This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the existence of firm digitalization and firm internationalization in selected companies in the European Union (EU). The study provides evidence that upper echelon characteristics bring new competences and skills, including digital skills, which are essential for company internationalization in the modern world of turmoil, crisis and uncertainty. The research paper argues that top management team (TMT) characteristics, and particularly digitalization awareness and skills among the senior management, are critical factors for driving success in international markets and for the sustainability of the business. The dataset in this paper includes around one hundred executive and non-executive profiles in selected European countries, distributed in different industrial sectors. The empirical data have been collected from available online secondary sources on private companies in Germany, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The paper’s findings suggest that a relationship exists between TMT digitalization and firm internationalization. Additionally, the paper’s results illustrate that the companies with an on board Chief Information Officer or Chief Digitalization Officer tend to be more international in comparison to those which do not possess these two job positions in their top management.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in February 2020, has radically changed the processes related to higher education. The main purpose of our study is to help scholar communities distinguish between educational approaches that seek to sustain the “unsustainable” and to identify the problems of lecturer–student interaction in the midst of the mass transition to distance learning and to find ways to solve them. The results of our research show that the transition to distance education during the pandemic took place; however, it highlighted a whole complex of problems connected with deterioration of emotional state and reduction of incentives to study. That might challenge the existing status quo, a revision of the principles of “Humboldt universities” and the birth of new forms of education. The study consists of three parts that allow analyzing the lecturer–student relations, as well as the management of the learning process. The first part analyzes the characteristics and attitudes towards distance education in different countries. The second part presents the results of students’ emotional state in two countries with different population restriction regimes. The third part is devoted to the study of students’ time planning in the distance-learning environment. We used the following methods to achieve the goals of the study: a questionnaire survey of students and lecturers, HADS (The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), and self-timing method. The thesis about the “gameover” in universities education management is open for discussion by the scientific community.

This paper aims to determine and explain the main factors for power losses (the so-called “leaky bucket” effect) in Kazakhstan and the reasons for inefficient energy distribution within the country. Energy efficiency in Kazakhstan is much lower compared to more economically developed countries. The differences between energy efficiency in various regions of Kazakhstan are also significant. This article explores the impact of administrative monopoly tariffs on the regional energy efficiency, based on a national study conducted in Kazakhstan in 2017. The purpose of the study was to identify the administrative barriers and their impact on the sustainability of enterprise development. What hinders the distribution of energy resources among different regions is artificial barriers in the energy market and the administrative tariff monopoly for electric power. This leads to the inefficient distribution of resources throughout the country. In addition, it is difficult to leverage low distribution efficiency in the absence of a market. The authors attempt to prove that the magnitude of administrative barriers directly affects the efficiency and competitiveness of business, as well as the final prices of goods and services for the end consumer.

The paper sheds a light on the interconnections between touristic sector development and regional development in Kazakhstan. The paper covers analysis of the current competitiveness of the touristic destinations in Kazakhstan. Based on qualitative and quantitative research, the study shows that there is a huge need for a transformation in marketing communications tools in order to increase the competitiveness and image of Kazakhstani tourism. The study provides potential scenarios and solutions to increase touristic attractiveness, which would lead to enticing more investors and increase tourism capacity and potential. Also, the paper provides insights in ecotourism and the regional economy by outlining the older and newer managerial and governmental approaches in supporting the entire tourism sector in Kazakhstan.

The problems of efficient use of energy costs have been actively explored in recent decades in connection with rising energy prices. During this period, the main models for assessing energy efficiency and energy management were developed, including the models Total Quality Management, Six Sigma and Sustainable Value Stream Mapping. The aim of the research was to study the energy efficiency of the production and services in Kazakhstan based on materials of the large-scale national study on the estimation of production and transaction costs by these methodologies. To assess the data obtained, a statistical analysis of the dependence on the indicators of variation and ranking was used. Electricity costs are among the leading manufacturing costs and affect management models. However, according to the maturity model of energy management, energy efficiency in Kazakhstan is low. Despite the government’s declarations of effective energy policies, the administrative burden for businesses remains high, and legislation does not stimulate a reduction in energy costs.

The paper aims to examine the development of modern innovative management methods and practices such as Holacracy, Obliquity, Adhocracy and Sociocracy, which are novelty in the Management science and practice. The study illustrates contingency approaches in designing, managing and developing agile companies from wide varieties of industries. The paper sheds light on contemporary methods in organizing, planning and setting goals of companies in a post-knowledge era. It is like an operating system for business that requires the installation of different applications as applications for hiring employees, for setting salaries, for planning or logistics. In the paper, literature review on management innovations is conducted and subsequently statistical operationalization through STATA software has been employed to examine how particular organizations design and set up their organizational structures such as lean, agile or scrum. Paper results show that smaller companies are more agile and they tend to acquire Holacratic Management models thanks to the fact that self-managing teams exist internally and their organizational structures are flatter and more adaptive in comparison to the multinational corporations. Consequently, the paper concludes with suggestions on innovative management implementations for future development of companies and emphasizes the need for further research on what is the impact of Holacracy and Obliquity on shaping the organizational culture of companies.