This article is devoted to topical issues of gender equality in the energy sector. It is a retrospective analysis of the problem of gender equality over the past 50 years in various countries and sectors of the economy. The situation with the improvement of the gender balance in general is changing, but unevenly, which increases the relevance of attention to the gender factor in policy development, particularly in the energy sector. It has been established that in the energy sector, there remain so-called "glass walls" and "glass ceilings" for the development of women's professional careers, which leads to horizontal and vertical segregation. The main barriers to gender balance in the energy sector are highlighted. The institutional conditions for ensuring gender equality in the energy sector have allowed for a more comprehensive view of the problem of gender occupational segregation. A number of institutional problems of gender equality in the energy sector are highlighted and characterized. These include: inconsistency of formal norms of gender equality and existing economic practices; lack of gender mainstreaming in energy policy making due to insufficient attention to social relations; the creation of additional tensions in industrial relations to ensure gender equality; 20 unemployment of able-bodied women due to segregation in the labor market in the energy sector., Using a number of practical proposals for ensuring gender equality at the industrial and company levels, the authors propose a conceptual model of institutional support for gender equality in the energy sector. The implementation of these proposals would help eliminate gender imbalances in the energy sector and promote the development of energy companies on a sustainable basis.
The future success of companies directly depends on their innovative activity, research and development of newly technologies. The article examines global technological trends by comparing the number of patent applications in different fields and the degree of development of prominent business areas. These areas are also identified by the highest-ranking positions of the companies in the annual research of innovation in the world. The study highlights the most patentable technological fields, as well as those with the highest average growth of this indicator. The emphasis is made on the regional context of technology patenting and the most active companies in patenting.
COVID-19 quarantine limitations and their effects on business lead to unpredictable environment changes, which require appropriate entrepreneurs' strategic response. COVID-19 quarantine limitations dramatically affected specialized businesses, which had to adopt for the new environment requirements. COVID19 especially influenced small and medium size entrepreneurs, which are specialized in one industry. Considering the peculiarities of integration and diversification as priority strategies for business development in the new reality, the article proves that specialization in goods or services in one industry for small and medium enterprises is risky and can lead to the bankruptcy of such businesses. Based on official statistics, the changes in Ukrainian small and medium companies' performance during years 2019-2020 were studied across industries. The gathered data provide evidence that companies which specialized in one industry or business activity suffered from the crisis most of all. According to the forecasts, COVID-19 will affect the economy over a number of years. That is why business has to adopt for the new reality. Using diversification strategies for small and medium size businesses is recommended in order to survive and grow.
The article considers the organizational culture of the enterprise as an important internal subsystem and a prerequisite for the effective implementation of its development goals. It is established that the current stage of socio-economic relations requires the intensification of innovation activities aimed at the development and implementation of innovations, both to meet the needs of consumers and to improve internal business processes. Since the innovative activity of the enterprise is largely derived from the type of organizational culture, an important task is to strengthen its innovative component. This involves the formulation and adherence to innovative values, the coverage of which should be reflected in the company’s documents, the system of motivation, transparent communication mechanisms and decisions made by management. The development of the organization’s values should include a component that recognizes innovation as a priority and an important task of the enterprise. Innovative values can be formulated in the following areas: employees; financial activities; customers and consumers; sustainable development of the organization. Conducting “innovative” holidays dedicated to the achievements in innovation, both individual employees and the entire organization, will help to “consolidate” innovative values and increase motivation. The same goal can be promoted by the development of the corporate image of the organization, style, emblem, elements of recognition among competitors, as well as the development of branded clothing for production workers. To intensify innovation, it is important for managers to understand their key role in disseminating and prioritizing innovation among the company’s tasks, establishing contact with employees, effective delegation of tasks, setting standards of conduct in the organization, personnel policy, and system of material and non-material incentives.
In modern dynamic digital conditions of interaction with external stakeholders, the future success of companies directly depends on their innovative activity, effective implementation into business processes of research and development results in the field of new technologies. The rapid development of technologies in recent years accelerates the spread of innovations, which leads to increased competition, so the organization’s ability to implement process innovations to increase its own competitiveness will determine its effectiveness and efficiency in the future. The article explores the main global technological trends by fixating on the technological spheres with the maximum number of published patent applications, as well as the average increase in the number of applications for a ten-year period in the context of technological industries. A comparison of business areas, whose representatives hold the highest rating positions in the annual world researches of innovation and success (brand value) of companies, is carried out. According to the results of the research, the most patentable technological industries are identified, which included, speaking of electrical engineering, the following: electric machines, devices, energy; digital communication and computer technologies. Among chemical technologies, the largest number of published applications was recorded in such sectors as: pharmaceuticals; chemistry of basic materials, chemical engineering. In the field of machine building, the largest number of applications was published in the transport industry sector and in relation to other special machines. The highest values of the average growth of the mentioned indicator are observed in such areas as IT methods in management, food chemistry, ecological technologies, chemical machine building, other special machines and machine-tool building. The regional aspect of technology patenting is also specified, which consists in shifting innovation activity in the emerging technological spheres towards Asian countries. The most active companies in patenting were State Grid Corp of China, Mitsubishi Electric Corp, Toyota Jidosha KK, IBM, Huawei Technologies, Samsung Electronics.
The globalized world predetermines the digital development path of countries. Maintaining and strengthening the competitive advantages of national economies depend to a large extent on opportunities for digitalization-based transformation. A significant number of leading world studies explain the priorities, benefits and risks of the digital evolution of countries, the peculiarities of the formation and development of digital business in various fields. It is also important to determine the success factors of digital transformation processes. Successful examples of digitalization of the world's economies are based on strengthening the institutional environment, encouraging investment in digital enterprises, funding digital research and development, training IT professionals and using digital applications to create jobs, implementing measures to eliminate gender, ethnic and geographical inequalities in access to digital tools. Leading scientists and consultants have studied that the digitalization of the economy is mainly formed through the successful experience of digital transformations of companies. It depends on the ability of organizations to overcome the challenges of adapting business models to digital realities, digital upgrading of business processes and company culture, as well as further digital development of organizations in a competitive environment.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.