In present day economy the efficiency of human capital and the quality of investment decisions particularly affects the functioning and development of the economic system. Considering human capital as the basic element which determines the direction of the economy and society requires the identification of the main trends and important parameters in the evolution of human capital. The study shows the features of human capital and financial markets functioning as economic categories defining the nature of the national economy development through improving the quality of human capital and investment decisions.

The article considers some aspects of human capital theory in Marxist and neoclassical theories, with the strengths of the latter being particularly highlighted. The presented approach allowed of focusing on practical conclusions derived from the theories with the account of changes taking place in the economies of the most developed countries in the world and forcing practitioners - businessmen and governments - to take certain measures. The article is also concentrated on quite an acute problem of forming and using such part of the Russian human capital as the youth in the unfolding crisis.

The article analyses present-day challenges for the knowledge economy under new economic conditions. Modern problems of market economy require deep rethinking and effective use of the characteristics of the knowledge economy for building new market relationships and training specialists to improve the system of production and public service. The modernization of the Russian economy objectively requires a profound socio-economic transformation for the sake of which it is advisable to use positive experience of both foreign and domestic enterprises. Current economic problems will be successfully solved if one considers carefully the features of the knowledge economy.

The article considers the category «competitiveness» which has quite a lot of treatments in modern economic theory depending on the object of competition, i.e. commodities, services, enterprises, economic potential, innovation or others. The peculiarities of determining the competitiveness of an individual object are analyzed. The features of estimating the competitiveness of individual objects of competition are revealed. The conducted research proves that each of the considered objects of competition requires special methodical developments, which is a promising direction of scientific research in the theory of competitiveness.

The article addresses the topical issues of goods promotion by means of internet marketing. The demographic situation in the Russian sector of social networks is analyzed. The main strategies of brand development are presented and their key aspects are highlighted. The main trends peculiar to internet marketing in 2015 are presented. The current models applied in the Russian Federation in making online business are considered. The conducted research resulted in the conclusion that such advancement techniques as SMO and SMM are efficient tools of increasing the traffic and conversion of the promoted site.

The article considers the structure of a controlling system of research and production activity of a company founded on mutual agreement of corporate information systems and automated controlling systems for the processes of development and production. The method of multilevel monitoring of research and production processes based on the concept of multilevel collecting and analyzing the data on configuration, state, functioning and quality of technological and production processes is proposed.

The article discusses the features of industrial restructuring in Russia caused by crisis conditions. It is highlighted that the mechanism of adaptive management presupposes the development of the system of principles, approaches, techniques and trends adapting enterprises to environmental changes as well as a an anti-crisis plan. The authors present the key elements of the mechanism of adaptive management of enterprises including a system of principles, methods of adaptation, monitoring systems of the level of adaptation of individual companies, etc. The potential systems of indicators reflecting the level of adaptation of enterprises to changing conditions are analyzed.