2019 Vol. 11 №4

The implementation of the ‘third mission’ by universities is a significant area of research that has been explored by many Russian and international experts. The ‘third mission’ means engaging with society. Alongside education and research, it is an important factor in the successful development of a contemporary university. In this article, we explore how stakeholder theory, which is successfully employed in the management of large organisations, may be applied for the development of mechanisms for effective implementation of the ‘third mission’ by universities. We identify the main problems in organising stakeholder interactions at Russian universities and analyse possible strategies to improve the situation. We use the examples of Polish, Swedish, and Russian universities to illustrate the practical aspects of interactions at different levels between universities and stakeholders., forms, and methods in the field. Further, we propose a classification of key stakeholders of universities, describe their mutual relations, interests, and resources available to them as well as reflect on stakeholder participation models in educational management. Our findings may contribute to better management at Russian educational institutions and benefit national education authorities.

Russia’s evident ‘turn to the sea’ as regards the economy, the infrastructure, and population distribution patterns is very much in line with the interests and projects of large businesses. This change manifests itself in the development of port and logistics complexes, the port industry, the construction of offshore pipelines, more active offshore oil and gas production, the growing demographic potential of coastal cities, etc. This article aims to explore the localisation of large businesses in Russian coastal zones and to analyse the ‘coastalisation’ of the country’s largest companies. It is shown that ‘coastalisation’ has taken place in forty-two of Russia’s top 100 companies, as rated by the Russian Business Channel. Another objective of the study is to identify large businesses’ industrial and regional priorities in the maritime economy and investigate how they are transformed under the influence of geopolitical and geo-economic factors. Amid active Eurasian integration, which includes the Greater Eurasia project, big businesses are spurring the development of maritime economic complexes and the formation of sea-land economic structures, including cross-border ones. The study identifies which national coastal zones are most attractive to Russian large businesses. Special attention is paid here to the Baltic Sea and the exclave of Kaliningrad where both local (Sodruzhestvo and Avtotor) and interregional/transnational companies (United Shipbuilding Corporation, Gazprom, LUKOIL, etc.) are benefitting from the coastal factor in the socio-economic development.

An important element of the explanation why an entrepreneur carries out high-risk transactions is the evaluation and analysis of her or his inner qualities. Thus, there is a need to identify the connection between entrepreneurial risk and capital. At the regional level, there is an ongoing academic discussion as to who the carrier of entrepreneurial capital is and how this capital can be measured and evaluated in view of its direct influence on the business environment and economic growth opportunities of a certain territory. This article presents the findings of a study into the complex structure of the concept of regional entrepreneurial capital and establishes how this concept is connected with such categories as entrepreneurial spirit, entrepreneurial substance, and entrepreneurial ability. Using an estimate of the number of economic entities (individual entrepreneurs and farmers; small, medium, and large enterprises) per 1,000 population, the study demonstrates cross-regional differences in entrepreneurial activity as a manifestation of entrepreneurial capital, including those in the Northwestern Federal District.