Department of Strategic and Innovative Development

About the department

The Department of Strategic and Innovative Development is a structural educational and scientific unit of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, which aims to:

• Train highly qualified managers with strong analytical, leadership and teamwork skills,
• Develop, elaborate, and implement modern educational programs,
• Obtain and disseminate the results of scientific research of theoretical and practical value.

One of the main competitive advantages of the Department of Management and Innovation is its corporate relations and cooperation with such Russian and international companies as JSC Goznak, the Russian Export Center, JSC Russian Railways, JSC Aeroflot, Citigroup, PwC, KPMG, and others. About 120 companies offer students a unique opportunity to get placements and summer internships. Russian business leaders give guest lectures at the Department of Management and Innovation, take part in meetings of the Department's Board of Directors, and actively recruit graduates of the Department.

The Department of Management and Innovation is justifiably proud of its alumni, who work in the largest Russian and international companies, represent government agencies, and are scientists and researchers.

The formation of the Department of Management and Innovation within the Faculty of the Higher School of Management of the FinU (based on the reorganized Department of Management) is an innovative solution with regard to the current and future tasks of management education in Russia in the context of rapid transformations of industries. The synthesis of a wide range of management paradigms with methodologies and approaches of innovative management is undoubtedly one of the most productive approaches not only for the development of the competence profile of alumni of bachelor, master and postgraduate studies, but also for the continuous self-development of the faculty of the Department. This is a very correct scientific, methodical, practical and value-oriented goal. It gives a strong impetus to the development and implementation of new undergraduate and postgraduate programs, to the intensification of research and consulting work, and to international cooperation.

The department has a very strong and diverse staff, with a high percentage of young faculty and practitioners. The team is dynamic and ambitious, with a high degree of personal responsibility. Colleagues set high standards for themselves in terms of academic and professional goals, in theory and in practice, they understand the contexts and principles of flexible management methods, teamwork, emotional leadership and soft skills at an advanced level. The new alumnus model requires increased mental flexibility, interdisciplinary synergy, professional dynamism of teachers, as well as their ability to work in the context of global education. As a result, the portfolio of programs, curricula, work programs of the disciplines of the Department of Management and Innovation increasingly reflects the management and innovation context of digital transformations, as well as the contexts of flatter, horizontal, network and cloud organizations, cross-functional project teams, intercultural interaction, decision-making in the framework of export and international business development strategies.

The Department of Management and Innovation offers a progressive, systematic, and integrated management education for the economy of the future, based on both the best principles of classical university education and the strengths of the traditional financial and economic profile of the FinU. As priorities for ourselves and future alumni, we see the strengthening of digital decision-making skills based on data analysis under conditions of high uncertainty, scenario thinking, teamwork, as well as the development of creative thinking and the ability to make non-standard decisions, act from leadership positions, ensure effective organizational change, interpret management situations based on a global vision and understanding of best international practices.

The mission of the Department of Management and Innovation is to establish itself as a leading platform for management education in Russia through joint efforts with other structural divisions of the Faculty of Higher School of Management of the FinU and other faculties, and to provide long-term benefits to all stakeholders: alumni, faculty, employers, Russian and international partners.

Key Research Areas in Management:

• Research on aspects of the creation and transfer of value to the consumer within the framework of business models in the modern economy. Study of sectoral applications of the sharing economy, the economy of digital platforms, the economy of impressions from the point of view of promising trends in production and consumption.
• Research of approaches to operational and strategic development of business models. Development of methods of a resource approach to strategic management in order to understand the sustainable competitive advantages of a company and for the purposes of management consulting.
• Strategic and operational management in international companies. Development of export strategies and creation of competitive advantages of Russian and international companies in global business.
• Change management, organization of intra-team interaction, development of emotional intelligence and flexible skills.
• Operational management, decision making based on data analysis, solving optimization problems and management science.

Key Research Areas in Innovation:

• Management aspects of implementing the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, e-commerce, large amounts of data, predictive analytics, cognitive technologies. The study of best practices for improving business model blocks, considering the factors of innovation, digital transformation of industries and new international market opportunities.
• Technological Entrepreneurship. Assessing the innovative activity of companies to ensure the formation of distinctive competencies, competitive advantages and growth of the company value. Specification of technological foresight techniques in the context of the development of innovation strategies for industrial companies.
• Design and organization of innovation processes and infrastructure at the level of the state, region, industries, inter-company networks and individual companies. Management of innovative projects at micro, meso and macro levels. Research on the innovative advantages of industrial clusters.