Threats, Indicators and Methodology for Researching the

Sustainability and Security of Economic Activity of Socially Oriented

Non-Profit Organizations (SO NPO)

E. S. Pereverzeva

, E. I. Makrinova

and V. V. Grigoryeva

St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, St. Petersburg, Russia

Belgorod University of Cooperation, Economics and Law, Belgorod, Russia

Voronezh State University of Engineering Technologies, Voronezh, Russia

Keywords: Socially oriented non-profit organizations, security threats, sustainability of economic activity, indicators of

economic security, indicators of sustainability.

Abstract: Socio-economic transformations in Russian society initiate the emergence of new types of entrepreneurial

activity and the development of state policy in the field of creating a favorable environment for its

implementation. One of these types is social entrepreneurship, defined as a type of economic activity, the

basis of which is the social component of the functioning of the enterprise, designed to solve the social

problems of certain categories of citizens in need of support. In accordance with this statement, one of the key

subjects of entrepreneurial activity will be socially oriented non-profit organizations. On the basis of a

generalization of the previously completed theoretical developments, including the author's, the article

systematizes the threats to imbalance and stability of socio-economic processes in the regional economy in

order to diagnose them and assess the possible consequences; a structural diagram of the study of threats to

the safety of economic activities of SO NPOs was developed; the possible threats to the sustainability of the

economic activity of SO NPOs are classified, and the necessity and possibility of their identification for

understanding the nature and characteristics is proved. Particular attention is paid to the study of the

relationship between the systematization of threats to the development of SO NPOs and ensuring the

sustainability of their economic activities, which allowed the authors to develop an algorithm for identifying

threats to the sustainability of the economic activities of SO NPOs and the possibilities of managing them on

the basis of specific and described indicators of the sustainability of economic activities of SO NPOs at the

regional level. The result of the study was the substantiation of the mechanism of interaction between the

subjects of support for SO NPOs presented at the state, regional and municipal levels, taking into account the

direct, indirect and functional impact on individual indicators, inherent in each structure separately.

1 INTRODUCTION

The social sphere of the state reflects the level of

development of social policy, the effectiveness of

which, in turn, determines the level of socio-

economic development of the country.

The most important priority tasks of government

bodies are to increase the rates of economic growth of

the Russian economy and the level of well-being of

the population.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0062-1881

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Economic indicators characterize the level of

development and competitiveness of the economy.

The level of social well-being of citizens depends on

the growth rate of these indicators (Smirnova, 2020).

The welfare of the population occupies a key

place in the sustainable development of the state. The

importance and urgency of the development of social

spheres is growing. The social sphere covers different

areas: demographic indicators, labor potential of the

population, indicators of living standards, etc.

Pereverzeva, E., Makrinova, E. and Grigoryeva, V.

Threats, Indicators and Methodology for Researching the Sustainability and Security of Economic Activity of Socially Oriented Non-proﬁt Organizations (SO NPO).

DOI: 10.5220/0010694900003169

In Proceedings of the International Scientiﬁc-Practical Conference "Ensuring the Stability and Security of Socio-Economic Systems: Overcoming the Threats of the Crisis Space" (SES 2021),

pages 129-134

ISBN: 978-989-758-546-3

129

The formation of a socially oriented model of the

national economy in Russia is accompanied by many

problems: there is an uneven distribution of income

among the population, a high level of social

differences, etc., which socially oriented non-profit

organizations are called upon to solve both at the

national and regional levels. (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Subject-role content of sustainable development

of SO NPO as a specific subject of the regional economy.

Positive indicators can be achieved only with the

competent building of the social sphere using the

process of effective interaction of all subjects of

support for entrepreneurial activity, including those

implemented by socially oriented non-profit

organizations, methods for predicting the further

development of social entrepreneurship in order to

minimize problems arising in society.

2 METHODS AND MATERIALS

The theoretical and methodological basis of the study

was the works of domestic and foreign scientists on

the development of methodology, diagnostics and

modeling of the stability and safety of socio-

economic systems (Matveev & Maksimov, 2014;

Kuznetsova, Burda & Osenny, 2020; Andreeva &

Malinin, 2020; Safonova, 2021; Bogoviz, Sozinova

& Ostrovskaya, 2018).

This work is a continuation of previously

conducted research by the authors (Grigoryeva,

Gorkovenko, Platonova, Borshevskaya &

Makrinova, 2016; Khorev, Grigorieva, Kondrashova,

Makrinova & Pereverzeva, 2020) on certain aspects

of ensuring the security of socio-economic systems is

devoted to the analysis and systematization of threats

to imbalance and sustainability of socio-economic

processes in the activities of SO NPOs as specific

subjects of the regional economy, diagnostics and

assessment of possible consequences.

3 RESULTS

The emergence of new threats to the sustainability of

the economic activity of SO NPOs is associated with

the emergence of problems of imbalance and stability

of socio-economic processes, which are acutely felt

in small towns.

These problems include: problems of disruption

of employment processes and work activities of SO

NPOs; problems of disruption of the processes of

settlement and reproduction of the resident

population; problems of violation of the stability and

balance of migration processes (Spitsina,

Kolisnichenko & Radyukova, 2019).

These problems in combination can lead to the

consequences of imbalance in the stability of socio-

economic processes in small towns and, as a

consequence, in the country (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Systematization of threats to imbalance and

stability of socio-economic processes in the regional

economy, diagnostics and assessment of possible

consequences.

The level of economic security of a specific SO

NPO depends on the stability of the functioning and

development of SO NPOs, the level of economic

security and stability of the aggregate of SO NPOs

operating in the region / state, the level of the totality

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SOCIO - ECONOMIC SYSTEMS: OVERCOMING THE THREATS OF THE CRISIS SPACE"

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of individuals living in the study area (Ostovskaya &

Dyshlova, 2019).

The structural diagram of the study of threats to

the economic security of SO NPOs is shown in Figure

Figure 3: Structural diagram of the study of threats to the

security of economic activity of SO NPO.

To assess the level of economic security of SO

NPOs, we propose to use certain criteria (both

quantitative and qualitative) that characterize

political, economic and social stability, while we

believe that the integrity and sustainability of state

policy is able to withstand the effects of internal and

external threats.

An economic threat is defined as a danger, the

possibility of loss or damage, a situation that can have

a positive or negative result. Causes of threats -

circumstances that contribute to the emergence of an

unforeseen situation. The reasons for the risk can be

external and internal.

External reasons - reasons that do not depend on

the activities of SO NPOs (political situation, natural

conditions, etc.). Internal reasons - reasons that are

under the activities of SO NPO (human factor)

(Molchan, Korolyuk, Lazareva…, 2019).

Thus, threats to the sustainability and economic

activity of SO NPOs can be classified as follows (Fig.

4).

Identification of threats is necessary to understand

their nature and characteristics. Risk analysis includes

consideration of the causes, consequences and

methods of control over their occurrence and

implementation.

Threats can have several causes and consequences

that affect the achievement of the organization's

goals.

The reasons for emerging threats can be:

 insufficient recognition of SO NPOs;

 the impossibility of realizing the strategic goals

of the organization;

 poor cooperation with other SO NPOs;

 poor communication with the media;

 high costs for participation in events, which did

not bring an increase in the organization's

awareness.

Figure 4: Systematization of threats to imbalance and

stability of socio-economic processes in the regional

economy, diagnostics and assessment of possible

consequences.

The key circumstance that determines the

progressive development of SO NPOs and the

creation of legal and organizational mechanisms to

neutralize threats to its economic security is the

further development of market relations in the

following aspects:

 formation of a legal and organizational basis

for the full-scale functioning of SO NPOs;

 formation of a free market environment and

favorable conditions for the implementation of

commercial activities;

 development of measures for the functioning of

fair competition and antimonopoly measures.

Achieving economic security is one of the priority

tasks of the state as a whole, as well as its individual

regions and SO NPOs (Molchan, Korolyuk,

Lazareva…, 2019).

Taking into account the above, we will determine

the directions of reducing the likelihood of threats and

display them in Figure 5.

Threats, Indicators and Methodology for Researching the Sustainability and Security of Economic Activity of Socially Oriented Non-proﬁt

Organizations (SO NPO)

131

Figure 5: The relationship between the systematization of

threats to the development of SO NPOs and ensuring the

sustainability of their economic activities.

Within the framework of the proposed algorithm,

the goal of influencing the threat will be considered a

certain choice and the use of specific response options

aimed at reducing the likelihood of negative

consequences to an acceptable level.

Threat ranking is a necessity when analyzing the

degree of possible impact on the organization's

activities. To minimize costs, appropriate response

strategies should be used to bring the identified risks

to an acceptable level.

Choosing the most appropriate option for

influencing a threat involves comparing the benefits

expected from achieving the goals of influencing the

threat with the costs, efforts and capabilities of the

organization.

Threat management measures can be roughly

divided into preventive and reactive.

Preventive - measures that affect the causes of the

threat and their consequences.

Reactive - measures that affect the consequences

of the threat during its implementation.

Possible options for influencing threats and

measures to manage them are presented in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Algorithm for identifying threats to the

sustainability of economic activities of SO NPOs and

opportunities for managing them.

Indicators of the level of sustainability of

economic activity provide an opportunity for a

comprehensive assessment of the security of an

organization, its ability to determine internal and

external factors affecting its effective functioning and

control them.

Comparison of the actual values of indicators with

the threshold values allows one to judge the dynamics

of changes in the levels of components of the

economic security of the organization's activities and

analyze the results obtained.

Currently, the world is actively developing

criteria and indicators of sustainable development,

which is understood as an indicator characterizing the

positive dynamics of an enterprise's functioning in the

market: social and economic (Mityakov, 2014).

The use of indicators in the analysis helps to

identify shortcomings in the activities of

organizations, obtain more detailed and reliable

information, accurate data and interpret them, as well

as identify threats and attract public attention.

Taking into account the international experience

in the formation of indicators of sustainable

development, we have proposed the use of indicators

of the sustainability of economic activity in the

activities of socially oriented non-profit

organizations.

The following are social indicators of the

sustainability of the economic activity of SO NPOs:

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SOCIO - ECONOMIC SYSTEMS: OVERCOMING THE THREATS OF THE CRISIS SPACE"

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indicators of growth / decline in employment of the

population, the number of people who received help,

the indicator of the demand for the organization from

the population and trust in it.

Economic indicators of the sustainability of the

economic activity of SO NPOs include: the growth

rate of consumed goods and services, the share of

investments in the activities of SO NPOs, indicators

of the economic efficiency of the enterprise.

Environmental indicators are represented by the

cost of reducing air pollution, the volume of

hazardous waste, and the rate of waste reduction.

Institutional indicators are defined as indicators

responsible for information support of

entrepreneurial activity, increasing the importance of

socially unprotected segments of the population, legal

instruments for carrying out entrepreneurial activity

(Figure 7).

Figure 7: Indicators of the sustainability of economic

activity of SO NPO.

These circumstances give rise to the emergence of

problems that hinder the development of socially

oriented non-profit organizations. The main ones are:

the problems of staffing, the underdevelopment of

information support, the lack of decent funding in all

constituent entities of the Russian Federation, etc.

But the main problem today for socially oriented

non-profit organizations is their pursuit of

commercial goals, which, of course, affects the

implementation and solution of social problems that

exist in modern society.

Considering that such organizations are provided

with financial support for their functioning, they need

to allocate, first of all, assistance to people as their

main goal.

The effectiveness and relevance of an

organization can be determined by the following

criteria:

 participation in competitions and

implementation of socially significant projects;

 implementation of grants supported by

specialized structures;

 presentation of information on activities;

 availability of data on the implementation of

projects;

 the level of public confidence in the

organization;

 the competence of society;

 the ability to attract investments from

extrabudgetary funds, etc.

Russia is distinguished by a high level of

differentiation in the socio-economic development of

regions, therefore it is important to coordinate the

uniform development of the social sphere of the

constituent entities of the Russian Federation - to

conduct a permanent analysis and monitoring of the

social policy of each region, taking into account its

unique characteristics.

Currently, there is a significant difference in the

average per capita income in the regions of the

Russian Federation. There is a large gap in terms of

inequality and poverty (Molchan, Korolyuk,

Lazareva…, 2019).

The support system for socially oriented non-

profit organizations should be built up of actors that

contribute to their development, recovery and

effective functioning.

The relationship between business entities occurs

through the system of market relations. Correctly

built relationships between the subjects affect the

disclosure of the potential opportunities of

entrepreneurs.

The market economy is subject to constant

changes: ups and downs in industries. Therefore,

there is a need to invest in social enterprises, whose

activities are capable of solving social problems,

including those related to the employment of the

population.

Maintaining a balance in the economy requires

state, regional and municipal participation in the

development of social entrepreneurship (Figure 8).

Threats, Indicators and Methodology for Researching the Sustainability and Security of Economic Activity of Socially Oriented Non-proﬁt

Organizations (SO NPO)

133

Figure 8: The mechanism of interaction between the

subjects of state support for SO NPOs at the regional level.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Thus, reducing the likelihood of threats contributes to

the stabilization of the effective activities of SO

NPOs.

Indicators of the sustainability of economic

activity provide an opportunity for a comprehensive

assessment of the security of an organization, the

ability to identify internal and external factors and

manage them. In turn, the structuring and assessment

of these factors will determine the level of safety of

the activities of SO NPOs.

The interaction of the subjects of support for

entrepreneurial activity is presented at the state,

regional and municipal levels, taking into account the

direct, indirect and functional impact on individual

indicators, inherent in each structure separately.

Effective interaction between the considered

structures contributes to the formation of a favorable

business environment and contributes to the

formation of methods for protecting small businesses.

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