Improving the Strategic Management of Investment Activities of Industrial Enterprises as a Factor for Sustainable Development in a Crisis

Abstract

This article discusses the problem of improving the strategic management of sustainable development in industrial enterprises in Russia. The shortcomings of the strategic management of industrial enterprises are due to the fall in the growth rates of the world and domestic economy, international sanctions, and the specifics of the development of socio-economic relations in the Russian Federation. The main problem of the research is related to the imperfection of the strategic management of the investment policy of the enterprise, which leads to a slowdown in the development of the company and a decrease in competitiveness. The main goal of the presented research is to develop proposals for improving the strategic management model for the development and implementation of investment strategies of an industrial enterprise. Based on the analysis of theoretical sources, gaps in research related to the topic and objectives of this work are highlighted. The methodological base of the research is determined, the basis of which are: system theory, systematic approach to managing a company’s sustainable development, theory and practice of modeling, strategic management, investment design. The improved model is proposed, which determines the interdependence of the strategic management of investment policy and the sustainable economic development of the company, presents the algorithm for managing the process of developing investment strategies in an industrial enterprise. This mechanism takes into account the main indicators of sustainable development of an industrial enterprise. There are proposals to improve the management model of insurance reserves of the company, reflecting the strategic aspects of investment activities necessary for the successful implementation of the course on sustainable development in an industrial company. The obtained results were tested by a number of Russian enterprises, which led to positive results of their activities, contributed to more sustainable development and strengthening of competitive positions.

1. Introduction

The slowdown in world economic development, the dramatically exacerbated political situation in various regions of the globe, and the instability of economic relations led to the fact that many states again paid close attention to the issues of increasing competitiveness and sustainable development of key sectors for their countries, and economic systems of the national economy.

The management of large companies in the context of constant changes in the parameters and level of competition, as well as the aggressive influence of the external environment on the organization’s activities, identifies the detection and overcoming of crisis situations as well as the development of measures to achieve sustainable development [1]. In recent years, there has been a decline in business activity in Russia. Industrial enterprises are in a lack of opportunities and sources of investment capital formation. The business activity index (PMI) in the manufacturing sectors in the Russian Federation in September was the lowest in 10 years. Thus, in September, it was 46.3 points against 49.1 points in August. Experts call such a fall absolutely shocking. Although a number of indicators point to a possible improvement in the September environment, experts do not rule out a new recession in the manufacturing sector. As the IHS Markit company note, September was the fifth month of continuous decline in business activity in the industrial sectors of the Russian economy. “The latest average manufacturing PMI for the quarter at 48.2 points was the worst since the second quarter of 2015”.

In this connection, the task of improving the strategic management of the investment policy of a company engaged in production activities becomes relevant, as the right choice and implementation of an investment strategy allow the company to strengthen its competitive position and maintain a course towards sustainable development.

An industrial enterprise is a dynamic, open, goal-oriented nonlinear system [2]. The dynamics of the system can be represented as a change in properties and indicators, which leads to completely new states of the system, ensuring the sustainability of the introduction of quality characteristics [3].

In economic theory, in scientific research “sustainable development” reflects dynamic processes of change, modernization and the necessary renewal in technological, industrial, methodological development of systems, both globally and at the country, industry or individual enterprise-level [4]. The processes of sustainable equilibrium development include the continuous improvement of the properties of the production and technical systems and their elements, which provides for investment design, selection, and evaluation of performance indicators, on the basis of the analysis of which the final decision on the choice of development strategy is made.

Thus, between the process of strategic management of the investment activities of the company and the economic sustainability of the enterprise, it is easy to distinguish interconnection and interaction, which allows you to simulate the schemes of the relevant business processes.

Analysis of the theory and practice of the functioning of industrial enterprises in Russia allowed us to identify the main problem of the study. It lies in the imperfection of the process of strategic management of the investment policy of enterprises, which leads to an inaccurate determination of the size and direction of the formation of investment capital and hampers the sustainable development of the company. Based on this, the goal of the presented research is to develop proposals for improving the strategic management model for the development and implementation of investment strategies of an industrial enterprise. The above goal, respectively, involves the implementation of the following objectives of this study.

Firstly, it is necessary to substantiate the methodological basis of the research presented in the article.

Secondly, it is necessary to clearly distinguish the components that are not currently available in the strategic management models for the sustainable development of firms that directly affect the success of the strategic management of the enterprise.

Thirdly, it is necessary to offer recommendations for improving the economic and mathematical model describing the processes of strategic investment management of industrial firms.

Systems theory, system approach to sustainable development management, theory and practice of modeling, strategic management, static theories of capital structure formation, and investment engineering are the methodological basis of the research. Industrial, mining companies of Ural, Siberia, Sakha-Yakutia are the object of the study.

In the course of this study, gaps in scientific works related to the stated theme and objectives of the presented research were discovered. Basically, these gaps are associated with the insufficient reflection of the practice of applying new, for Russia, methods and tools for the formation of investment capital, the lack of perfect mechanisms for accounting and risk assessment in the conditions of crisis phenomena generated by the policy of international sanctions.

To achieve sustainable development, it is necessary to form a more advanced system for managing the development of investment strategies, taking into account the risks of an industrial enterprise, and creating a system for managing technological reproduction and business processes that takes place inside the enterprise and together with other market participants and business partners [5].

Not all of the recommendations presented in the study have been applied in the practice of mining companies. Nevertheless, the great interest was expressed in the proposal to use a tool to reduce the range of dividends of the main shareholders of the company in the mechanism of strategic management of the investment activity of the firm. This allowed several enterprises of Sakha-Yakutia to adjust the investment policy, to determine the number of necessary investments more accurately, to reduce unreasonable investment costs, and to increase the profitability of financial resources.

2. Literature Review

The problems of improving and optimizing the process of strategic management of the investment policy of industrial enterprises in conditions of unsustainable development are the subject of study and analysis of many Russian and foreign researchers. The article is based on scientific papers related to the problem of this study.

In the scientific works of V.V. Kovalev possible areas of adjustment of investment policy in a crisis are discussed, in particular, achieving the most appropriate ratio between borrowed and own funds [6]. Unfortunately, these works do not take into account many of the risks that are characteristic of modern Russian enterprises.

The issues of achieving a rational structure of investment capital in the system of financial and material flows of a company are devoted to research B.V. Shmakov and I.B. Egorov, who pointed out that the size of the invested funds needed for a firm is determined by the difference between the marginal product of capital and the cost of expenses per unit of capital [7]. Paying tribute to this work, we note that it is, in many respects, descriptive.

An analysis of the structural factors in the formation of investment capital of industrial enterprises of the Russian Federation is presented in the works of P.V. Golovanov and A.N. Kulikova, offering capital management tools to the company [8]. The proposals of the authors are academic in nature, they do not sufficiently take into account the real situation of modern capital formation practices in the face of diminishing opportunities for affordable investments by Russian firms.

In studies of a number of representatives of foreign economic thought, for example, such as R. Eschenbach and H. Schiller, the main factors of external influence on business processes occurring in a company and related aspects of a firm’s investment activity are considered [9]. This work, unfortunately, does not reflect the realities of companies’ activities related to overcoming the difficulties associated with the war of sanctions.

In some of the works available today, authors try to quantify the risks of investing [10]. However, these works use verbal models that do not allow a probabilistic assessment of the influence of environmental factors on the effectiveness of investment projects. Such an assessment, in our opinion, is an important aspect of enterprise management to achieve sustainable industrial development during a crisis.

A number of works suggest the assessment of investment efficiency without taking into account the dynamics of input parameters and without linking the stability of the company and its investment policy. Moreover, most authors use standard approaches based on the calculation of the profitability index to analyze investment attractiveness. An example of this approach is the study of Heo B.Y. and Heo W.H. [11].

At the same time, a number of authors consider the relationship between effective investment and company sustainability, but consider sustainability only in the social and environmental aspects, not paying attention to its economic component, while violating the sustainability triad proclaimed in the framework of the UN concept [12,13,14].

Kim M.S., Lee E.B., Jung I.H., and Alleman D. [15] proposed another model for the quantitative assessment of investment risks and their preventive management. This model is based on the theory of fuzzy sets and can be an alternative to the probabilistic model being developed as part of the study.

Researchers Dalevska, Khobta, Kwilinski, and Kravchenko in their work [16] develop the topic of quantifying sustainability by developing a methodology and tools for economic and mathematical modeling to assess the degree of development of international trade and investment relations under the influence of sources of economic growth, using fuzzy logic models, the Saati hierarchy method, and Mamdani algorithm.

The works of T.A. Khudyakova, A.V. Schmidt presented recommendations on modeling strategies for managing the investment, production, technological activities of a company, the modernization of industrial enterprises in conditions of crisis, and the state of unsustainable development [4].

In recent years, the world scientific community has developed and proposed various approaches to the formation of the investment policy and capital structure of a company as part of the improvement of the strategic management of industrial enterprises. Our attention was attracted to works in which these issues are considered primarily in the context of a conceptual approach, which is based on the principles of designing a system of measures for the exit of an enterprise from a crisis state [17].

The main emphasis is placed on the control methods that allow the management of the company to monitor the implementation of the investment strategy in the face of growing crisis events [18].

A perfect control system that is adequate to the methods and tools of managing the investment policy of a company in a dynamic environment allows the company’s management to respond correctly to possible crises, model strategies and carry out innovative transformations [19].

In carrying out the research, the results of which are presented in this article, we were based on the theory and practice of analyzing and building dynamic models for managing business processes and developing strategies proposed by P. Loon, since his model systems are characterized by simplicity and the ability to be interpreted by Russian industrial firms having certain problems in the direction of diversification of activities [20]. The P. Loon’s dynamic model directs owners and managers to maximize the shareholder value of the company, which is very relevant for Russian enterprises in the context of growing socio-economic instability.

3. Materials and Methods

3.1. Methodology and Description of the Technique

The methodological basis of the research presented by us is the following: system theory, a systematic approach to managing a company’s sustainable development, theory and practice of modeling, strategic management, and investment design. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study was the works of foreign and domestic scientists in the field of economics, investment, and strategic management, including the management of Russian enterprises. Based on the ambiguity and variability of the conditions of enterprises, we analyzed the works, which examined the possibility of using dynamic models aimed at solving the macroeconomic problems of modern enterprises.

In the framework of this study, the synergy of two approaches is considered—sustainable enterprise management and investment analysis. Moreover, competent investment, on the one hand, positively affects the sustainable development of the enterprise, and on the other hand, directly depends on the current stability of the company (M.L. Tseng et al. 2019) [21]. This two-sided dependence necessitates the development of methodological approaches to the management of investment activities of industrial enterprises in the context of increasing the sustainability of their development.

Analysis of the studies on the theory of systems, unstable state of industrial facilities, and consideration of the specifics of industrial enterprises has shown that in the field of large-scale industrial production enterprises should be considered as stochastic nonlinear dynamic systems [7].

As a tool for quantitative and qualitative assessment of the sustainability of industrial enterprises, based on the study of the works of V.V. Leontyev, L.B. Senetskaya, A.V. Schmidt, and T.A. Khudyakova, it is proposed a simulation model of control. This model allows you to simulate the processes of strategic management and formulate strategies in the state of system instability based on the analysis of financial, economic, technical, and other indicators. As the main parameters of the model, we have considered the parameters proposed by V.V. Leontiev [22]. Leontyev’s macroeconomic model is very convenient for our study since it includes interrelated indicators: capital investments, production assets, gross and final products, labor resources, etc.

An important task of management, taking into account the assessment of the state of the enterprise, is making the right decision sequence that allows overcoming crisis phenomena [23].

Adequate assessments of the current situation and timely management decisions help an enterprise to implement a sustainable development strategy if a mechanism for regulating unstable business systems is established (K. Waren, 2002) [24].

The mechanism of sustainable development of industrial enterprises can be represented in the form of a clear system of sequential impacts of the management subsystem on the microeconomic system of a company, which allows the company to fulfill its mission. This approach is observed in N.L. Zaitsev and B. Sharp, D. Bergh, and L. Ming researches [25,26]. At the same time, it enables the company to extend the life cycle of the organization within the framework of the implementation of the relevant business strategy.

As the analysis of theoretical sources and business practices shows, the firm’s sustainable development mechanism necessarily includes the fundamental blocks of actions that reflect the management function, the controlling system, the main parameters of management decision making, feedback elements (B. Sharp, D. Bergh, L. Ming, 2013) [26]. All this allows the company management to predict and adequately respond to the challenges of the external environment, respectively, to accurately determine the possibilities of investing and implementing the strategy.

In the modern realities of socio-economic relations, the environmental uncertainty of a company, the achievement of sustainable development of an industrial enterprise is determined by the positive dynamics of quantitative and qualitative transformations of elements and business processes at various stages of the company’s life cycle. We tried to take into account this provision, based on the research of I. Becker, who proposed algorithms for solving the problem of adapting an enterprise when the situation in the external environment changes, and also considered the criteria for the effectiveness of the company’s business processes [27].

Also of interest are studies in which it is proposed to use a balanced scorecard in evaluating and shaping an enterprise strategy, which allows making adjustments to the change management process in the industrial company, characterized by upgrading the production base, releasing a new product, introducing innovations, modernizing and reconstructing the technological base (P. Horvath, R. Gleich, M. Seiter) [28].

The sustainability of a firm is largely determined by the level of investment and innovation potential of the enterprise, which is a fundamental factor, especially in conditions of sharply increased competition among countries [29]. According to the principles of a systems approach, an enterprise is an open, dynamic system, as it is in constant development, interacting with the external environment, subject to significant fluctuations (Ž. Mateljak, D. Mihanović) [30]. The company receives from the external environment resources in the form of raw materials and materials, fuel and energy, capital and information, labor resources, equipment, and other assets, which later become part of its internal environment. Some resources are processed, converted into products and services, which are then returned back to the external environment (O.M. Orlovtseva) [31].

All of the above and analysis of the practice of the activities of Russian companies imply a very careful attitude to the selection process, formation, and implementation of industrial enterprise strategies, the use of proven algorithms for implementing strategic management, described, in particular, by S.G. Kalinin and V.H. Tribushnaya, reflecting the specifics of the activities of Russian enterprises [32].

In the process of implementation by the company’s management innovation and investment projects aimed at maintaining the real economic sustainability of the industrial enterprise, there is a need to design a mechanism and model of strategic management for the development, selection, and implementation of investment scenarios for the development of the company. Algorithms for modeling this process are considered in the work of V.I. Shiryaev and E.V. Shiryaev [33].

Improving the parameters of the strategic management model for the sustainable development of an industrial enterprise, we took into account that the amount of invested capital and investment activities depend on the type of the enterprise—whether it rents capital or is engaged in investing in another organization’s business [34].

Besides, it is provided for the need to analyze the magnitude of the costs per unit of capital leased to the firm for a certain period of time. It also revealed, on the basis of the analysis of the theory and practice of the activities of Russian enterprises, that investment in the development of a company depends on the marginal product of the organization’s capital, the number of costs per unit of capital, and the amount of retired capital. The result of our research has been the improvement of the strategic management model of the formation of the industrial enterprise strategy, the optimization of the firm’s investment capital structure, the mechanism for developing, and managing the implementation of the investment strategy of the industrial company.

The focus has been on the process of forming the investment capital of a company. The works of G. Kokins, B. Sharp, N. Kotova, and other scientists were considered as basic sources for determining the directions and methods of forming the structure of the investment capital of the company. We were attracted by the work of G. Kokins, who drew attention to the possible gaps in the implementation of the strategy associated with the discrepancy between the investment needs of the company and its real possibilities [35]. Having also studied the practice of industrial enterprises in Russia and the theoretical sources of domestic and international researchers, we proposed to change the approach to the formation of investment capital and investment reserves of the enterprise. We propose to use this acceptable for the company and its owners the range of reducing the size of dividends of the main owners of the company.

In order to improve strategic management, the strategy selection process, and the definition of investment opportunities, appropriate tools for assessing business risks were also proposed. At the same time, we relied on the theoretical studies of O.V. Rostova, S.G. Kalinin, V.I. Shiryaev, and A.I. Izotov. We are interested in research I.A. Becker, who singled out methods for risk assessment in the conditions of unsustainable economic development [27]. Studies on the implementation of automated information systems in the process of risk assessment and the adjustment of the strategy implemented by the company allowed us to outline the prospects for further work to achieve the objectives of this study (F. Mousavifard, A. Ayoubi, M.S. Sanie, 2016) [36].

Thus, the management of an industrial enterprise needs to develop and comply with a certain mechanism for implementing the strategic management of the company’s investment activities. The main elements of the mechanism developed by us are presented in the following sections of the article, where graphic and economic-mathematical models are also proposed, which describe the corresponding control processes.

In this study, we relied on the principles of modeling the mechanisms of the stable development of an enterprise. The practice of enterprises in the Russian Federation, global trends in economic development, and the analysis of theoretical research require the most careful consideration of identifying, evaluating, and developing measures to achieve the leveling of the negative effects of objective and subjective factors that impede the sustainable development of a business.

Economic stability is understood as the internal state of a manufacturing entity, which is developed under the influence of many factors [37,38].

The analysis of scientific researches shows that, in general, the economic stability of an industrial enterprise is determined by three main factors: (1) economic growth as a determining factor, (2) economic balance (the state of the internal and external environment of an industrial enterprise), ensuring the functioning of enterprise subsystems, (3) the level of management that ensures the full development of the enterprise in the process of its activities (A.G. Chofreh et al., 2020) [39].

As we said earlier, in many respects, the economic sustainability of Russian enterprises and their development depend on the introduction of innovative production technologies, which requires optimization of the strategic management model and improvement of investment policy [40,41]. The need for long-term investments involves the unification of small enterprises into larger companies, which will allow to pay closer attention to the economic aspects of activity, reduce costs, identify additional reserves and new sources of investment.

Similar conclusions are made by Korean researchers W. Park, C.S. Sung, and C.G. Byun in their article [42].

In this paper, the main problem that needs to be addressed immediately is the improvement of the mechanism for the strategic management of the investment policy of companies whose sustainable development will inevitably be inhibited without ensuring the correct adaptation of the investment strategy to rapidly changing external and internal environment variables.

According to the theoretical principles of a systematic approach, any enterprise is a dynamic, open, variable, goal-oriented system [4]. This approach means a systematic change in all components of the system, which ensures the creation of conditions for updating the state of the company, its internal components, and also allows the owners to form new quality characteristics of the updated system that are really necessary to ensure the competitiveness of the company. Sustainable development of an enterprise depends on the correct actions of the management, on the optimally structured mechanism for making managerial decisions based on the methods of economic and mathematical modeling.

Effectively, the ongoing development of enterprises in modern conditions is determined by the availability of affordable investments. The analysis of the practice of Russian companies indicates a close relationship between the value of investments and the quality of developing a development strategy, updating production assets, and reproducing the resource base of enterprises. The optimal investment policy, strategically well-managed investment project management in the conditions of overcoming the crisis allows achieving sustainable development of enterprises.

It is necessary to distinguish between such concepts as “stable development” and “sustainable development”. As a rule, sustainable development is understood to mean the ability of a certain system to maintain its current state, which characterizes the organization’s static position. Stable development means the development of a system over a certain period of time [4]. The stable development of an organization is a process consisting of certain stages, specific steps, operations of an activity. Each stage involves the use of a clear algorithm of managerial decisions, a set of methods, tools, forms of management, accounting for macro and microeconomic environmental factors (R.S. Kaplan D.P. Norton, 2004) [43].

During the research, the main static theories of the capital structure were considered: traditional approach, Miller-Modigliani theory, compromise approach. According to the traditional concept and approach of Miller-Modigliani, strategic decisions to the sources of financing should be made, focusing on the optimal capital structure. The compromise theory considers the optimal structure as a compromise between the tax preferences of debt financing and the costs of possible bankruptcy [44].

The Miller-Modigliani model is proposed for a sustainable market, indicates that the value of the firm does not depend on the method of financing, it does not take into account the risks of bankruptcy and does not allow to make optimal decisions in crises, which must be taken into account in the situation of unstable development typical of many modern Russian companies [45].

In their study, Ahmad and Murray confirm the close dependence between the sustainability of the enterprise and its investment opportunities. Their research once again proves the relevance of this topic [46].

The compromise theory considers the possibility of maximizing the value of the firm. The company’s management is aimed at choosing the perfect capital structure based on the precise definition of the benefits and costs using the type, form, and size of the investment. The increase in costs when using external investments affects the increase in the level of financial instability of the business. At the same time, internal sources of financing and the use of potential opportunities of the enterprise are not sufficiently considered.

Taking into account the gaps in these concepts, the article focuses on the following proposals in the development of the methodology of strategic investment management and the formation of the capital structure of the company. Analysis of business practice shows the need for targeted application and inclusion in the management model of an industrial company tool to minimize the range of dividends of the owners of the company, adequate to the existing conditions of economic activity of the enterprise. The implementation of these proposals will create a fairly significant amount of insurance reserves of the company, reduce financial risks, determine the optimal range of investment, in which it is possible to ensure the sustainability of the company during the implementation of relevant business projects.

The most important factors affecting the stability of the enterprise include: accurate determination of possible production volumes, qualifications of employees, the technical base of the enterprise, optimal utilization of production assets.

In recent years, the main problem of inhibiting entrepreneurial activity is an insufficiently perfect mechanism and model of strategic management of investment activities of companies.

It is known that the firm’s capital structure includes resources allocated to the organization’s fixed assets, enterprise’s working capital, and assets that are used in the implementation of investment projects. When a company does not have enough financial resources, management begins to reduce the number of investments in working capital, which very quickly leads first to financial and then production problems of the enterprise

The management of most domestic enterprises is trying to solve these problems by the usual, many times tested, way, attracting new loans and credits. This, in turn, usually leads to additional costs, increases the total cost of projects, reduces efficiency, and negatively affects the sustainable development of companies.

The application of the proposed model will help to predict the likelihood of a risk of a decrease in the solvency of the enterprise, as well as the risk of changes in shareholder income. This will allow senior managers to use preventive management, which allows, in the face of variability of external and internal factors, on the one hand, to find the optimal ratio between changes in the stability of the enterprise and the level of investor income, and on the other hand, to minimize the likelihood of a potential decrease in the stability of the company. In addition, this model can be used as a part of both tactical and strategic management.

3.2. Algorithm of the Mechanism for Implementing the Strategic Investment Management of an Industrial Enterprise

The process of sustainable economic development is considered in foreign and domestic theoretical studies as a complex, multidimensional and rigidly structured phenomenon, based on the consideration and analysis of a large number of factors. Based on this, within the framework of achieving sustainability of an industrial enterprise, the following algorithm is proposed for improving strategic investment management, which may include a sequence of the following main steps.

• Analytical stage. At this stage, analysis of the external and internal environment of the enterprise is provided. The most significant environmental factors that constitute the greatest threat are highlighted. In this case, the number of analyzed factors should be limited, because otherwise, the analysis will be difficult due to the complexity of the collection and processing of information. Accounting for environmental factors allows you to predict possible changes in the market and identify the strategic direction of the organization. You should also identify the pain points of the business and analyze the main technological aspects of the activity. The obtained data will allow you to create a system of criteria for the successful functioning of the company and indicate the approximate amount of the necessary investments.

• Estimated-prognostic stage. It includes the formation of indicators of sustainable development of the industrial enterprise. The management of the enterprise should assess the effectiveness of the main activity, analyze the structure of income and property of the enterprise, the structure of borrowed funds, net profit, determine the profitability of assets. Based on this assessment, the required amount of investment is calculated and the possibility of obtaining it. The company’s management needs to accurately determine the quantitative and qualitative structure of investments.

• Formative stage involves the development of strategic decisions to identify areas of innovative transformations, the modernization of the industrial, technological base, which should result in achieving a state of sustainable development of the company. An important aspect at this stage is the orientation toward preventive enterprise management, taking into account the variability of the environment since adaptation management does not allow reaching the target level of the enterprise sustainability due to the delay in managerial influences.

• Control and corrective stage. At this stage, a comparison of the planned results with the regulatory indicators of the implementation of the strategy of the company and the adjustments of the investment policy are provided. At the same time, the adjusted enterprise management strategy, before it is put into practice, should be evaluated using simulation modeling.

It must be understood that the above sequence of steps is not a one-time, but a permanent one. These steps should be repeated throughout the activities of the enterprise. Only in this case is sustainability possible in the long run.

3.3. Graphic Model of Strategic Investment Management

The model of strategic investment management of an industrial enterprise should take into account the main factors affecting the stable operation of a company and focus on a system of indicators and criteria that allow evaluating and predicting the parameters of a firm’s sustainable development in crisis situations [31].

The proposed model of the mutual influence of the investment management of a company and the sustainable economic development of the industrial enterprise is presented in Figure 1.

In many ways, the sustainable, equilibrium development of an organization is determined by optimal investment management. The company’s management must think through a long-term investment policy aimed at setting specific long-term goals of the enterprise, choosing the most profitable areas of capital investment, evaluating alternative investment projects, and finally, developing a sound investment strategy.

Note that the external environment of an industrial enterprise is characterized by a large number of rapidly changing parameters. This requires a fairly quick response, that objectively proves the difficulty of achieving sustainable economic development [45].

The presented graphical model shows that the functioning of an industrial enterprise depends on the influence of factors of the external and internal environment [47]. Sustainable economic development can be considered as a process characterized by the growth of the main indicators of economic efficiency, technological excellence, optimization of business processes, and improvement of product quality.

The growth of indicators of economic efficiency and technical excellence can and should be facilitated by competent strategic investment management, and risk assessment of the occurrence of crisis phenomena [37].

Based on the simulation model, the assessment is made of the statistical probability of the onset of crisis phenomena, the occurrence of possible losses at the end of a given period of enterprise activity, taking into account changes in the environmental parameters typical for the industry. The model provides three areas of enterprise sustainability: from the return area to the area of necessary bankruptcy, which is possible in the case of unsatisfactory management actions during the operation of the enterprise in the transition area.

Each area of sustainability is characterized by the corresponding values of dynamic and static indicators. The dynamic indicators provide for the average daily rate of change of cumulative cash flows, which tends to decrease when the company enters the transitional area, and then to the area of necessary bankruptcy when the company’s funds are sharply reduced and the company generates a loss.

In order to take risks and provide a more accurate assessment of the business, the recommendations presented in the next section of the study were proposed. Imagine a model of the mechanism of strategic management of an industrial enterprise (Figure 2).

The proposed mechanism allows the organization’s management to identify, analyze and take into account possible aggressive impacts during the implementation of investment strategies, as well as the impact of these aggressive negative impacts on the sustainable operation of the industrial enterprise [46].

The presented management mechanism also makes it possible to link together the entire complex of strategic actions, strategic marketing research, the company’s investment policy, control measures, identify and take into account the degree of risk, evaluate strategies and adjust management decisions as part of implementing the sustainable development of an industrial enterprise.

3.4. The Economic and Mathematical Model of Strategic Investment Management of a Company

The current socio-political and economic situation requires Russian enterprises to be able to adequately respond to changes in the conditions of economic activity, to make decisions in a regime of constraints, conflict environment, and increasing risks.

Minimizing the level of risk can be achieved by diversifying the forms of attracted capital, optimizing the structure of the sources of its formation, applying the best methods of analysis and accounting for financial risks.

The above allows you to achieve the financial equilibrium of an industrial company in the process of its development. This balance is determined primarily by the high level of economic stability, the solvency of the organization and is ensured by the formation of an optimal capital structure. In addition, financial equilibrium can be ensured by rationalization of the composition of the formed capital over the period of its attraction. It is desirable to achieve the creation of a mixed capital structure of the company, the optimal ratio of equity and debt, which allows you to minimize the weighted average cost of capital and maximize the market value of the company.

The main problem that arises in determining the optimal capital structure, as the practice of industrial enterprises shows, is the need to take into account a significant number of various factors that can directly or indirectly affect the efficiency of such a structure, creating risks for the sustainable development of companies [48].

At present, the capital formation and capital management system has a large arsenal of advanced technologies and tools to minimize risks and solve the strategic goal of the organization’s development, namely, to increase the welfare of the owners based on the increase in the market value of the enterprise.

In Russia, business practices have evolved, in which the owners of enterprises, wishing to profitably use the available resources of the company, preferred to invest less in their own funds by attracting borrowed resources. At the same time, many companies tried to obtain loans abroad, looking for external borrowing. This led to an increase in debts of Russian enterprises. Gradually, the risk of bankruptcy increased, especially in cases where creditors demanded the return of large borrowed funds during the crisis period for the company, when there were not enough working capital to pay for creditors’ claims. This led to an increase in the cost of borrowed capital and increased financial risks.

Credit organizations prefer to cooperate with firms that have a large share, namely, equity. This implies that one of the main criteria affecting the capital structure and investment risks is the criterion for the ratio of borrowed and own funds. The dynamics of this indicator reflects the change in the dependence of the firm on external investors.

A significant increase in the share of borrowed funds may indicate an irrational structure of the company’s capital, considered as a negative trend, which indicates an increase in the company’s dependence on external loans.

An analysis of theoretical sources has shown that static theories of capital structure have gained greater popularity and serious distribution in business practices. It is these theories that justify the existence of an optimal financial structure of the company, which allows you to maximize the valuation of capital. Within the framework of these concepts, it is recommended to make decisions on the choice of investment sources, based on the optimal capital structure. When the optimal structure is specified precisely, then it is necessary to achieve the optimal proportions in the components of capital, which will eventually improve the management of the investment strategy of the enterprise and reduce financial risks. This article pays close attention to the possibility of Russian industrial companies using such a financial instrument as the range of accrual of dividends to owners of an enterprise, which showed itself quite positively in the process of forming investment policy at gold mining enterprises [49].

Since the 1990s of the last century, the owners of Russian enterprises have preferred to receive income by increasing the size of dividends on the organization’s securities. Currently, in connection with the above problems in the field of industrial production, business owners are trying to use a variety of tools to improve the competitiveness of the enterprise.

Therefore, within the framework of optimization of the mechanism for developing and implementing the process of strategic management of the company’s investment activities, we can turn to the practice of using the range of reducing the number of dividends of the company’s main owners acceptable to the company and its owners. This tool was proposed by us to the management of a number of mining companies in Sakha-Yakutia, in particular, Zapadnaya Group of Companies, Vitim Group, which allowed them to optimize the investment policy and solve a number of important tasks. Specifically, we managed to do the following.

• To determine the boundaries of the interval of investments in projects of the enterprise.

• To accurately determine the number of investments, to achieve maximum profitability of financial resources.

• To reduce the number of unreasonable investment costs.

The reduction of dividends will allow the company to create a fairly significant amount of insurance reserves of the company (Equation (1)).

(1)$R_e=C_e-D,$

where $R_e$ is the insurance cash reserve formed from the company’s own financial reserves, $C_e$ is the value of equity, $D$ is the number of dividends that the company offers to its shareholders.

The investment strategy involves the use of the firm along with its own and borrowed capital. The practice of Russian business shows that enterprises often tried to attract borrowed funds more than was actually necessary. Thus, in a peculiar way, the management of industrial companies tried to insure the company against a possible shortage of funds, and credit institutions, on the contrary, sought to issue loans that would be really secured by the main assets of the enterprise (Equation (2)).

(2)$C_1\to A_{\max },$

where $C_1$ is the limited amount of borrowed capital offered by the bank, $A_{\max }$ are the company’s assets that can provide guarantees of the bank.

The practice of the activities of Russian companies shows that the formation of a reserve of borrowed funds, in most cases, costs the company much more, therefore the firm should take measures to reduce the number of loan resources borrowed from the bank (Equation (3)).

(3)$R_1\to C_{\lim },$

where $R_1$ is the value of the reserve of financial assets, which is formed on the basis of loans from a credit institution, $C_{\lim }$ is the maximum amount of investment attracted within the project.

Thus, the amount of the company’s safety stock ($S_c$) required for investment activity is obtained by adding up the capital (Equation (4)).

(4) $S_c=R_1+R_e.$

The optimal investment strategy, according to the proposed model of managing the strategic activities of an industrial company, provides for a clear definition of the boundaries of the investment project. In this case, the lower limit of the investment strategy range shows the minimum investment amount at which the project implemented by the company will be above the break-even point and will not lead to possible losses (Equation (5)).

(5)$C_i(\min )=C_i(E_{d.p.}\to 0),$

where $C_i$ is the amount of capital invested in a business project, $C_i(\min )$ is the minimum value of capital invested in a business project, $E_{d.p.}$ is the effect on the investment project for the settlement period of the enterprise activity.

In this case, the upper limit of the investment range should be determined on the basis of the maximum allowable amount of funds attracted for the implementation of a business project (Equation (6)).

(6)$C_{\lim }\le C_1+C_e-S_c-D-C_c,$

where $C_c$ is the amount of capital that is necessary for the implementation of the main, basic activities of the company.

Thus, the optimal range of investment in which you can ensure the sustainability of the company during the implementation of relevant business projects should be in the following boundaries (Equation (7)).

(7)$C_i(\max )\le C\le C_{\lim },$

where C is the capital of the company, which the company attracts to provide financing for a business project.

Therefore, the implementation of the investment strategy by industrial enterprises of Russia involves the targeted use of a tool to reduce the range of dividend size of the company’s shareholders, which is adequate for the business environment of the enterprise in recent years. In this case, you should pay close attention to the risk assessment of the investment projects being implemented.

The Russian economy continues to be in a state of unsustainable development, new sanctions are emerging from the United States and the European Union countries, and there are serious fluctuations in the ruble exchange rate against the dollar. All this affects the investment policy of industrial enterprises, reduces the efficiency of operations, and contributes to increased risks.

We reviewed the theory and practice of risk management and came to the following. There are two main approaches to objectively measuring probable risk. This is a priori deduction, and a posteriori method, which provides a statistical analysis of available data. In a crisis economy, unsustainable business development, one of the main criteria for a strategic decision is the estimated cost, which can be calculated using the following formula (Equation (8)).

(8)$E(X)=P_1\cdot X_1+P_2\cdot X_2+\dots +P_n\cdot X_n={\displaystyle \sum _{i=1}^n{P}_i\cdot X_i},$

where $E(X)$ is estimated cost, $X_i$ is the value of the i-th recoil, $P_i$ is the probability of the i-th recoil, equal to the probability of the i-th variant.

According to the presented formula, the estimated cost of the chosen strategy is considered as a weighted average cost, which uses the probabilities of return as weighting factors. If the strategy of an enterprise is used several times with similar options, one can expect to receive an average return that is equal to the estimated cost. Let us assume that it is necessary to evaluate several development strategies with the same value of investments. Then it is the estimated cost that will be the basic criterion in the process of comparing the available options for investment projects. It is logical that, most likely, the management of the company will choose a strategy that has a high estimated cost.

Often, enterprise management faces a situation where alternative strategies have virtually the same estimated value. In this case, you should use another criterion for choosing a strategy—the degree of risk. The degree of risk, in this case, should be understood as the degree of deviation of possible returns from the estimated cost of the company’s strategy [50,51,52]. The farther from the average the actual return is, the riskier the chosen strategy will be. This means that in order to measure risk, it is necessary to make calculations of the scope, by which we mean the difference between the extreme values of the return on the value of the strategy being implemented.

Unfortunately, when calculating the scope, as shown by our research, only the extreme values of return on the project are identified, whereas the values that are between them are not taken into account. In order to more accurately calculate the possible risks, one should assume that there is a normal distribution of the probability of an event occurring and refer to the standard deviation σ, which shows the magnitude of the deviation of return from the estimated cost of the strategy. The standard deviation demonstrates the rigidity of the probability distribution. The higher the σ, the higher the risk for the project. To calculate the standard deviation, you must first determine the estimated cost (the weighted arithmetic average).

In order to obtain a number of deviations from the estimated cost of the project, it is necessary to subtract the estimated cost from each result obtained (Equation (9)).

(9)$d_i=X_i-E(X_i),$

where $d_i$ is the deviation from the estimated cost of the project.

In order to determine the mean squared deviation (σ²), each deviation from the estimated cost should be squared. Then multiply it by the probability of the result associated with it (Equation (10)).

(10) ${\sigma }^2={\displaystyle \sum _{i=1}^n\left[X_i-E(X_i)\right]}\cdot P_i.$

After the calculations, we take the square root of the variance (σ²) and obtain the standard deviation σ, (Equation (11)).

(11) $\sigma =\sqrt{{\displaystyle \sum _{i=1}^n\left[X_i-E(X_i)\right]}\cdot P_i}.$

So, at present, industrial enterprises in Russia, in particular, mining companies, are simply obliged to apply the best methods for managing business risks. In this case, two aspects of investment risks should be taken into account. This is the risk of the degree of decrease in the solvency of the enterprise and the risk of changes in the income of the shareholders of the enterprise. If a company includes long-term debt in a firm’s capital structure, there is usually a very unpleasant situation when the company’s revenues have to be spent on debt servicing, that is, making payments to fixed assets and paying off interest on loans.

In recent years, there have been frequent cases when Russian industrial companies do not have enough money to service their debts, as a result of which a situation comes close to a crisis and even a bankruptcy situation. The more companies spend money to reduce debt, the less money left that can be sent to dividends to shareholders of the company.

Our proposed improved strategic management model and tools for reducing the range of dividend size for shareholders of an enterprise and taking into account risk probabilities should help define the organization’s strategy more accurately, take into account various aspects of business and financial risks, and prevent the situation of uncertainty and the possibility of the company becoming bankrupt. Of course, our recommendations, despite their practical implementation, are still far from perfect. However, they indicate the direction for further research in the field of strategic management of investment policies of industrial companies.

The economic and mathematical model in our study is presented on the basis of the integration of the economic development of the organization and the state of investment activity.

In the context of the war of sanctions, the transition to new conditions of world economic activity, changes in market factors and dynamic models should be applied and focused on solving macroeconomic problems. Our studies show that it is possible to successfully apply Leontief’s open dynamic model with one product, which means that gross investments are fully spent on fixed assets growth during a calendar year and depreciation charges.

In a discrete form, this relation is as follows (Equation (12)).

(12)$I_t=q\cdot \Delta K_t+A,$

where $\Delta K_t$ is the increase in fixed assets in $t$ year, $q$ is the model parameter, $A$ is depreciation charges.

In the continuous form, the analog of this equation is as follows (Equation (13)):

(13)$I_t=q\cdot \frac{dK}{dt}+A.$

Combining these equations, we obtain the model of one product in the discrete form (Equation (14)):

(14)$X_t=W_t+q\cdot \Delta K_t+A+C_t,$

where $X_t$ is output growth, $W_t$ is production costs in the year $t$, $C_t$ is non-productive consumption in the year $t$.

Our study showed that the macroeconomic model of a single product, based on the Leontiev’s and Loon’s models, was logical and easy to use and could be modified for most enterprises in Russia. This model provided that the company produced homogeneous products using homogeneous means of production and a single workforce. At any time during the implementation of the project, only a finite number of operations can be used. During the project, the technology of work remains constant [35]. All this allows us to simplify the task of increasing the value of the enterprise and optimizing its investment policy.

The Loon’s model focuses management’s attention on two main areas: production activity is labor-intensive and capital-intensive [20]. This restriction in no way reduces the quality of the simulation model, the adequacy of management decisions and does not upset the balance of labor and the distribution of capital in the organization. We assume that the production process is linear, and products are manufactured using labor resources and enterprise capital in fixed proportions.

Given the above, trying to achieve integration of the economic development of the company and investment policy, we proposed to link the methods, technologies of development and the capital structure of the company. We proposed to determine the level of output by the following formula (Equation (15)):

(15)$Q=g_1\cdot K_1+g_2\cdot K_2,$

where $Q$ is the level of output, $K$ is the sum of the fixed capital, $g$ is the efficiency of the use of the company’s fixed capital.

The level of employment is determined by Equation (16):

(16)$L=I_1\cdot K_1+I_2\cdot K_2,$

where $L$ is the level of employment of the company, $I$ is gross capital investments.

The amount of fixed capital has been represented by the following expression (Equation (17)):

(17)$K=K_1+K_2.$

Equations (15)–(17) indicated a direct relationship between the structure of the enterprise’s finances and the way of production (Equation (18)):

(18)$K=K_1+K_2=X+Y,$

where $X$ is gross investment, and $Y$ is the final product.

It is usually assumed that an increase in equity should be due to retained earnings and acquired investment subsidies [24]. It is assumed that the level of investment subsidies should be proportional to the level of gross investment. Then, to determine the cost of equity, we can propose a differential equation (Equation (19)):

(19)$X=(1-f)\cdot (S-wL-A-rY)-D-gI,$

where $f$ is the profit tax, $S$ is the volume of sales, $wL$ is labor compensation, $A$ is the depreciation capital, $rY$ is the interest for the loan, $D$ is the dividend, and $gI$ is the investment subsidy rate.

In addition to modeling the management of the company’s business processes, in order to achieve a steady increase in the value of the enterprise in the Russian Federation, it is necessary to create an insurance stock, the source of which is the company’s own and borrowed funds as part of strategic investment management. Directions for the use of own funds are investments, as well as dividends of the company’s shareholders.

In order to improve the strategic management of investment projects, we propose using a range of dividends for business owners that is acceptable to the enterprise and shareholders, which will amount to a certain value of the company’s insurance stock, its reserve—$R$ (Equation (20)):

(20)$R=K-D_{\min },$

where $R$ is the reserve of funds, which is formed from the company’s own funds, $K$ is the size of the firm’s equity, $D_{\min }$ is the number of dividends that the firm pays to shareholders.

The safety stock allows the company to reduce the number of credit reserves and increase the efficiency of the enterprise.

4. Results and Discussion

On the basis of the conducted research, an improved practical model of the mechanism for developing and managing the investment strategic activities of an industrial company was proposed, allowing to ensure a course for the sustainable development of the mining enterprise in the unstable socio-economic situation. Within the framework of this mechanism, new tools for Russian mining enterprises were proposed that are related to the use of a range acceptable for an industrial company and business owners to reduce the dividend amount of the main owners of the enterprise. New methods for analyzing and accounting for business risks have been proposed and introduced into the practice of business activities of mining companies. This has reduced the number of losses associated with the implementation of the imperfect investment strategy of the company.

Unfortunately, Russian studies do not provide a comprehensive assessment of the environmental and economic security of investment strategies and projects. In the analyzed scientific works, it was not possible to identify the methodologically optimal system of risk assessment which would fully satisfy the modern requirements of the activity and the concept of sustainable development and which would include adequate formal economic indicators and additional ones related to social and environmental safety of a business. This article also failed to solve this problem, which is the subject of possible discussion and direction for further research.

Our studies of the problems of modeling the strategic management of the investment activity of an industrial enterprise have revealed some difficulties associated with the inadequacy of a number of components of the investment strategy to the realities of the Russian and world economic management system. Many mining companies continue to ignore the tool to reduce the range of dividends of shareholders of the company, despite the difficulties that then arise with the implementation of investment projects. One of the further directions of the research is the development of an algorithm that allows us to ensure the optimal range of investment business projects within the framework of the company’s sustainable development. It is also necessary to clearly link this component with the methods of assessing business risks that are new for mining enterprises. In general, we have an idea of the appropriate approaches to solving this problem, but still it is necessary to present a simpler and more reliable algorithm that could be quite easily applied in the practice of developing investment strategies for an industrial enterprise.

5. Conclusions

In the present article, aspects of the strategic management of industrial enterprises of Russia were examined in the context of optimizing investment activities in a crisis state of the economy.

The proposed measures to improve the strategic management of the investment activities of mining companies fit into the theoretical and methodological concept of the sustainable development of an enterprise and make it possible to overcome the elements of market relations, to ensure equilibrium progressive development.

Long-term studies have allowed us to make significant additions to the existing models and mechanisms for managing the activities of industrial enterprises of the Russian Federation. Strategic management of the industrial companies in modern conditions requires a deep modernization of domestic enterprises, the introduction of appropriate technologies and methods of organizing business processes, which implies a change in investment policy and the introduction of more advanced tools for analyzing and considering risks.

The mechanism of strategic management considered in the article is complex in nature, it focuses the company’s management on serious transformations, takes into account the proposed methods and tools for the formation and management of the investment capital of an industrial company under conditions of uncertainty.

Our recommendations on the use of the tool to reduce the range of dividend size of the company’s shareholders have been carefully learned and adopted for implementation by the management of a number of Russian enterprises in the Urals and Siberia. Basically, the relevant changes have been made to the mechanism of the strategic management of the investment activities of the companies, which were in a state of crisis, which fell into the situation of sanctions restrictions.

We also managed to attract the attention of the management of industrial enterprises to the improvement of mechanisms for taking into account possible risks, modeling the likelihood of various kinds of restrictions that could adversely affect the final result of the implemented strategy.

Thus, the use of the more advanced mechanisms for developing and managing the organization’s strategic activities allows the company’s management to improve management processes, to make the best decision on the choice of the company’s strategy and the number of investment resources needed to achieve the company’s sustainable development.

The proposed methods and approaches to the management of sustainable development of enterprises are a necessary condition for the sustainable development of the Russian economy as a whole. This study can be continued. In this case, it is planned to consider more factors of the external and internal environment of the enterprise for its sustainable development. This is a very relevant area of research for the sustainable socio-economic development of Russia and some post-Soviet countries.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, V.Z. and N.V.; Methodology, V.Z., S.A. and T.K.; Validation, V.Z., N.V. and S.A.; Formal Analysis, T.K. and S.S.; Investigation, V.Z. and S.A.; Resources, N.V. and T.K.; Data Curation, V.Z. and N.V.; Writing-Original Draft Preparation, V.Z. and S.A.; Writing-Review & Editing, T.K. and S.S.; Visualization, N.V.; Supervision, V.Z.; Project Administration, T.K.; Funding Acquisition, N.V. All of the authors contributed significantly to the completion of this manuscript, conceiving and designing the research, writing and improving the paper. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, grant number 26.9677.2017/BP. The work was supported by the Government of the Russian Federation (Resolution No. 211 of 16 March 2013), contract No. 02.A03.21.0011.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank South Ural State University (SUSU) for supporting.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1. Model of the mutual influence of sustainable economic development and improvement of investment management.

Figure 2. Graphic model of the mechanism for developing and managing the implementation of an industrial enterprise strategy.