Innovative Strategizing for Sustainable Development: Russian Patterns

Abstract

The current domestic strategizing practice needs significant improvements. On the one hand, innovative strategies should factor in the extreme variability of external environment. On the other hand, they should address long-term trends and goals, e.g., climate change, low-carbon economy, etc. This research featured the industrial strategizing of the Russian economy. In spite of the rapid changes postulated by the concepts of VUCA and BANI, proper strategizing can support effective transformations of companies and industries by cascading and synchronizing different economic policies. Most state-approved industrial strategies provide an effective in-depth situation analysis and problem definition but, being aimed at solving current problems, lack a long-term vision. As a result, they turn into catch-up development strategies that are unable to form leading positions in the future. The long-term goal of any innovative strategy is to develop the existing competencies, competitive advantages, and resource opportunities in order to attract additional resources and create new competitive advantages. Initially, industrial strategies can be limited to minimum allowable investment level that provide effective interaction between business, science, and the state, e.g., special economic zones, industrial clusters, digital platforms, etc. The resulting horizontal connections protect the economic system from the changing external environment.