The article analyzes the features of the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. There revealed the negative trends associated with the disproportionality of the sectoral structure of the business and the low enterprises’ innovative activity. The key measures of state support for entrepreneurship taken by the Government of the Russian Federation in the period 2020–2021 are considered. The expediency of stimulating small and medium-sized businesses to participate in the process of technology transfer is determined, based on which the main purpose of the study is formulated, associated with the formation of economic and mathematical tools for choosing a technology for further implementation in the practice of SMEs. The research substantiates the expediency of using the fuzzy-multiple simplified method of analysis of hierarchies by Saaty for choosing technological solutions from a finite number of available alternatives, taking into account the interests of small and medium-sized businesses. The proposed approach makes it possible to increase the degree of validity of management decisions by reducing the volume of metamathematical operations and reducing the impact of subjectivism.

Today, digital transformation has become a strategic development priority for many advanced industries, including transportation. There are high expectations for cost reduction, increased product quality consistency, and improved manageability of production as a whole. However, the optimistic expectations of many executives do not take into account the changing industry risks that can seriously affect the outcome of digitalization.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the impact of the digitalization process of transport on related industry risks. The theoretical basis of the article is universal organizational science of A. Bogdanov. The object of the study is freight transport.

The article argues that industry risks can be classified into three subrisks: subrisks associated with industry technology; subrisks of coordination of interests of participants in the transport process; subrisks of the transporter to manage the long-term behavior of freighters and consignees. Quantitative models characterizing each of these subrisks are proposed.

This approach is tested with three examples: The Northern Sea Route, railway transport in Russia, and the sea route from South-East Asia to Europe. The actual subrisk and the quantitative level for each of these objects are determined.

 It is stated that a radical change in the level of risk is possible primarily with the help of digital technology. At the same time, digitalization gives rise to fundamentally new risks, the main of which is the risk of exhausting the differences that have caused macroeconomic flows till now.

This article is a logical continuation of the article written by the authors I. Anokhov and O. Rimskaya “Digital twins and their application in transport economy”, published in № 2.2021 in the journal “Strategic decisions and risk management”.

The digitalization of Industry 4.0 is one of the key challenges facing industrial companies. Modern technologies such as the Industrial Internet of Things, cloud computing and blockchain, big data collection and analytics, machine learning technologies, digital twins, and human-machine interaction have a wide range of effects for industrial companies and can fundamentally change the way they do business or lead to the creation of new ones.

Industry 4.0 technology implementation projects are complex in nature, as they require the involvement of various specialists from a variety of professional fields. At the same time, the development of one or another area of activity within companies can be in different stages, which affects the success or failure of the implementation of certain areas of activity in the framework of projects for the introduction of Industry 4.0 technologies.

Thus, within the framework of the study, the goal is to develop a method that allows you to assess the readiness of industrial enterprises to implement digital technologies.

At the first stage of the study, a list of directions and aspects of digital transformation was developed. At the second stage, using interviews with experts, the degrees of significance of each of the proposed aspects were calculated. In conclusion, the assessment of digital maturity was carried out on a sample of industrial enterprises using a combination of previously obtained expert assessments and surveys within enterprises.

Having analysed the domestic and foreign experience of developing the market of microgeneration based on renewable energy sources (RES) the authors conclude that a smart industrial policy can ensure an expedited transition to zero-carbon economy and stimulate economic growth. Research background – Russia’s commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Research purpose – assessing the prospects and barriers in the development of microgeneration based on RES. Methods – generalising, comparing, analysing empirical evidence of microgeneration market development in Russia and abroad, calculating the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of a solar plant and comparing it with current low voltage tariffs for small and medium-sized businesses. Results and novelty – the authors have determined the most effective industrial policy tools for developing the market of microgeneration based on RES.

Ecosystems as new organizational forms of business, whose activity generates changes in the theory and practice of management, have become a significant phenomenon of the modern economy. The article discusses the features of the strategy development of ecosystems based on digital platforms, the typology of strategies and the directions of classical approaches transformation to the strategic development of ecosystem players. The research methodology includes the analysis of scientific approaches within the framework of the emerging ecosystem theory as well as the systematization of the national digital ecosystems’ practice based on the analysis of real situations from various spheres of Russian business. As a result of the analytical study, the multi-vector strategies of Russian ecosystems are described; the dominant directions of development in transaction ecosystems and decision ecosystems are identified and systematized on the basis of the Ansoff matrix. The directions of transformation of traditional methods and tools of strategic management in a broad context are revealed from the standpoint of market and intra-ecosystem interactions. The obtained results contribute to the urgent scientific discussions concerning the prospects and limitations of the digital ecosystems development, changes in the nature and models of competition, as well as the problems of traditional management methods transformation in the digital economy.

Within the framework of this article, the authors analyze the following areas of entrepreneurial activity in sports industry: sports and health services, including fitness clubs, sports clubs, schools and academies; managing the competitions (leagues); corporate sports; media resources; bookmakers, e-sports. As part of the work, positive examples of entrepreneurship in sports industry were noted, as well as the role, interests and tasks of the state. The directions of innovative development within each of the identified blocks are considered separately. The authors also systematized support measures for development entrepreneurship (small and medium enterprises – SME) and identified its features for the sports industry. Following directions for further research are proposed: analysis of individual markets for entrepreneurship in the sports industry; development and testing of methods for assessing the effectiveness of support measures for SME in sports industry; development of professional training of entrepreneurs for the sports industry.

Currently, more and more companies follow the principles of sustainable development and implement ESG practices in corporate strategies. At the same time, a number of Russian companies experience barriers to implementing ESG practices and do not have the necessary competencies to build work on the implementation of sustainable development practices. In this context, it is important to understand the factors contributing to the implementation of ESG practices in Russian industrial companies.

The research presented in the article is based on the data of a survey of 167 industrial companies. The results obtained allow us to speak about a variety of factors influencing the implementation of environmental, social and managerial initiatives.  Thus, new technologies, consumer expectations, companies’ work on international markets, and regulatory requirements are the key factors in the implementation of environmental practices by industrial companies. Costs of current operations, the presence of a division and/or manager responsible for achieving sustainability goals, investment attractiveness, profitability of operations and operational efficiency improvements are drivers for the introduction of social practices by industrial companies. The implementation of management practices is most influenced by the factors of having units responsible for achieving sustainability goals, consumer expectations, companies’ performance in international markets, investment attractiveness and costs of current operations.

The results of the study lead to conclusions about the need to create specialized units responsible for the implementation of sustainable development goals, to introduce new technologies, to pay attention to employee development and their social security in order to successfully achieve sustainable development goals.