Remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic on the example of the Republic of Kazakhstan: employers’ opinion

The conducted field studies made it possible to determine the degree of COVID-19 pandemic influence on the enterprises’ activities in the East Kazakhstan region, and found out the opinion of employers about the forms of state support for maintaining employment when switching to a remote work format. The researchers faced a number of tasks to determine the degree of COVID-19 pandemic impact on the activities of enterprises in the region. It was necessary to find out how the restrictions on profits were affected and what measures were taken by employers to reduce costs, as well as to identify the degree of remote work impact on productivity. The research is based on the methodology proposed by the International Labor Organization to identify the risks of employers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed questionnaire was adapted to local conditions. The survey was conducted among employers of one of Kazakhstan industrial cities at a time when not all restrictions were lifted, which allowed authors to obtain reliable information. Studies have confirmed the hypothesis that digitalization provides an increase in the efficiency of a modern enterprise and is able to maintain the level of employment under the constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, provided that an environment is created for its application. The risks identified during the survey can be studied and taken into account by public authorities, financial organizations and other stakeholders when planning measures to restore the real sector of the economy from the crisis

Review of global and Russian trends in the hydrogen energy development

In the article, based on a comparative analysis and analytical generalization of publications, program and regulatory documents from different countries, the authors consider the prospects for the development of the hydrogen market. Most publications are currently focused on the technical and technological aspects of hydrogen energy, solving the problem of increasing the efficiency of methods for the production, transportation, distribution and storage of hydrogen fuel. In all countries of the world, the technology for the production of highly environmentally friendly “green” hydrogen is at an early stage, which makes it highly dependent on government initiatives to develop hydrogen projects and government funding of both scientific research in this area and ongoing projects. Peaks of interest in the field of hydrogen energy are associated with changes in the fossil energy markets, which makes the development of this technology unsustainable. Many countries are ready to invest in the development of hydrogen energy, and, given the growth in demand for hydrogen, are ready to export it at an affordable price. The results of the study indicate that the trends in the development of hydrogen energy in Russia are fundamentally aligned with global trends. At the same time, the high resource and scientific and technological potential allows Russia to fully focus its strategy on its implementation, not only developing the domestic market, but also acting as an exporter of hydrogen and expanding international cooperation in this area

Relationship marketing: development of theory and practice

The article studies theory and practice of relationship marketing development based on the study of theoretical models’ evolution that conceptualize relationship marketing to a certain extent, taking it beyond traditional marketing complex. Further development takes place considering modern approaches to building relationships between a supplier of goods and services with consumers and partners in the context of further digitalization and “internetization” of business communications, transformation of CRM into CMR strategies of companies, network forms of business organization development, and transition from a product-centric to a client-centric structure. The prospects for relationship marketing development aimed at overcoming risks of new forms of organization, collaboration of business structures and strengthening their advantages, affirmation of consumer’s role as a direct participant in the creation of consumer value in consumer markets transformation, as well as wide spread of business ecosystems integrating the advantages of virtual business and a network form of organization have been determined, opening new opportunities for expanding collaborative innovations and obtaining a synergistic effect as a result of creating additional consumer value and building long-term multilateral relations