The article provides an overview of possible pricing models applied to knowledge. Knowledge as a commodity possesses a number of features, forcing sellers to use the methods of price discrimination. The basic features of price discrimination of the first, second and third degree are described, and the conditions of their applicability are indicated. The authors consider the application of price discrimination of the first degree in relation to elite knowledge and the second-degree price discrimination in relation to mass knowledge, the moment of transition from elite to mass knowledge being indicated.

The author analyses the integration processes in Central Africa. The article provides historical background on the regional unions: Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC). The emphasis is on the difficulties, which hinder the Central African integration, and possible ways to alleviate them.

The article discusses the agricultural policy of the Russian Federation in modern conditions and examines how it is influenced by the EU sanctions, as well as the prospects for agribusiness development. Today, agricultural policy is aimed at the dynamic development of agriculture, improving its efficiency and competitiveness, provision in rural areas is comparable to the city level of life, environmental protection, rational use of land and other natural resources.

The article reveals the conceptual content of humanism from the point of view of scientific-philosophical and economic understanding. The process of humanization of society is characterized. The author concludes that economic development requires a purposeful policy that creates the necessary conditions for dignified life of the citizens and personality’s free development, which, in turn, results in positive social and economic development of the state.

The authors of the article consider the main issues of the specificity and structure of modern musical market. This subject is relevant as the turn of the 20th century is time of changes connected with the expansion of the Internet, which affected literally all aspects of human life. Everything began to be concentrated around the Internet: from the priorities of common people to business problems. The article considers the volume of Russian concert market, the dynamics of share growth of the audience of consumers of musical content, the size of the all-Russian television audience of musical content, its gender structure, and demographic structure of the general radio audience in Moscow, St. Petersburg and the cities numbering more than 100 thousand people for the last three years.

The article considers the issue of planning the activity of corporate systems. Based on a functional model of corporate systems functioning the author describes the results of implementing each particular function. Further the author identifies the parameters which raise the possibility of comparing different ways - algorithms of function implementing. The article identifies the factors influencing the values of the given parameters and reveals the characteristics of alternative algorithms that are not associated with predictable results. The basis for calculation lies in the actions of the participants of corporate relations.

The article considers one of possible algorithms of forming an effective system of continuous training which is a key component of human resource management in general and promotes strengthening of competitive advantages of the company in the market. Even during the crisis period investment into knowledge can be considered as a strategically right decision. Each company depending on its strategy has certain needs in educational actions. It is on their basis that the system of continuous training is constructed.

Nowadays crisis triggers the shift of political and economic centers. Business overestimates risks and opportunities, the behavior of investors and strategies of company development change. As a result they optimize their organizational structure, carry out transactions on merge and absorption. In innovative companies changes become a norm and the task of managers consists in making them a part and parcel of the culture of organization, providing it with the opportunity to quickly adapt to the conditions of the market. The design thinking allows to plan and effectively introduce changes into organizations thanks to observing stakeholders’ expectations, creative development of ideas and the involvement of the maximum number of employees.

The article considers the interrelation and mutual conditioning of the concepts “competitiveness” and “quality of goods and services”. It is shown that the main criteria for evaluating the degree of consumer’s satisfaction can be determined with the help of such categories as the norm of consumption cost and the mass of consumption cost. A methodical approach is proposed to the assessment of norm of the norm of consumption cost through specific weight of the indicators of quality of goods or services and the degree of compliance of the indicators of standard product properties to the properties preferred by consumers.

The article provides a rationale for the formation and development of non-material stimulation system as a part of a comprehensive system of personnel motivation and stimulation and presents this system as a factor contributing to company’s efficiency and competitiveness under current economic conditions. The authors have identified the main areas of non-material stimulation of workers, such as moral and organizational incentives, as well as the promotion of free time. They place emphasis on the advantages and disadvantages in the use of personnel management practice factor of free time as a «humanitarian» motivation to work.

The role of increase of investment activity for stabilization of economy under difficult economic conditions is analyzed. Communication of construction with other branches for which it acts as the largest consumer of goods and services and as the supplier is considered. The antirecessionary orientation of regional policy of investment into construction reveals. Economic efficiency of implementation of investment programs is shown: on development of standard projects of qualitatively new housing on the basis of progressive innovative technical and technological solutions, designs, materials and the equipment, normative, technical, scientific and methodical documentation; on construction of apartments of the small area and reduction of construction period for decrease in an inflationary component.

The article considers the key aspects of making a cross-cultural model of human resources management by example of Russian-Iranian organizations. The author argues that the cross-cultural model of staff management is characterized by a wide range of complex and diversifying functions, high personal involvement into organizational culture influenced by external national factors. It has been revealed that two-culture model of management has a uniform character and requires mutual integration of cultures through perception and adaptation rather than imposition of a universal world model.

This article discusses the examples of the use of alternative resources in the economy of the region: the replacement of coal with gas in electricity generation; the use of non-conventional energy resources; secondary resource use in road construction etc. The methods of evaluating the effectiveness of alternative resources that allow for the reduction of environmental damage, reducing operating and capital costs. The authors presented a model of optimal choice of alternatives to the use of resources at the level of the region’s economy and the modification of the Fore and Malgrange, which allows considering restrictions on strict equality. The article shows that this method can be used when selecting alternatives to the use of resources in the face of uncertainty based on fuzzy sets.

The article considers a possible way of constructing models of periodic fluctuations by using MS EXCEL. When a number of time series levels is not equal to 2n, this way doesn’t impose restrictions on the number of time series levels. As an example, the time series of quarterly sales of the company are considered for the period of 8 years. In the proposed way of modeling all necessary statistical procedures required for the identification and evaluation of the model parameters, as well as verification of its adequacy and accuracy are used.

The article discusses the features of modern economic category «business activity» from the point of view of macroeconomics and microeconomics. The analysis of the main indices used by modern theory and practice: the index of business confidence, the business activity index, index of business expectations and others. The main factors determining the business activity of enterprises are revealed. In conclusion the authors state that business activity of enterprises and companies can be defined as intensity of organizational and technical, financial and economic, and social measures aimed at stable economic growth.

The article examines contemporary views on marketing techniques of show business promotion. The quality of marketing as any organizational and managerial activity largely depends on organizational and economic conditions, the level of information technologies, their content and specificity in the managed sector. The authors propose their treatment of a musical show business as a sphere of subjective activity functioning on the basis of commercial creative activity in the field of music. This activity is considered within the framework of show business market development, producing non-material goods and developing emotional and valuable qualities of a particular subject.

Nowadays the problem of providing safe working conditions for the personnel on new principles can be solved not only technically, but also socially, psychologically and economically by way of forming a competent motivational policy of the company. Many employers facing a special evaluation for the first time don’t know the features of this procedure and nuances of the transitional period, and therefore quite often make serious mistakes which incur additional expenses and penalties. The article considers one of possible algorithms according to which it is possible to carry out a special evaluation in a simplified way.

The paper proposes an innovative investment cycle of industrial enterprise development making the selection and implementation of the most economically attractive projects. This cycle is a comprehensive solution for the problem of integration of the strategy of an industrial enterprise and its projects, and also in the process of the management of several projects of various destinations. The Realization of the cycle at domestic industrial enterprises will allow to reduce costs of development programs design and management.