating the development of innovative technologies. Data from a Bloomberg study on world leaders in innovation are presented, while Russia occupies a relatively modest place. The need for a systematic approach to regional development and innovation policy to effectively manage economic challenges and incentives is emphasized. The article emphasizes the importance of developing innovation systems, including supporting innovation infrastructure and stimulating innovation activities. Strategic issues such as international competition, the role of human capital in economic development, and resource management with a long-term perspective are also discussed. The complex nature of human capital and its impact on the economic and social dynamics of society are highlighted. The importance of investments in education, healthcare and innovation to stimulate economic growth is noted. The article also discusses the challenges and difficulties in managing human capital in a rapidly changing economic and technological environment. To develop models of human capital development, the authors recommend taking into account its unique characteristics, as well as the principles that ensure the effective functioning of human capital development models and allow the transformation of theoretical concepts into specific practical recommendations and actions based on available data.

Innovation Roadblocks: Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in Indonesian Batik Design Collaborations

The handicraft industry in Indonesia is one of the three subsectors that contribute significantly to the country’s GDP. Among other creative industry subsectors, handicrafts (particularly the Batik industry in this case) have the highest labor force multiplier. Despite MSMEs contributing 60% to the national GDP, the productivity of micro enterprises is still much lower than that of small and medium enterprises. This issue of low micro-scale productivity may be attributed to the lack of skills and human resource development, as well as ineffective management of government assistance for MSMEs. The batik craft industry, which has received recognition from UNESCO, is predominantly composed of micro-scale enterprises. Therefore, it is crucial to identify the factors that hinder the development of designs among micro-scale batik MSMEs. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that hinder collaboration in the development of micro-scale batik MSME designs. The study uses an interview method with snowball sampling techniques, focusing on East Java, the Special Region (Daerah Istimewa, DI) of Yogyakarta, and East Kalimantan Provinces in Indonesia. The results reveal several factors that hinder design innovation in micro-scale batik MSMEs in these regions. The most influential factors are strategic, structural, human resources, market-related, government-related, and community-related issues. Internal factors include limited capital, minimal design knowledge, education, and work experience, while external factors include insufficient government training facilities, a lack of understanding of consumer preferences, and competition with other batik artists due to similarities in motif designs.

Mit Prinzipienethik aus der Plattformfalle. Ein Verfahren für Digitalstrategie und erneuerte Legitimation der öffentlich-rechtlichen Medien

Based on the conflicts that arise for journalism due to platformization, the article presents an approach with which it should be possible to justify, in terms of media ethics, whether and how public service media (PSM) may create content for commercial platforms. Principlism is proposed as a suitable method for this purpose, in which values function as goals for action and are specified as rules for action in the form of norms. This approach provides a framework both for specific use cases and for strategic digital legitimisation issues. The integration of ethical principles into organisational structures and processes of PSM is presented here as a promising perspective to ensure sustainable legitimacy and to better identify and reduce dependencies upon platforms.

ОРГАНІЗАЦІЙНІ БАР'ЄРИ ЕФЕКТИВНОЇ КОМУНІКАЦІЇ НА ПІДПРИЄМСТВІ

The article aims to explore the role and essence of organizational barriers that arise in the process of communication within enterprises. It is established that organizational communication is the process of exchanging information and ideas within an organization with the goal of achieving common objectives. Among the five dimensions of organizational structure, organizational centralization and formalization are identified as crucial for enhancing communication efficiency. It is demonstrated that the main organizational barriers in the communication process, stemming from incorrectly defined centralization scales, include the presence of excessive information resources at the top management level, lack of complete information at the operational level, underutilization of human capital at middle and lower management levels, a significant volume of incomplete information, the need to address operational tasks at the top management level, and low levels of organizational independence for lower-level units. Communication barriers associated with excessive formalization encompass the inability to provide unofficial explanations for discrepancies, limitations on the use of knowledge, obstacles to changes and innovations, barriers to integrating employees and organizational units into the communication process, and restrictions on communication with the external environment. Survey results confirm that an excessive level of centralization leads to a spiral of dependency, increasing pressure on lower management structures and further centralization of management. Decentralization ensures the accuracy of decision-making, bringing decision-making closer to the point of problem occurrence, and allows top management to focus on resolving strategic issues. Formalization has a positive impact on the communication process of organizations in the early stages of development and growth. It organizes the flow of information and contributes to its standardization, facilitating the coordination of communication among network participants. The occurrence of barriers to excessive formalization in the communication process depends on the size, maturity, and diversification of the activities of individual organizations.

Recommendations for the use of efficient water resources in mountainous areas and its economic-mathematical model

Taking into account the global nature of this problem, creating modern methods and economic-mathematical models of the use of clean drinking water resources that are inefficiently used in winter and spring in the mountainous regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan, creating an artificial water basin by attracting foreign and national investors by advertising reasonable information about clean drinking water resources taken as the goal of the idea Garasha river area, to ensure the reawakening of nature around the basin, and to create conditions for the establishment of tourist zones in the recreation areas that are expected to be created by people. The next solution of the idea is the construction of model residences for the population living at the risk of floods, and the preliminary project of water supply has been developed with the support of our state and investors. Optimal use of water resources is increasingly recognized as a strategic issue for countries.

Upotreba parcijalnih najmanjih kvadrata (PLS) u strategijskom menadžmentu

The subject of this paper is the analysis of strategic management, with a focus on the impact of innovation and information and communication (IC) resources on a company's entrepreneurial strategy. The paper analyzes the management of strategic issues, with an emphasis on contingency planning and the establishment of an appropriate management system. The aim of the research is to define and measure the impact of innovation and information resources on the business performance of companies, with particular attention to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that face various challenges. The research identified a statistically significant positive relationship between the analyzed variables, concluding that innovation, IC equipment, and an entrepreneurial strategic approach are linked to the business performance of companies.

Drinking water safety and comparison of drinking water characteristics with multi-criteria decision making (mcdm) methods

Food and food security have been a strategic issue for societies throughout human history. Countries tried to be self-sufficient in food, especially in basic foodstuffs. Water safety has become one of the most crucial components in the idea of food safety due to the gradual decrease and pollution of water and water resources, as well as the constant rise in the global population and the need for water. Turkiye seems like a state with lots of water resources. However, due to the drought brought on by climate change, the water needs of the quickly growing population, and the ongoing rise in the amount of water needed in agriculture, the amount of water utilized per person has fallen below the critical level. The problem of drought and water scarcity is expected to deepen in the coming years. In this context, it is seen that the number of enterprises in the packaged water market will increase day by day and the water market will continue to grow. Consumers make a brand choice by looking at the mineral values or the price written on the water bottles. Although many factors are effective in brand selection, many consumers tend to make decisions by looking at the pH value. Not only the pH value but also the minerals in the water have indispensable effects for human life. Therefore, in order to raise awareness of consumers in their preferences, a model was created in which the healthiest water brand is determined by evaluating the properties of bottled water with the standard deviation based MAUT, one of the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods.

The Application of Big Data Analysis in Elderly Oriented Renovation Space Design

In order to understand the application of big data analysis in the design of elderly-oriented renovation spaces, an application study of big data analysis in the design of elderly-oriented renovation spaces has been proposed. The rapid development of the economy has led to the prosperity and spatial expansion of cities. At the same time, social issues such as land scarcity, traffic congestion, environmental pollution, and the uneven allocation of urban spatial resources have led to social polarization, marginalization of the interests of vulnerable groups, and seriously affected the physical and mental health of residents. With the intensification of the aging trend of the world population, aging has become a major global strategic issue. How to create a truly suitable spatial environment for elderly living has become a question worth considering. This article uses methods such as questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews to obtain a large amount of data, analyze the current situation of the living space of the elderly in Changchun City, the physiological and psychological needs, activity characteristics, social interaction characteristics, etc. of the elderly group, and then propose suggestions for the planning and design of the living space of healthy urban elderly.

Разработка методологии исследования эффективности управления сельскохозяйственными вузами Российской Федерации

During a period of growing geopolitical tension and increasing countrywide risks, issues of the country’s food security become especially relevant. Developing the ability to provide the country with agricultural products is a strategic issue that depends on a large number of factors, including the level of development of specialized higher education in the agricultural sector in the region. The purpose of writing the presented work is to develop a unified methodology for studying the effectiveness of management of agricultural universities in the Russian Federation, for which the current rating approaches to assessing the effectiveness of management of scientific and educational organizations were reviewed and systematized. The work explores the methodology and results of current domestic ratings for assessing the effectiveness of agricultural higher educational institutions, and proposed the author's ranking approach based on the assessment of the development index of regional higher schools for agricultural educational institutions.

Model Analysis of Gated Recurrent Unit for Multivariate Rice Price Forecasting

Food security, especially in the agricultural sector in the form of food price stability of rice as a national food ingredient is a strategic issue for Indonesia. Rice price forecasting is needed to mitigate rising rice food prices. Rice price fluctuations can be caused by internal factors such as bad weather or external factors such as the low selling price of rice, resulting in losses for farmers. This study aims to carry out multivariate rice price forecasting in DKI Jakarta by involving rice prices, weather, economic, and health factors using the Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) algorithm where the accuracy test is based on the MAPE value between forecasting results and actual data. As a result of the GRU algorithm for multivariate rice price forecasting, the MAPE for training and testing is 0.964% and 2.628%, indicating that all models in the measurement category are very well represented.

A smart energy scheduling under uncertainties of an iron ore stockyard-port system using a rolling horizon algorithm

Planning the efficient use of electricity in iron ore stockyard operations is a strategic issue due to the constant rise in energy prices nowadays and its considerable impact on production costs. This paper proposes a new large-scale mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model for stockyard-port energy planning solved by the energy scheduling algorithm and a commercial solver to minimize power costs. The proposed nonlinear optimization problem is solved through an equivalent MILP model to minimize the flows of power and material between the stockyard-port equipment. The electrical machines are powered by different electricity energy providers, and eventually consume storage energy from batteries. The energy scheduling algorithm allows the planner to find a solution that saves electrical power costs in real time under unforeseen operational changes. Numerical results obtained through the proposed algorithm with a scheduling horizon of 24 h, show that the presence of the battery in the stockyard-port electrical grid allows for an energy cost reduction of up to 17.88% compared to the case without the battery. The energy scheduling based on rolling horizon algorithm provides feasible solutions near to the optimal solution, with an average distance of 1.78%, and it has an affordable computation time in instances where the MINLP model is not able to provide a solution.

Analysis of Netflix’s Strategic Issues, Challenges and Opportunities

Netflix has revolutionized the over-the-top media landscape since it is an evolution from a DVD rental service to a global streaming behemoth. With a valuation exceeding $200 billion and an enormous subscriber base, the company has fundamentally altered the way we consume and produce content. Nevertheless, in an ever-changing digital entertainment ecosystem, Netflix confronts a myriad of strategic issues that challenge it is market dominance. Firstly, Netflix faces fierce competition from an expanding list of streaming services like Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO Max, and Apple TV+. Each competitor brings it is unique content library and technological advancements, chipping away at Netflix’s early-adopter advantage. Secondly, the ballooning costs of original content production further strain it is financials. As consumers demand high-quality, diverse content, Netflix must invest heavily in both licensing existing properties and developing new ones. Regulatory challenges present another hurdle, significantly as Netflix expands globally. Different countries have varying censorship laws, data protection regulations, and even tax laws affecting digital services. Navigating this complex regulatory landscape is crucial for sustained growth. Furthermore, global expansion introduces the challenge of catering to diverse audience preferences, requiring a more localized approach to content curation and customer engagement. In light of these challenges, this essay aims to offer a comprehensive strategic roadmap for Netflix, addressing aspects such as content diversification, regulatory adaptability, technological innovation, user experience improvements, ethical data utilization, and sustainability.

Вопросы стратегического управления в нефтегазовых компаниях при освоении арктических месторождений

The current development of hydrocarbon fields in the Arctic necessitates innovation-driven solutions regarding technology and management. While extensive production experience exists in onshore projects, the complexities of offshore hydrocarbon fields, such as limited access and underdeveloped infrastructure, demand strategic decisions in an unstable market environment. Long-term in nature, these decisions require a comprehensive application of strategic management methods and tools. The irreversibility of economic processes associated with substantial investments and the potential for major financial losses in project failure underscore the importance of employing strategic management methodologies. Global factors such as fluctuating oil prices, geopolitical challenges, the rise of green energy, and heightened corporate social responsibility expectations in the oil and gas sector necessitate a reevaluation of fundamental principles in strategic management systems. This study employs logical and general research methods to classify and synthesize relevant literature, identifying strategic management issues and evolving principles and approaches in strategy formulation. Technical and economic aspects of project implementation onshore and offshore are highlighted. The article argues for the revision of strategic management principles in Arctic oil and gas projects, particularly in offshore field development. Conceptual models of functional strategies for business units implementing onshore and offshore projects are proposed.

Barriers to sustainable and circular product design – A theoretical and empirical prioritisation in the European automotive industry

Despite the increasing availability of tools and methods for sustainable and circular product design (DfS), their uptake in practice is slow. This is also true in the automotive industry, where DfS is an important measure for addressing the industry's negative environmental and social impacts. To facilitate DfS implementation, this paper uses an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and offers, for the first time, a classification and prioritisation of the barriers that need to be overcome when implementing DfS into vehicle development processes. Based on a systematic literature review and on an expert workshop, the top 15 DfS barrier factors were derived and divided equally into five groups, following a multi-level structure. These factors and groups formed the input for a survey-based analytic hierarchy process with 38 European industry experts. The results show that strategic issues are the most important barriers, followed by the group of operational, personal, external, and tool-related barriers. Among the 15 barrier factors identified, the top five were (1) an unclear link to profitability, (2) lack of top management support, (3) difficulties in handling trade-offs, (4) high operational costs, and (5) a lack of integration of DfS into corporate strategy. The results indicate that while external constraints already exert pressure on automotive companies, they still face particular challenges when attempting to integrate sustainability into corporate strategies and in transferring such strategies to DfS activities at the operational level. The study results may be used to inform managerial policy and further research.

Corn harvesting time based on growth curve and antioxidant enzyme activity

ABSTRACT China has a large population and is also a big agricultural country. Food security is an important strategic issue related to China’s national economy and people’s livelihood. Corn is one of the main food crops in China, its yield and quality are closely related to China’s growing grain demand. Improper field harvest, failure to dry out in time, and qualitative changes during the storage process will lead to yield loss. In this study, the issue of timely corn harvest, the growth curve, and the antioxidant enzyme activity of corn kernels were measured throughout the harvest process. The mathematical models of the change of moisture content, dry weight, and antioxidant enzyme activity were established, and the optimal harvest period was determined. The results showed that the moisture content of corn kernels decreased with the increase in harvest time. With the increase in harvest period, the dry weight of corn kernels accumulated in the early stage, when the dry weight of corn kernels entered the ripening period on October 3rd, the accumulation of dry weight tended to be a maximum and no longer increased. After that, there was even a decrease in dry weight which was called hidden loss, the trend of four varieties dry weight was different. The antioxidant enzyme activities of POD (peroxidase), CAT (catalase), and SOD (superoxide) of corn kernels were tended to rise first and then decline, there were significant differences between different varieties. The optimal harvest period for each corn variety was determined according to the change of moisture content, dry matter weight, and antioxidant enzyme activity.

Opportunity of Integrated Sustainable Tourism

Urbanization led to the extension of the administrative boundaries of the city of Bogor to the villages border in Bogor Regency. This process forms physical, social, and economic interactions between cities and villages, including creating integrated tourism opportunities between cities and districts. However, there are many challenges faced, including the packaging of tourist attractions, weak management of tourism destinations, disparities in the development of tourism areas, and others. This study aims to identify the potential and challenges of sustainable tourism, ecotourism, and urban tourism that are integrated within the framework of city and district linkages; and strategic issues that can become opportunities for development planning. The research method used qualitative descriptive analysis with research objects on opportunities and attractions of sustainable tourism, ecotourism or urban tourism (urban tourism), and amenities in Bogor City and Bogor Regency, which are analyzed using the five pillars of sustainable.

Influence of selected management factors on strategic planning process in secondary schools in Lagos state

For quality education delivery, quality assessment and suitable policy environment to achieve the goal of secondary schools’ education, principals should transform their schools through development and appropriate implementation of strategic plans. This study investigated influence of selected management factors on strategic planning process in secondary schools in Education District VI Area of Lagos State. Three research questions and one hypothesis were generated for the study. The study employed descriptive survey design. A sample of one hundred and twenty (120) respondents was used. Instrument tagged “Management factors and strategic planning Questionnaire” (MFSPQ) was used to elicit information from respondents. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) of 0.81 was obtained as the reliability coefficient. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, standard deviation t-test statistical methods). The findings showed that constraint of financial practices, personnel, inability to establish school implementation team, among others affect implementing their schools’ strategic plans by 59.2%. Analyses revealed that there is a significant difference between urban and rural schools in terms of the problems they encounter in the implementation of strategic plan (t= -.689, df = 118, p<0.05).The study recommended among others that schools’ management and educational stakeholders should carry out a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis and identify strategic issues affecting the schools; All stakeholders such as SBMC, Principals and staff should be trained in the art of preparation, implementation and continuous evaluation of strategic plans. Government should also assist the rural schools with necessary facilities to enhance the procedure for strategic plans.