Social Policy and SCR Tools for Managing the Sustainable Development of Enterprises in the Corporate Sector

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The relevance of the social policy of the domestic industry corporate sector is becoming increasingly important in modern reality. The increasing influence of social factors of sustainable development of industrial enterprises is due to the constant formation of new challenges and fluctuations from the external environment. It should be noted that the unemployment rate has significantly decreased, and by the end of 2023, the shortage of personnel in the country’s economy has worsened. According to the Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation T.A. Golikova, the number of unemployed in the country has decreased by more than 1.32 million people. Also, by challenges we mean, among other things, global socio-economic destructive factors and permanent Western socio-economic sanctions aimed at the destruction of the domestic corporate sector, conducting and implementing the information agenda aimed to form a protest field in Russian society, to create a split at the level of interethnic, confessional interactions and the territorial integrity of the state. Modern corporations of the industrial sector form the basis of the socio-economic security of the state, the mining and manufacturing industries are the main employer for millions of citizens of our country. According to Rosstat, the number of people employed in industry amounted to 13.1 million for 2020 [1]. Thus, it can be confidently stated that the study of tools for managing sociopolitical processes in the domestic industrial corporate sector is necessary in modern conditions of development of the Russian state and society. And the need for qualified personnel, given the current trend of increasing their shortage, explains the keen interest in conducting effective social policy in the corporate sector of the domestic economy. The interests of corporations are based on attracting new specialists of the appropriate level of competence, professional training and retraining of their own personnel, and retaining employees by social support methods. With the help of SCR tools, it is possible to increase the motivation of the entire workforce of the industrial sector corporation. It is obvious that enterprises need to strengthen their social policy in the face of increased competition for personnel. For the formation and full disclosure of the topic of this study, the development of the specifics of enterprise management in the corporate sector using social tools, it is necessary to analyze existing approaches. Due to the wide geographical distribution of the studied issues aimed at identifying the effectiveness of corporate social responsibility, it was decided to study the approaches of foreign scientific authors. Thus, the authors Fernando Nipuni and Jayaranjani Sutha, in their work aimed at identifying ways to preserve the duration of labor relations with the corporation while taking into account the peculiarities of the garment industry, identify a number of factors. Firstly, in their opinion, the social policy and responsibility of the corporation is aimed at retaining and preserving the team. Secondly, the relationship between the personal motivation of the labor element and the system of social policy at the enterprise is investigated. Then the internal features specific to the sewing cluster are determined. In general, the team of authors considers the success of the social activities of corporate players regarding the preservation of the workforce and the lack of staff turnover [2]. A group of authors from Slovenia are focusing on the study of the impact of social impact measures on specific stakeholders, partners of corporate enterprises. Also, the authors consider and highlight to a special extent the inclusive orientation of the company, its internal system of organization of relations. Determine the importance of interactions at the vertical and horizontal levels. The comfort of working conditions and its impact on corporate team cohesion and economic efficiency from the cumulative impact of social policy are considered separately. The impact of corporate social policy on society and the external environment of the enterprise is not considered [3]. Turkish researchers analyze the implementation of the social policy of corporations in the energy economic cluster using hybrid management solutions. The team of authors forms a multifactorial approach to the analysis of the processes of the social side of the corporation. The definition of social efficiency is closely linked to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The authors use several mathematical methods to measure the existing situation of an enterprise, such as: the concept of an inaccurate soft set, scaling of numerical scales, and others. The authors draw conclusions by focusing on the processes aimed at investing in technological processes and improving the level of professional qualification of personnel of corporations of fuel and energy clusters [4]. Representatives of the Vietnamese School of Socio-economic research focus on the interconnection of enterprise subsystems, such as: the degree of access to financial resources, indicators of the effectiveness of sustainable development, investment in business innovation processes. The Kronbach alpha index method is used to determine the effectiveness of the author’s model for evaluating the corporation’s social policy. As a feature of the management methodology of representatives of the Vietnamese school, it is possible to determine the orientation to the internal environment of the corporation [5]. After analyzing the representatives of the scientific community of foreign schools, it is possible to determine the direction of the scientific understanding of social policy and corporate responsibility as a social and personnel part of the internal management system. The researchers focus on the concentration of satisfaction of the corporate sector’s workforce with working conditions and the socio-psychological atmosphere at work. Thus, while maintaining morale and the level of professional competence, the possibility of sustainable economic development of the entire corporate industry is achieved. The emphasis is placed on the social, educational, moral, financial and economic subsystems of the internal environment of enterprises in the corporate sector, without taking into account environmental factors. From our point of view, this approach does not meet modern challenges and increasing fluctuations in the environment of the domestic corporate industry. It is necessary to consider the scientific position of the domestic researchers on the issue. V.S. Chugunov, in his work on the analysis of social policy applied at PJSC LUKOIL Corporation, notes the special attention of the management to the moral and ethical, harmonious development of its personnel, as well as special support for the integration of newly arrived employees. The company is attentive to the environment in the territory where it operates, the environmental subsystem of the company’s social policy is noted. There is a presence of financial instruments of social support within the company [6]. Attention to the political component of the complex phenomenon of the social policy of the corporate enterprise is noted in the work of the leading specialist of the Corporate Relations Department of Rosatom State Corporation, Moscow. The author focuses on the analysis of the effectiveness of social policy in public corporations, as a process of increasing the level of legitimacy of state power [7]. The author does not note the similar influence of corporations on the legitimacy of government, regardless of the forms of ownership, in the administrative territories where the above-mentioned corporations conduct business processes. Researcher L.A. Sukhareva considers the social policy of the corporation from the point of view of social audit. The author notes the importance of the degree of trust in those social policy tools that are used by the management of the corporation to achieve its goals. It is proposed to conduct independent scientific research, interpretation of the results of activities in achieving social indicators using factors related to the reporting of corporate sector enterprise systems according to a social criterion. The author insists on conducting an audit study by the project team, which is not related, even indirectly, to the management bodies of the corporation [8]. The study contains a division into subsystems according to the geographical principle, but neither the levels of municipal nor interregional education are noted, which significantly reduces the scientific value of the audit data on the necessary results of social activities. Analyzing the branch of military shipbuilding in the framework of studying the problems of social policy, the authors A.O. Egorova, O.I. Kuryleva, note the importance of personnel activities to include educational programs in the process of production and operational activities. The importance of cooperation with higher educational institutions on the introduction of scientific developments and permanent training of personnel, advanced developments in all subsystems of the enterprise’s activities is noted. The attention of the management staff to the health of not only employees, but also their family members is noted. The company also uses financial and economic instruments of social stimulation [9]. Thus, based on the studied material, the campaigns of modern researchers of foreign socio-economic schools, with a wide geographical coverage; research of materials of domestic scientific research, it is possible to conclude the following. There is a need to create sustainable tools for managing the social policy of enterprises in the corporate sector, public and private-commercial domestic corporations. It is necessary to distinguish between sustainable and standard factors of social policy. To analyze the effectiveness of the management apparatus of industrial entities of the corporation at all levels of subsystems, starting from the analysis of the municipal level of operational activities to the interstate cooperation of corporations. To carry out research aimed at identifying and timely identifying socio-political fluctuations not only in the internal environment of the enterprise, but also in the external environment at all levels of corporate presence. Also, based on the above information and other author’s approaches, this study proposes a classification of categories and criteria indicators presented in Table [10-15]. Categories and criteria indicators of the development of social policy of industrial corporations, the classical approach Categories Main indicators Environmental - the availability of a personnel policy aimed at meeting the needs of the enterprise; - the presence of social guidelines aimed at working with contractors; - the principle of openness in working with suppliers, contractors, staff, financial and other contractors; - provision of social insurance; - educational professional development programs. Environmental - control of industrial waste from operational activities; - focus on the organization of re-processing production processes; - partial application and use of goods that do not harm the environment. Moral and ethical - humane attitude towards all employees of the corporation, regardless of the defining and individual criteria; - availability of charitable activities; - the presence of standards of corporate ethics in all processes of production, operational, management activities; - fair distribution of benefits among employees; - control of social tension in the workforce. Financial - the availability of additional payments for the fulfillment and achievement of certain specified results; - financial incentives for periodic vacations and spa treatment, if necessary; - participation in co-financing of economic projects; - compliance with the SDG strategy; - integration of social research and development. Considering the generalized results of the analysis of scientific information, it seems necessary to form categories of tools for the sustainable development of industrial corporations that are able to meet the challenges and fluctuations of the environments of all subjects of corporate industry. The subjects of the corporation, within the framework of determining an effective social policy, creating an effective system of political involvement of the corporation aimed at forming the internal and external environment of the subsystems included in the corporate cluster, should be based on an integrated approach [16]. This scientific study proposes a primary augmented classification of social policy categories that will support the principles of sustainable development: • Socio-demographic; • Financial and economic; • Morally-ethical, ethically-oriented; • Environmental; • Political; • Medical. It should be noted that social development within the framework of the considered process of the corporation’s social policy is understood as a vector achievement of qualitative and quantitative indicators of a stable social situation. We propose to introduce a new term for the definition of social policy, namely, the socio-political involvement of the corporation. This is explained by the need to control the processes not only of the internal subsystems of the subjects of the corporation, but also of the external environments for conducting multidirectional composite operational activities of large domestic businesses. For scientific disclosure and determination of the socio-political involvement of the corporation, it is necessary to define a number of principles on which the analysis of the social component of the corporation’s activities will be based. The principle of openness to the citizens of the territory where the operational activities are carried out. This criterion indicator can be expressed in quantitative terms. To calculate it, it is necessary to set a scientifically based level of attendance by citizens of the main production assets of the subjects of the corporation. This will ensure that the public is aware of the potential employment opportunities and the social climate of the corporation. That will ensure the company’s sustainability in personnel policy. An open personnel policy, through SCR tools for identifying skills and competencies, organizing joint projects with potential people who want to become part of a corporate team and the opportunity to demonstrate their level of competence will allow for effective recruitment of employees. This principle will contribute to improving the demographic indicators of the administrative territory by reducing the outflow of young people to large agglomerations. Separately, at the level of socio-demographic involvement of the corporation in the development of cities and regions of operating activities, the institute of supervision of basic and additional education should be noted. The participation of corporations in educational activities not only of personnel working at the enterprise, but also the involvement of their family members, starting from the senior classes of general education institutions, for a more detailed formation of both their own personnel needs and assistance in determining high school students to make an informed choice of a future profession and the formation of an individual educational trajectory at the higher education level. Accordingly, it is necessary to organize cooperation on an ongoing basis with leading institutions of higher education in Russia. The principle of political participation. It is necessary to provide a justification for the political participation of corporate sector institutions in the political life of society. An industrial enterprise, as a corporate entity, is an integral part of the ecosystem of a municipality. He is in constant contact with local governments in a number of specialized areas, which explains the need for the top management of the enterprise to participate in the representative branch of the local governments, both in the interests of the enterprise and in the interests of employees and the public. The main areas of interaction of a corporate entity at the municipal level are logistics, communal, urban, and financial. Logistics and transport cooperation has a multifactorial necessity and importance for the joint coexistence and development of the municipality in which the company operates. Joint work on the design and construction of road communications has obvious advantages for all parties involved in the process. Enterprises, by contributing to the development of road infrastructure projects, effectively affect the level of social satisfaction, and will receive the economic effect of their own development. As part of the ecosystem, the company is a consumer of public services provided by the municipality. Representatives of the enterprise in the local selfgovernment bodies will receive tools of influence for optimal regulation of this issue in modern conditions of economic turbulence, to smooth out the negative consequences of forced tariff increases. The subjects of the corporation are in a dynamic process of achieving financial and economic growth targets, which is closely related to the desire to reduce costs, including long-term ones. Enterprises will have the opportunity to participate, through their own representatives in the Municipal Administration, in the development of the concept of urban construction, as part of investment activities. This will allow achieving socially significant results in the development of comfortable living for employees, and it will also be possible to attract potential personnel living in modern conditions created with the participation of an industrial corporation. The development of subjects of industrial corporations seems to be a complex, complex, long-term process with individual development trajectories. For the effective organization of operational, investment, and innovation activities, timely borrowing is required. Representatives of the financial management of the enterprise in the MSA can ensure the local financial independence of the subject of an industrial corporation at the municipal level. Also, the basis of corporate ethics of most corporate entities and industrial enterprises is the principle of subordination, unity of command, especially in the public sector. Thus, between the majority of the workforce and the management apparatus, in particular stakeholders, at all territorial levels, top management is “protected” from the possibility of discussion with employees, within the framework of the lack of will on the part of management. In the modern reality of the fourth industrial revolution, with the use of remote technologies, there is an opportunity to perform responsibilities for managing all the main activities of the corporation remotely. Accordingly, the probability of obtaining an audience from the head with only a vertical connection is critically low. Thus, the need for an additional communicative structure is formed. The principle of engagement in this study is responsible for scientific novelty. It is necessary to ensure the participation of management staff in the political life of administrative entities. This solution will meet the challenge of the internal environment of the enterprise and will allow to establish a communication channel between the management of the corporate entity, employees of the enterprise and the population of the territorial entity. This will significantly reduce the level of potential tension in the territory of the municipality of the company’s operating activities. It is worth noting that the management of enterprises in the corporate sector gets the opportunity to additionally monitor and analyze trends in the behavior of the social and labor collective. When combining a position in top management and a local representative authority, the vector of the communication channel shifts, the head becomes closer to the population, respectively, and the population in the person of employees becomes closer to the head as an elected representative in the legislative authorities of an administrative territorial unit, a subject of the federation, a municipality. This will make it possible to politicize the population and involve it in socio-political life. This approach to the organization of social policy management can be expressed in units of measurement by analyzing the number of corporate representations in the local parliament, the percentage of proposed and implemented initiatives. The principle of psychological stability. The study separately defines the medical component of social policy. The reason for the separate consideration of the medical component outside the social category is the underestimation by the expert community of the importance of the psychological and emotional state of each employee of the subject of the corporate industry. In particular, the psychoemotional state is extremely important in high-tech and dangerous industries, and corporations have full-time psychologists, but this is not enough. It is proposed to carry out constant monitoring of the psychological health of not only employees of a certain category of admission, but the entire team, as well as using scientific methods of socio-psychological testing to analyze the emotional state of family members working at a corporate sector enterprise. Conclusion The proposed methodology for conducting social policy from the point of view of the socio-political involvement of the corporation in all spheres of the enterprise’s life affects several clusters of the socio-economic and political structure of the modern Russian sovereign state. Firstly, the inclusiveness of the social policy of corporations, both public and private sectors, allows us to achieve many socially significant indicators directly for the state. The politicization of society, the inclusion of more people in sociopolitical processes, the implementation of a unified state policy through tools and communication channels formed by corporations, the formation of mechanisms for uniting society based on civil and economic values, the exclusion of heterogeneous conflicts, solving tasks at the national level for the implementation of national projects and much more. Also, by controlling and contributing to the development of the social policy of industrial and domestic corporations, the state will acquire in the short and medium term, a politically developed, historically literate, cohesive population focused on creation and stable sustainable development. Secondly, corporations receive a portfolio of SCR tools to achieve the necessary economic indicators through strengthening the sustainability of comprehensive development. The problems of staff turnover and public distrust of the governing class are being solved through the joint solution of the territorial problems of society through the inclusion of top management in the municipal and regional political system. There is a strengthening of the subjects of the corporation, and, accordingly, of the entire company as a whole, which opens up new prospects for scaling business processes. Also, the participation of the corporation’s enterprises in the political processes of territorial entities has a beneficial effect on many financial and economic relationships between an industrial enterprise and municipal, city, and regional executive authorities. It is obvious that an industrial enterprise, even in the status of a city-forming one, is not a roughly delimited, autonomous subject of economic and social relations, but is part of a general social municipal unit with responsibilities and operating conditions. Accordingly, by implementing and developing social policy for corporations, it will be easier to achieve the goals of attracting, retaining and increasing motivation of the entire personnel subsystem of the corporate sector. Thirdly, the society included in the team of industrial corporations and the population of administrative territorial entities gets the opportunity to participate in solving the main issues of the enterprise and its subjects, will have the opportunity to increase the level of their own involvement in local political processes, will gain a sense of sustainable personal development and a stable future for themselves and their loved ones. Modern SCR tools of corporate social policy, the involvement of enterprises in the life of municipalities, will contribute to the positive development of the difficult demographic situation in the regions of the country. The responsible attitude of individual corporate entities in the complex of general social orientation will lead the state economy to solve the problems of low unemployment within the framework of a shortage of personnel, thanks to an inclusive attitude and deep integration into the processes of social development not only of individual employees of the personnel apparatus, but also of the entire society of the municipality of operational activities. The development of joint urban design will lead to a decrease in the outflow of professional personnel in favor of urban agglomerations and stop the destructive trend inherent in small towns of the country. The social policy of the industry of the corporate sector, in the conditions of turbulence of challenges and fluctuations of environments, seems to be a significant, urgent problem that deserves the attention of public authorities, corporate management and the scientific community of modern Russia.

About the authors

Vadim V. Volkov

Chelyabinsk State University

Email: green.abc@ya.ru
PhD in Economics, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Sciences and International Relations 129 Kashirin Brothers St, Chelyabinsk, 454001, Russian Federation

Sergei Yu. Belokonev

Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation; State University of Management

Author for correspondence.
Email: syubelokonev@fa.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8028-7421

PhD in Political Science, Director of the Institute of Global Studies, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation; Associate Professor of State and Municipal Management Department, State University of Management

49 Leningradsky prospect, Moscow, 126167, Russian Federation; 99 Ryazansky prospect, Moscow, 109542, Russian Federation

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