ISSN 1995-459X print E-ISSN 2312-9972 online ISSN 2500-2597 online English
Editor-in-chief Leonid Gokhberg
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2016. vol. 10. No. 3
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Strategies
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7–16
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As the second largest economy globally, China today is one of the drivers for changing the balance of forces worldwide. The country aims to become a global player on the high-tech product market, move from an investment-based to a knowledge-based economy, and become the largest consumer market globally attractive to other major international players, including the European Union. Aware of this trend, the European Commission initiated a foresight study to assess the future of science and innovation in China until 2025, the results of which we present in this paper.The foresight study’s objective was to identify Research and Innovation (R&I) priority areas and their development by 2025, aiming to contribute to the bilateral dialogue between the EU and China with the ultimate goal of a long-term cooperation strategy.Through a combination of desk-study analysis, a delphi study, media scanning, crowd-sourcing platform, and a cross impact analysis, we analysed 16 critical drivers that play a substantial role in transforming China’s R&I landscape. The study showed a correlation between the different factors, and highlighted the strong impact of governance and the national economy on future developments. Taking into account these drivers and some critical uncertainties, we developed four plausible scenarios up to the year 2025. Being aware of these possible scenarios allows us to prepare in advance and establish a successful strategy for the future. |
Innovation
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18–28
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Retail companies today face new challenges with more intensified competition due to the accelerated pace of technological change, more sophisticated management practices, and industry consolidation. Hence, retail companies have shifted their focus from not only boosting sales but also to ways of attracting and retaining customers. This paper offers a new perspective on how to improve the performance of retail organizations by enhancing customer experience. It suggests that customer experience and use of technology are fundamental drivers of consumer loyalty. We propose a new shopping experience model based on a synergic combination of design thinking and marketing intelligence methodologies. The role of technology in customer satisfaction is also integrated into this novel approach. Based on this model, we developed a smartphone app and then applied it to a supermarket located in Monterrey, the third largest city in Mexico.We conclude that technology-based resources can contribute to improving interactions between the store and customers, supporting the latter to make decisions about purchases. However, regardless of how advanced the technology is, these solutions cannot guarantee adding high value to organizations unless an integrated context analysis is used and managers implement appropriate design strategies that factor in customer experiences.The current research has important implications for decision makers in business strategy, marketing intelligence, and strategic foresight, as well as retail practitioners. |
Spatial Development and Innovation: Russian Practice
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34–52
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In the current climate of sanctions imposed against Russia by several countries in 2014, special attention should be given to high-tech sectors of the economy as a key source of import substitution on the domestic market. One of the important policy measures is to support the development of high-tech, specialized clusters by forming new linkages and strengthening existing ones between small and medium-sized businesses, large enterprises, and research organizations. The starting point for an effective cluster policy is to define areas with high potential for clustering of these industries. The paper presents an original method to identify potential clusters and tests the method on Russian regions. We show that most of the state-supported pilot innovative territorial clusters are being developed in regions and sectors that have a high level of cluster potential. A typology of existing clusters depends on the index of clustering potential. We identified regions that have similar or comparatively favourable conditions for creating clusters in the pilot sectors. |
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53–64
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The problem of single-industry towns has become increasingly relevant recently in light of the crises in the Russian and global economy. The present article attempts to examine this issue by using methodological approaches adopted internationally to analyse single-industry towns. At the heart of these approaches is the concept of path dependence, coupled with a method to identify the factors blocking innovation in a search for the so-called new industrial policy. The authors critically reevaluate the situation in single-industry towns, in contrast to the existing assessments that are widespread in Russian language research. Rather than analysing industrial sectoral specialization, they suggest studying the core of economic development i.e. a city’s capacity to upgrade its local production system and to initiate innovative search.The article describes the main principles of new industrial policy, which is vulnerable not so much to a narrow specialization but primarily to a package of technological, political, and cognitive lock-ins. These lock-ins prevent the growth of an innovative sector in single-industry towns and stop local communities from being able to adapt to changing economic conditions. The athors show the possibilities and concrete directions of innovative search in various single-industry towns in Russia. They give recommendations on the key policy instruments that can help overcome the existing lock-ins in monoprofile Russian towns. |
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65–75
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In light of the increasingly complex socio-economic processes and changes, today’s cities as complex systems will not be able to respond to numerous challenges unless they possess a governance model that can flexibly adjust to shifting external conditions. In this regard, there is growing demand for innovative management tools combining solutions from different fields. The ‘smart city’ concept is one of the most sought after. This article analyses the advantages of this concept, the conditions needed, as well as the obstacles for implementing it. We consider the challenges related to becoming a ‘smart city’, the different ways a smart city comes into being, evaluate the future for smart city solutions, as well as assess the current willingness of administrations of Russian cities to adopt this model.From our analysis, we conclude that ‘smart city’ strategies continue in many cases to rely on a narrow, ‘technological’ approach. Such an approach presupposes that the availability alone of smart infrastructure can solve many urban problems and improve the quality of urban life. However, in contrast to the extended, comprehensive approach, it does not address many socio-economic factors and the real needs of the population. Consequently, certain targets remain largely unfulfilled. The implementation of an integrated approach implies a number of conditions, such as the ability to integrate management decisions taken at various levels and predict how changes in one system affect other systems; a focus on interdisciplinary collaboration; and an ability to deal with resistance to changes.A survey conducted by the HSE’s Research Institute for Regional and Urban Planning in 2015 aimed to evaluate the future prospects for establishing the concept of ‘smart city’ in Russian cities. The survey results show that city managers in Russia in general positively perceive the ‘smart city’ approach as a basis for urban development strategies. Yet, the possibilities for implementing it are mostly seen as medium or long-term options. |
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76–90
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Forming the regional space of innovation is accompanied by the simultaneous development of various structures. The contemporary model of innovative development assumes interactions between government, industry, and universities. In this paper, the set of potential links between research organizations and the innovation activity of enterprises is characterized as the innovative space and is seen as a resource for innovation. Obtaining quantitative characteristics of such links and interactions is one of the most difficult tasks in analysing innovation processes. Our hypothesis is that regional innovation depends on the size of the innovation space and on how effectively it is used. The econometric modeling results do not contradict our hypothesis. Our estimates of the size of the innovation space used by regions of Russia when creating new production technologies confirm the high potential value of this resource. Using a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model that we developed, we analysed the innovative elements of regional economies (based on the example of the Republic of Bashkortostan) and quantitatively assessed the effects of different scenarios that aim to improve the socio-economic system. We included an indicator of the effective use of the innovation space for a given region as one of the agents of the CGE model production function. Our results indicate the important role of regional authorities in promoting cooperation between the state, industry, and the research and education communities as well as in developing regional innovation systems. |
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