Management of Manufacturing Enterprises’ Overhead Expenses in the Conditions of Digitalisation in Penza Region

Kulikova Tatyana Andreevna ORCID: 0000-0002-3855-3984 PhD in Economics Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Management, First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University) 8 Trubetskaya str., Moscow, 119991, Russia tatiana_kulikova-pgu@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

In order to maintain sustainable functioning and development of activities, enterprises need to respond in a timely manner to the requirements of the Industry 4.0 concept: intensification of R&D, automation and computerization of production, digitalization of business processes. However, problems stand in the way of development related to the high depreciation of fixed assets (up to 85% in the machine-building complex), the lack of qualified specialists in the field of information and communication technologies (only 20% of the need is covered), the complexity of updating technological and software resources.

Due to the fact that the domestic market economy has not reached its perfection, it is planned to study the experience of developed countries and assess the possibility of using it in the practice of Russian enterprises.

Previous studies have shown that in the implementation of digitalization and innovation activities, the share and amount of overhead costs primarily increases, therefore, methodological approaches to managing them will be clarified, taking into account the current economic situation characterized by increased competition, the emergence of new business conditions, and the development of globalization.

In modern economic conditions characterized by crisis features, the imposition of sanctions, shortage and high cost of resources, it is difficult for Russian enterprises to implement innovative development on their own. In this regard, business entities apply new management approaches, including such as outsourcing, innovation and strategic management.

The research of outsourcing includes the works of Ravi Bapna, Alok Gupta, Gautam Ray, Shweta Singh ^[1], R. Lema ^[2], In J. Kotlarsky, L. P. Willcocks, & I. Oshri (Eds.) ^[3], Matytsin D.E., Dzedik V.A., Markeeva G.A., Boldyreva S.B. ^[4], Josh Howarth ^[5] and others.

A study of the scientific literature has shown that in the works of Agolla, Makara, Collins, Troilo, Ali, Latoski, Huggins, Izushi, Asheim ^[6], Han, S. Y., & Bae, S. J. ^[7] and others. Also, the main factor in increasing competitiveness is the increase in innovation potential.

Approaches to the use of outsourcing services as a factor of increasing competitiveness in the context of innovative development of enterprises are reflected in the works of Justyna Krysi?ska, Piotr Janaszkiewicz, Marcin Prys, Przemys?aw Rewski, Dzidziso Samuel Kamuriwo, Charles Baden-Fuller ^[8], Anikin, V.M. Weinstein, I.V. Lazanyuk ^[9] and others.

Many researchers Jesper N. Asmussen, Jesper Kristensen, Brian V. W?hrens ^[10], Justyna Krysi?ska, Piotr Janaszkiewicz, Marcin Prys, Przemys?aw Rewski ^[8], Lazanyuk I.V. ^[9], Markeeva, G.A. ^[11], etc. They also point to the important role of outsourcing services in strengthening the competitiveness of organizations, mainly by reducing costs.

In the works of Sandhu, M. A., Alaudin Ahmed, S., & Helo, P. ^[12], a critical assessment of outsourcing is presented. It is noted that the transfer of business processes to third-party organizations is an extremely risky event.

However, the study of scientific literature has shown that outsourcing is not considered from the position of a tool to strengthen the competitive position of enterprises in solving the problems of digitalization and simultaneous optimization of overhead costs.

In this study, a hypothesis is put forward about the expediency of using outsourcing in solving the problems of reducing overhead costs and finding opportunities for the development of digitalization of business processes of enterprises.

In the course of the research, bibliographic methods will be used in order to study the literature on the topic under consideration, to assess the state of knowledge of the problem. Statistical methods are planned to be used to determine the level of involvement of manufacturing enterprises in the development of digitalization. Expert methods are used to assess problems in the development of digitalization of enterprises based on the opinions of specialists. Abstract-logical – in order to develop a working hypothesis, methods of induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis, analogy, comparisons - to prove it. Mathematical methods will allow us to quantify the effectiveness of the developed recommendations.

It is planned to test the developed recommendations in the conditions of practical activity of industrial enterprises of the Penza region.

Materials and methods

The purpose of this study is to improve the efficiency of overhead management of industrial enterprises in the Penza region by finding a compromise between cost optimization and finding ways to develop, intensify innovation, and digitalize.

To achieve this goal, you will need to solve the following tasks:

- to study the level of digitalization, innovation, and analyze approaches to cost management of manufacturing enterprises in Russia and developed countries;

- to investigate the nature of the study of the problem of enterprise cost management by Russian and foreign scientists;

- to identify the dependence of the amount of overhead costs on the volume of innovation and digitalization of production enterprises;

- to carry out a critical assessment of the use of outsourcing in solving various management tasks;

- to propose an approach to solving the problem of finding a compromise between cost optimization and finding ways to develop, intensify innovation, and digitalize;

- evaluate the effectiveness of the developed recommendations.

The choice of research methodology is justified by the nature of the tasks set.

Using statistical and expert methods, it is supposed to assess and compare the level of digitalization and innovation activity at foreign and Russian enterprises.

The monographic method will be used to assess the state of scientific knowledge in the field of enterprise cost management.

The method of analogies will allow us to compare the features of conducting business activities of foreign and Russian business entities and identify the possibilities of introducing best practices at machine-building enterprises of the Penza region.

Mathematical methods will make it possible to establish a relationship between the dynamics of overhead costs and the level of outsourcing in solving business digitalization problems.

Based on the analysis of cost management methods, it is proposed to clarify the approach to managing overhead costs of machine-building enterprises engaged in the intensification of digitalization of their business processes based on the use of an outsourcing tool.

Deduction will be applied to find the possibility of using a wider range of approaches to managing overhead costs as part of all enterprise costs.

The induction will confirm the hypothesis that if outsourcing is actively used in the implementation of innovative activities, then outsourcing can also be effectively used in the introduction of digitalization as a new process for business entities.

Comparative assessment of the level of digitalization of Russian and foreign industrial enterprises

Based on the study of open secondary statistical data, a comparison of the level of digitalization in Russian and foreign enterprises was carried out.

Relative to other countries, the digitalization index in Russia is 32%, while the maximum value recorded in Finland is 52% (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The index of digitalization of enterprises by country of the world ^[13].

The share of the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector in the gross value added of the Russian business sector by effort is 2.8. According to this value, Russia is almost three times behind the international leader, Estonia (Figure 2).

Figure 2. The share of the ICT sector in the gross value added of the business sector by country, % ^[13].

The largest digitalization index was found in the telecommunications sector (44.5%), the manufacturing industry was in third place (35.8%) (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Business digitalization index in Russia ^[13]

The main directions of Internet use in Russia are e-mail and online information search (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Directions of Internet use in Russian enterprises, % ^[13]

Only a small percentage of enterprises use the Internet to organize sales and purchases – 15% and 20%, respectively. This is a negative point, since in developed countries this tool has shown its effectiveness and is being used more actively (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Internet usage in organizations for purchases and sales by country, % ^[13]

The reasons for the limited use of digital technologies in the business processes of Russian enterprises can be identified as a lack of technical and technological resources.

As can be seen from the figure, Russian organizations are only half provided with their own websites (Figure 6), and the use of RFID technologies is extremely limited - 8% (Figure 7). This means that enterprises will need significant costs in order to reach the level of the countries represented.

Figure 6. Availability of a website at enterprises by country, % ^[13]

Figure 7. The use of RFID technologies in enterprises by country, % ^[13]

According to the share of enterprises using cloud storage, Russia is no longer among the laggards, but their percentage is still small (Figure 8).

Figure 8. The use of cloud services in enterprises by country, % ^[13]

Another problem on the path of integrated digitalization of the Russian business sector is the shortage of ICT specialists (Figure 9). Their share is 2%, while the volume of ICT users is 10%.

Figure 9. Employed in professions related to intensive use of ICT, by country, % ^[13]

According to the conducted research, the Russian Federation ranks 41st in terms of readiness for the digital economy and 38th in terms of innovative results of using digital technologies, with a significant gap from leading countries such as Singapore, Finland, Sweden, Norway, the USA, etc.

Nevertheless, in 2023, the Russian economy, and in particular the information technology market, continued to develop actively under the prevailing conditions.  In support of this growth, the government has taken effective measures and IT companies are required to help Russian businesses gradually move towards gaining independence from imports in this area ^[14].

Based on the opinion of experts, it can be concluded that mainly on the way of development of domestic enterprises there are problems of a lack of highly qualified specialists, powerful computer equipment, software, means of communication of knowledge and other equipment, practical experience in the field of information and communication technologies, imperfections of the regulatory framework for the digital economy, as well as difficult conditions for economic activity and innovative development.

Eliminating these shortcomings is an extremely difficult, long, expensive and risky process for individual companies, especially small businesses. This emphasizes the expediency of contacting specialized organizations or creating associations of industrial enterprises, allocating each its own role in the implementation of individual business processes.

Clusters are a modern form of enterprise integration. We agree with the opinions of Bondarenko V.A., Merkulova N.N. ^[15] that the fundamental property of the cluster is its innovative orientation.

Novikova S.I., Shcherbenko E.V. note that the increasing digitalization of the economy contributes to the high rates of development of its segments and business structures, the transformation of business interaction mechanisms. Thus, cooperative network outsourcing differs favorably from traditional outsourcing, which involves the creation of organizational associations with common goals aimed at solving specific tasks in a certain time period in the environment of cooperative network interactions ^[16].

Currently, external service providers are perceived not only as simple performers, but also as strategic partners. Along with auxiliary processes, key ones have also become delegated. This makes it possible for enterprises to increase the value of their core business without huge investments, gain access to advanced technologies, additional resources and opportunities for innovation. and additional resources. In turn, outsourcing organizations have the prospect of expanding their activities by participating in strategic planning of clients and offering integrated solutions ^[17].

In the field of information technology, outsourcing is becoming an increasingly popular approach to optimizing and improving business efficiency. Cloud services allow users to acquire access to shared computing resources provided by third parties based on a flexible, scalable and efficient scheme without creating their own information infrastructure ^[18].

Makarenko Ya.V., Solovyova I.A. ^[19] and Ekaterina Menshikova ^[20] emphasize that it is automation, digitalization of all business processes: the introduction of ERP systems, personnel electronic document management, personal accounts of employees, the development of software products for the purpose of optimizing both their own business processes and business processes of companies -customers and much more are now the main trend of outsourcing. This is due to the need for many Russian representative offices of foreign organizations to switch from foreign software, set up their own supply chains, and develop new document management systems.

Another reason for the growth of outsourcing requests, primarily in equipment maintenance, will be budget cuts and the inability to purchase new equipment due to sanctions, restrictions or disruption of supply chains ^[20].

The global outsourcing market is also dominated by IT outsourcing (ITO), which includes cloud computing, web hosting, cybersecurity and data backup services. More than 9 out of 10 of the world's top 2,000 companies had IT outsourcing contracts in 2019 ^[5].

In the case of enterprise integration, outsourcing of various processes to each other, a synergistic effect may be observed due to:

1. Reducing the average cost per unit of production by increasing the scale of activities, redistributing fixed costs among several organizations, and increasing the efficiency of using their own resources.

2. Combinations of mutually complementary resources through the use of various external sources of resources.

3. Cost savings by reducing the share of transaction costs.

4. Complementarity of participants in the field of R&D, contributing to the deepening of the division and specialization of business entities.

Certain prerequisites for the development of specialization can be seen on the example of clusters created in certain regions: the Kama Innovative Territorial Production Cluster in Kazan, the Scientific and Production Cluster "Siberian Naukopolis" in the Novosibirsk region, the Troitsk innovative territorial cluster "New Materials, laser and Radiation Technologies", the development of information technologies, radio electronics, instrumentation, communications and infotelecommunications of St. Petersburg, the Machine-building cluster and the cluster of information technologies of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Innovative territorial cluster of mechanical engineering and metalworking of the Lipetsk region "Valley of Mechanical Engineering", etc. An IT cluster has also been created in the Penza region, but it is still in its infancy.

In contrast to the traditional concepts of a "cluster", it is proposed to look at them as a set of enterprises that make up it on the basis of specialization.

Starting from 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation has resumed the mechanism of financial incentives for industrial clusters aimed at reimbursing part of the costs of implementing joint projects for the production of industrial products of the cluster for import substitution purposes, within the framework of Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 41 dated 01/28/2016. This allowed the Penza region to attract 27 million rubles for the commercialization of R&D in clusters.

Entry into the register also provides an opportunity for enterprises participating in clusters to apply to regional authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation for tax benefits (reduction of the rate of regional taxes: property tax, transport tax, land tax) and other preferences (receipt of regional subsidies, administrative support for projects).

Thus, based on the statistical, expert and bibliographic method, an approach is proposed that assumes the use of outsourcing and the creation of clusters as tools for digitalization in industrial enterprises of the Penza region.

Determining the role of overhead costs in ensuring the competitiveness of enterprises in the context of digitalization

In modern business conditions related to the development of innovation, digitalization, R&D, remote organization of work of employees of enterprises, brand management, the composition and structure of overhead costs are mainly changing. Thus, a significant part of them will be the costs of information and communication technologies, which are the driver of maintaining corporate competitiveness, economic growth and innovation processes.

In the works of V.M. Boksh ^[22], Khashukaev S.F. ^[23] and others, it is stated that in order to increase competitiveness, it is necessary to reduce production costs. Cost advantage is a long-term driver of competitiveness that its competitors will find difficult to replicate.

On the other hand, digitalization, as a factor of competitiveness, will contribute to the growth of overhead costs.

Therefore, the task is to find a compromise between reducing costs and intensifying the digitalization of business processes.

A review of the scientific literature has shown that a similar problem has arisen among business entities all over the world.

We agree with the opinion of Susan Ward ^[24], who believes that when a business is running slowly, as during the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing overhead costs is usually one of the easiest ways to reduce losses and return your business to profitability. Low overhead strategies can allow a firm to differentiate itself in the market through lower prices, and make the same profit as their high-priced competitors.

 Raw materials, inventories, and other non-core expenses used to generate income are vital to a business, and are usually more difficult to reduce.

When optimizing costs, it is impossible to reduce the use value of the product, and the "price" of cost reduction should also be taken into account. Practice shows the expediency of reducing the cost by 80-90% of the maximum possible level. Actions for further reduction are not economically profitable, as they require unjustified costs.

In a situation of shifting consumer preferences from the price factor to the qualitative, functional characteristics of products, an increase in production costs is acceptable within predetermined acceptable limits ^[22].

The most effective way is to reduce average costs. If the total cost of purchasing a certain amount of resources is constant, then with an increase in production volume, subject to the use of modern technologies, unit costs will decrease. 

The study of foreign experience has shown that, thanks to the improvement of the overhead management system, several corporations in the United States and Europe, which are threatened by potentially dangerous cost situations, have successfully reduced their overhead costs (defined very broadly) by about 15-30% over the past three years.

The following are mainly used abroad as operational measures to reduce overhead costs.

Reducing rental costs by moving the business to less expensive premises, transferring the maximum possible number of employees to remote work. This will reduce the cost of maintaining office space, depreciation of office equipment, the use of consumables such as printer ink/toner, etc. Switch to paperless operation by switching to the organization of document management in electronic form.  Reduce transportation costs if the transportation of personnel to and from the place of work fell on the enterprises themselves.

In addition, when transferring staff to home work, for example, office equipment is removed, but the cost of its depreciation will remain. Therefore, it is advisable for enterprises to sell some of the equipment, which will also allow them to receive funds.

However, these operational measures to reduce the amount of overhead costs will not be able to provide the company with long-term competitive advantages, as they can be easily copied.

Outsourcing as a factor in reducing overhead costs

The solution of the tasks dictated by the fourth industrial revolution is complicated by the fact that it may seem excessively expensive for small and medium-sized enterprises. This is due to the need to carry out fundamental research, create the necessary infrastructure, purchase modern equipment, software, attract highly qualified specialists, etc. At the same time, these resources may be needed by enterprises only once, if further differentiation of activities is expected.

The current crisis phenomena in the economy caused by the weakening of the ruble exchange rate, the consequences of the pandemic, and an increase in inflation reinforce the limited resources of organizations, the implementation of innovative activities and digitalization.

According to Dolzhenko R.A. ^[25] the rapid desire to respond to the slightest change in the market without additional costs encourages the use of outsourcing services. One of the important reasons to use scientific and technical cooperation is the high degree of risk of investing in R&D. In addition, the pace of technology development is so high that no company can have the resources to carry out all the necessary developments on its own

Studying the experience of foreign enterprises allowed us to confirm the hypothesis that outsourcing will reduce costs. Cost reduction is often cited as one of the main driving forces behind the outsourcing decision ^[26]

Traditionally, innovative activities were accompanied by great secrecy, all processes were carried out only within the organization, information was considered a trade secret. This provided for the first time a monopoly position in the market. Delegating these processes to external performers can lead to the loss of their own key competencies.

In the study, we will rely on the opinion of Chesbrough H. W. ^[27], who emphasized the inefficiency of all types of R&D within a single company, since technological progress in many industries requires continuous innovation. "Open" innovations are implemented through the creation of holdings, partnerships, alliances, open markets, and the use of outsourcing. This integration provides a combination of resources of different companies and leads to the formation of a synergistic effect.

Based on the resource approach, it can be noted that resources and opportunities are expressed in the form of skills, competencies and know-how, which explain the differences in productivity between firms.

In particular, cooperation with external participants allows you to gain access to resources and opportunities that are not available within the company itself. Thus, firms seek to cooperate with partners who possess valuable resources that are difficult to obtain, imitate or replace in order to complement their own resource base.

Deploying expensive software to equip all workplaces may not be cost-effective. It is more expedient to purchase licenses only for those employees who really need them, and transfer part of the business processes to outsourcing. Businesses can also sell a license that you no longer need, but for which you continue to pay.

Through outsourcing, companies manage to free their administration from certain operations, limiting its responsibility only to the control of providers, and allow them to focus on strategic issues that strengthen competitiveness.

Enterprises should evaluate the cost of all business processes, identify those that will be cheaper to outsource than to perform themselves, and increase the use of contract personnel instead of hiring employees.

The use of outsourcing services is advisable if their cost is at least 15-20% higher than the company's own costs for implementing similar business processes.

Aggarwal S., Ravindran K. & Ray G. ^[28] in their works, they note that firms with low internal innovation potential use IT outsourcing as a substitute for internal research and development (R&D) expenses to increase revenue, while firms with high internal R&D potential use IT outsourcing as a supplement to internal R&D expenses to reduce costs. Moreover, in the case of less concentrated, i.e. more competitive industries, firms tend to outsource more in order to increase revenues, while in highly concentrated, i.e. less competitive industries, firms tend to outsource in order to reduce costs.

Yilmaz Abdullah, Bed?k Aykut ^[29] note the positive impact of outsourcing on the direction of resource dependence and reduction of transaction costs, and identify a negative and significant correlation between transaction costs and resource dependence.

The use of outsourcing services will allow organizations to become more flexible, which provides a certain degree of freedom, reduces transaction costs for decision-making and implementation, and allows them to adapt more quickly to dynamically changing modern business conditions.

In the cost management system, the positive role of outsourcing is that it opens up the possibility of converting part of fixed costs into variables that are easier to plan, normalize and control.

Based on deduction, we conclude that outsourcing can show efficiency in optimizing overhead costs as part of the total costs of industrial enterprises. Outsourcing of business processes involves the transfer to a third-party organization of individual business processes that are not the main ones for the company.  That is, outsourcing will allow enterprises to delegate processes to third-party companies, the implementation of which causes the formation of overhead costs.

Results

In previous studies, the authors, in order to solve the problem of allocating limited resources depending on the priority areas of enterprise development, developed a methodological approach to rationing overhead costs (stages 1-5, Fig. 10) and proposed to include it in the well-known cost management system based on norms ^[30]. A fragment of this approach, supplemented by the stages of evaluating the feasibility of outsourcing and transferring certain business processes to third-party performers (stage 6-7) is shown in Figure 10. According to the proposed classification of overhead costs for standard and development ^[30], the costs of organizations associated with the creation, distribution and use of digital technologies and related products and services should be attributed to the second group.

Figure 10. A refined scheme of the cost management system using the methodology of rationing developing overhead costs and outsourcing (compiled by the author)

According to the Strategy of Digital Transformation of manufacturing industries of the Russian Federation approved in November 2021 until 2030, first of all, attention is paid to the manufacturing industry ^[31].

In this regard, the testing of the possibility and expediency of using outsourcing as a factor in finding a compromise between the development of digitalization and optimization of overhead costs of industrial enterprises was carried out at five production enterprises in Penza: JSC Penzadizelmash, PJSC Electromechanika, CJSC Enterprise Special Technologies, LLC SKBT, JSC Penztyazhpromarmatura. The aim of the study was to quantify the amount of reduction in overhead costs as a result of outsourcing R&D processes and the development of digitalization of the enterprise. The information basis of the study was the primary data of the management and accounting of the designated enterprises.

When planning the implementation of digitalization, enterprises make cost estimates, the amount of which varies, and the structure is approximately the same. The main expenses of the organization for the development of ICT are aimed at the purchase of machinery and equipment related to digital technologies (44.4%), the purchase of software, its adaptation and refinement (24.5%), as well as payment for telecommunication services (18.7%) (Figure 11).

Figure 11. The structure of internal costs of organizations for the creation, dissemination and use of digital technologies and related products and services by type, % ^[13]

The costs of creating, distributing and using ICT indicated in Figure 10 will subsequently lead to an increase in overhead costs: depreciation of fixed assets and intangible assets, utility bills, payment of communication services, etc.

New requirements for the organization of the information and communication environment in connection with the need to develop digitalization, to ensure that personnel can perform their functions remotely, will also lead to the emergence of new overhead items, increasing their total amount. In addition, the improvement of ICT is complicated by the difficulties of attracting qualified programmers, and a positive result cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, it is supposed to delegate the responsibilities of programmers and system administrators to specialized companies.

Intra-organizational outsourcing (insourcing) in the form of assigning production workers tasks to also perform maintenance, repair and commissioning, which under traditional conditions are carried out by other workers and belong to the category of indirect costs.

Enterprises need to compare their own estimated costs of creating and using ICTs and their cost in organizations to which they can be transferred for implementation.

For the organization of R&D and the development of digitalization, it will be necessary to implement innovative costs at the same time. Outsourcers are already provided with their own production base, ICT, and the necessary employees, so the total cost for complex services will be important for the customer.

The object of the study is CJSC enterprise "Special Technologies" (Penza) ^[32]. The data for the calculations are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Initial data for evaluating the feasibility of outsourcing (compiled by the author)

In addition to one-time costs, the development of digitalization in the enterprise will cause an increase in existing and the emergence of new overhead items (Table 2).

Table 2. The amount of overhead costs over 10 years (compiled by the author)

Instead of hiring equipment adjusters, it is supposed to teach these skills to production workers and introduce an additional payment to their wages, that is, this item of overhead costs will become part of the main ones. Therefore, its value will not be taken into account in further calculations.

In calculations to determine the total cost of R&D and ICT development at the enterprise, one-time costs and overhead items were summed up over a ten-year period. This is the expected useful life of the purchased equipment. Thus, the cost of R&D and ICT development at the enterprise will be: 6950+27620 = 32070 thousand rubles.

The cost of outsourcing services for the same ten-year period will be equal to 25,000 thousand rubles.

The estimated savings from outsourcing services will be: 32070-25000 = 7070 thousand rubles over 10 years.

Based on mathematical calculations, it was revealed that as a result of applying the proposed approach, the enterprise will be able to reduce the amount of overhead costs, such as depreciation and maintenance of equipment, information technology, fixed salaries of employees, etc. The company will also be able to increase the manageability of that part of their overhead costs, which has become part of the main expenses. At the same time, the overhead items themselves indicated in table 2 will be converted into variable costs in the form of a purchase price that will need to be paid to outsourcers.

In addition to calculated savings by reducing investment costs and overhead costs, outsourcing allows you to obtain other advantages: delegating risk from digitalization and innovation, the opportunity to gain access to modern technologies, knowledge, resources, and prevent a significant increase in the burden on the head.

In the context of digitalization and innovation, enterprises limited in their own labor, technical, technological, information, software, and infrastructure resources can use outsourcing in the following areas:

1. Delegate the implementation of the main processes, freeing up time and resources for solving strategic issues and innovative development.

2. To entrust the implementation of innovative developments, which allows using the resources of third-party organizations due to the lack of their own and the high cost of acquiring them, while focusing on the main activity.

3. Partially transfer the implementation of the main processes and innovative activities in order to compensate for the lack of own resources.

4. Transfer to the provider the full implementation of both basic processes and work on innovations, acting as a shell company.

Thus, the main result of the study is to identify a new direction of using outsourcing – a tool for optimizing overhead costs, in particular when solving the problem of ICT development at industrial enterprises in Penza.

Discussion

As a result of the conducted research, the hypothesis of the expediency of using outsourcing as a factor in improving the efficiency of industrial enterprises of the Penza region in the context of digitalization and innovation was confirmed.

The task solved in this study is also relevant for foreign countries. The task of modernizing and automating production through digital technologies is outlined in strategic documents of Japan, China, the USA, the EU, and South Korea ^[33].

Agreement with the conclusion that the use of outsourcing contributes to the optimization of business processes, strengthening competitiveness, focusing employees on the core business, effective use of third-party experience, gaining access to advanced technologies, qualified specialists, including in the field of digitalization development, is found in the works of Sysoeva A.M., Ivashechkina L.G. ^[17], Alipanova V.P. ^[34], Markeeva G.A. ^[11], Malaeva M.S. ^[35]

Malaeva M.S. ^[35] and Baldin O.V. ^[36] note that the development of outsourcing and digitalization have a mutual impact. The development and widespread implementation of information systems expand the range of possibilities and directions of outsourcing applications. Outsourcing organizations in the IT sector themselves are actively implementing and using innovative information technologies to retain existing customers and attract new ones.

A similar point of view that the use of outsourcing services will reduce overhead costs is reflected in the work of Henri C. Dekker, Erik Mooi  & Alexandra Visser ^[37]. Sysoeva A.M., Ivashechkina L.G. ^[17], Kochurova L.I. and others ^[38].

The work of Liu Y., Tyagi R. K. ^[39] confirms the possibility of converting fixed costs into variables when using outsourcing.  One of the key economic advantages of this popular practice, as noted by its sellers and buyers, is that it allows an outsourcing firm to reduce its fixed costs, such as equipment costs, information technology, fixed employee salaries, etc., and convert them into variable costs in the form of a purchase price that the outsourcing firm then it pays the external industry.

Practice has shown the applicability of this approach to the organization of business processes of enterprises in the construction of organizational structures - "shells", where the "core" organization itself deals with issues of strategic development, management, and other functions and processes are delegated.

A critical assessment of outsourcing due to the presence of a high degree of multiple risks is presented in the articles Sandhu M. A., Alaudin Ahmed S., Helo P. ^[12], Markeeva G.A. ^[11], reflected in the report of the Bank of Russia ^[18].

Bessarabov V. O. ^[40], Markeeva G.A. ^[11], Kochurova L. I. and others ^[38] note that outsourcing is mainly used by foreign and joint ventures, while domestic ones do not yet trust such a business model. This is justified by the fact that the criteria and the mechanism of its use have not yet been fully worked out; there are no criteria for deciding whether to outsource business processes or perform them independently.

Despite concerns, in Russia in 2022 alone, more than a third of companies increased their consumption of third-party products and services in the IT field ^[41].

Alipanova V.P. sees the problems of outsourcing in our country due to

the peculiarities of the current stage of development of the domestic market, the disadvantages of the

outsourcing as a business model, as well as the lack of qualitative methods and quantitative methods for assessing the economic effect of outsourcing ^[34].

When using outsourcing services, enterprises may face various restrictions. For example, limitations in the field of IT skills can create problems with obtaining knowledge and evaluating information received from providers, which can negate the benefits of outsourcing.  Therefore, the following question arises: if firms outsource due to constraints, does it help them better withstand constraints (and potentially improve processes), or does it negatively affect processes because the outsourcing decision was made in unfavorable conditions?

Serious threats and risks of using outsourcing services are:

- reduction of control over fundamental business processes (a service that is not considered the core competence of the company at a certain time may later turn into a key competence due to changes in the business environment);

- loss of intellectual capital;

- unforeseen expenses;

- failure by the contractor to fulfill its obligations, when the provider sacrifices the quality of work for the sake of profit, allows information leakage;

- operational, reputational, legal, compliance risks;

- late delivery of goods and services, if suppliers are monopolists;

- the occurrence of a conflict of interest when one service provider provides services to several participants in the same market;

- unauthorized access to information representing a trade secret, or intentional provision of it by the supplier to third parties;

Anthi Vaxevanou  Nikolaos Konstantopoulos ^[34] cites the reluctance of many companies to change their established cost management systems as an obstacle to the introduction of outsourcing. Research has shown that up to 80% of companies continue to use (or have returned to) traditional overhead management approaches after attempting innovations.

Meanwhile, M.S. Malaeva points out that IT outsourcing allows, on the contrary, to reduce risks. The customer has the right to control the execution of the work under the contract, and the responsibility lies entirely with the contractor. Thus, both sides are equally interested in success ^[35].

In order to prevent the negative impact of constraints on innovative outsourcing, it is necessary that providers adhere to certain principles (Table 3).

Table 3. Principles of providers' work, contributing to the leveling of factors constraining innovative outsourcing

(compiled by the author)

Kochurova L.I. et al. point to the lack of a scientifically based methodology for the economic assessment of the cost of functions outsourced ^[38]. At the same time, the methodology of rationing overhead costs developed by the author can contribute to solving this problem, increase the accuracy of the cost estimate of the costs of performing business processes.

 The following conditions can contribute to the further development of outsourcing in our country:

- training of specialists in the field of outsourcing;

- improvement of the legislative framework governing outsourcing relations;

- development of public-private partnership in the implementation of fundamental and applied research in priority areas;

- providing tax benefits for R&D outsourcing;

- promoting the creation of a network of small and medium-sized innovative organizations;

- adoption of international outsourcing standards (for example, ethics and business practices), using the experience of the international Outsourcing Institute and the Association of Professionals.

Conclusion

In the course of this study, a review and evaluation of theoretical and practical approaches used abroad to manage overhead costs in the context of digitalization and innovative development of enterprises was carried out. The collected material can form an information base for further research.

As a result of the conducted research, the positive impact of outsourcing on the level of competitiveness and efficiency of enterprises is substantiated. This is achieved by enabling them to overcome competence constraints, such as qualified human capital or key technologies and financial constraints associated with the inability to independently carry out certain expensive activities.

Through outsourcing, without significant investment of own funds, conditions are created for the adaptation of the organization to rapid environmental changes, the development of digitalization, R&D, and improvement of technological processes.

The increased use of outsourcing can be applied in the implementation of the program "Digital Economy of the Russian Federation".

It is assumed that the results of this study will allow achieving the planned results of the program implementation: list

- turning digital data into a key factor in production;

- development of high-tech businesses;

- increasing the competitiveness of Russian enterprises in the global market

The increment of scientific knowledge provided by this study consists in the development of an approach to managing overhead costs by including a stage of evaluating the feasibility of outsourcing and, if confirmed, transferring individual business processes to third-party performers. Based on the approbation of the developed recommendations, the use of outsourcing as a tool for optimizing overhead costs in solving the problems of digitalization and strengthening the competitive position of enterprises is justified. Following the author's approach will allow organizations to identify reserves in conditions of limited resources and ensure the possibility of innovative development, digitalization, cost reduction and increased efficiency.

The revealed significant growth potential of outsourcing, due to its low level of penetration into the system of inter-firm cooperation in the development of appropriate methodological support, will reduce the amount of overhead costs, which primarily increase during the implementation of innovative activities, which also contributes to strengthening the competitiveness of enterprises.

To effectively use outsourcing as a factor in reducing overhead costs, it is advisable to adhere to the following rules:

1. Establishing outsourcing relationships as the main task is not saving money, but striving to strengthen competitiveness. This requires finding a provider who clearly understands the strategies and key competencies of the customer.

2. A clear definition of the goals of outsourcing and a description of delegated business processes. If it is impossible to complete the description yourself, you should contact the services of consultants.

This article may be of interest to managers and economists of enterprises looking for ways to optimize costs and digitalize business processes, as well as researchers in the field of strategic and innovative management.

The development of the topic of the article in future research may consist in the formation of approaches to identifying, determining the nature of the impact and minimizing the risks accompanying the use of outsourcing both at the level of organizations and the market as a whole.