Managing project activities in organizations of additional professional education based on the example of the Regional Academy of the Federal Tax Service of Russia

Ivanova Oksana Evgen'evna Senior Lecturer; Department of Taxes and Taxation; Academy of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Administration of Leadership and Business Processes - Volga 603006, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod region, Nizhny Novgorod, Gruzinskaya str., 48 oksa-bor@list.ru Other publications by this author

Yashin Sergei Nikolaevich Doctor of Economics Head of the Department; Department of Management and Public Administration; National Research Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N.I. Lobachevsky 23 Gagarin Ave., Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod Region, 603022, Russia jashinsn@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

Under the influence of the ongoing processes of digital transformation of the economy and the transition to an innovative type of development, employers' requirements for specialists at all levels are becoming tougher. In order to meet the high requirements, a person must constantly update their knowledge, skills and abilities – this statement is based on the modern educational concept of the need for lifelong learning. At the same time, additional vocational education plays a crucial role in meeting the needs of adults, since it is able to respond more quickly to changes in labor market conditions due to the specifics of the organization of the educational process.

Modern scientists agree that the combination of functional and project-based methods of managing the activities of vocational training organizations makes it possible to achieve sustainable development indicators for both the educational institution itself and the economy as a whole and to ensure the training of qualified specialists in the most sought-after professions. It should be noted that the project management of educational organizations is characterized by a number of difficulties, therefore, it is necessary to clarify the theoretical and methodological aspects of the management of the field of activity in question on the basis of modern innovative technologies.

In this regard, the research topic devoted to the justification of project management methods of DPO organizations, which allow achieving sustainable growth indicators, should be considered relevant.

The issue of the application of project-based approaches in the management of educational organizations was studied by G. N. Shibanova, N. A. Sharai, T. I. Shamova, G. P. Shchedrovitsky, A. N. Dedkov, N. A. Alexandrova, A. A. Vorobyeva and other scientists. However, most of the authors' works are devoted to the study of the specifics of project activities in general education and higher education institutions, while insufficient attention has been paid to the DPO segment, and additional development of project management mechanisms in additional professional education is required.

The research used general scientific methods (generalization, analysis, analogy, comparison, synthesis) and private scientific methods (mathematical modeling, induction), studied the research results of domestic and foreign scientists, analyzed statistical data on individual economic indicators of the Russian economy.

Research results

In recent years, Russia has faced enormous challenges from both the external and internal environment, which have exacerbated problems that have not been resolved after the collapse of the USSR. The coronavirus pandemic and the adoption of restrictive measures in this regard in 2020, the foreign policy crisis and the start of a special military operation in 2022, the introduction of unprecedented economic sanctions by unfriendly countries – all this led to instability of the national currency, accelerated inflation, falling incomes and increased social tension.

These factors have exacerbated one of the most important problems of the domestic economy – staff starvation caused by demographic decline (according to Rosstat, the annual population decline in 2019-2023 was about 500 thousand people) and the general aging of the population, as well as conjunctural shifts in the labor market. Of course, the approach to solving this problem should be comprehensive and include both measures to increase the birth rate and investment in high-quality education that can meet the need for highly qualified specialists. Thus, one of the key factors of the economic and social well-being of the state is the high level of development of the educational environment in general, and vocational education in particular.

At the moment, the paradigm of modern education is dominated by the idea of continuous learning, which allows each person to provide the necessary professional, intellectual and cultural level throughout life. Russia has established a regulatory framework aimed at building an educational system that provides an opportunity for everyone to learn new skills and abilities at various stages of life. Federal Law No. 273-FZ of December 29, 2012 provides for the following levels of education: preschool, general education, vocational, additional, which follow one another sequentially and contribute to the development of personality.

To clarify the methodological aspects of managing the project activities of DPO organizations, it is necessary to form a conceptual framework for the field of activity under study, taking into account its specifics. An analysis of scientific sources allows us to conclude that at the moment there are two approaches to determining the project activity of an educational organization.

The first approach implies the introduction of pedagogical design practices into educational activities as a way to organize the educational process in the most effective way. For example, A.V. Pashkevich believes that "pedagogical design is a conscious and purposeful process of building a model for the development of education" ^[1]. E. K. Zhmeneva and L. A. Kolyvanova note that design in the pedagogical process allows you to teach critically analyze the situation and actively solve the task, and not be a passive recipient of knowledge ^[2].

Other researchers approach the definition of a project in educational institutions as a set of actions aimed at creating a new educational product. Thus, according to A.M. Moiseev and O. M. Moiseeva, "an educational project is a complex activity of a temporary team of specialists that takes place in conditions of interaction with the external environment, associated with the achievement of a planned set of goals (tasks) and activities aimed at achieving a specific educational result within a certain time frame and with limited resources." ^[3]. I. B. Romanova also links the project activities of educational institutions with the implementation of educational programs and considers the features of educational project management as a set of "scientific, methodological, technological, organizational, financial, commercial and educational and production activities" ^{[4, 5]}.

It should be noted that educational activities under continuing professional education programs have specific features, so the conceptual framework in the field of project management in vocational education requires clarification. A. A. Vorobyova defines an educational project in the field of vocational education as "a set of time- and resource-limited activities aimed at the development and implementation of an educational product, carried out with the aim of developing professional skills and knowledge of a specialist using an interdisciplinary approach" ^[6].

This definition accurately reflects the essence of the project activities of educational institutions of higher professional education, but it needs to be improved: in our opinion, it is necessary to consider more broadly the list of types of activities of the institution in which projects can be implemented. In this regard, a project in an educational organization should be understood as a set of sequential activities within a set time frame and an approved budget, which are aimed at creating and implementing innovations in the educational, methodological, and organizational activities of the organization in order to meet a person's need to update their professional skills.

By project management in a vocational training organization, we will understand the application of special methods and existing experience at the stages of planning, implementation, control and completion of a project in order to successfully introduce innovations in adult education under existing constraints.

Figure 1 shows a scheme for managing the project activities of a DPO organization, which reflects the economic and organizational relationships that arise during the implementation of projects between various elements of the management system.

The key features of project management in DPO are as follows:

- the purpose of the activities of institutions of this educational level is, among other things, to obtain economic benefits;

- the ability to flexibly respond to changes in the external environment;

- the significant impact of the degree of innovation of the national economy on the level of development of DPO;

Figure 1 - the management mechanism of the project activity of the organization of the DPO (source – compiled by the author)

- a wide range of stakeholders: the state, government and self-government bodies, budget organizations, industrial enterprises, citizens, faculty and management staff of the institution;

- active implementation of innovations in both educational programs and educational technologies;

- the boundaries of the educational services market of the studied segment are blurred;

- high level of competition among educational organizations.

To effectively manage the project activities of vocational training organizations, it is necessary not only to apply well-known methods, but also to develop special mechanisms that take into account the specifics of the field of education under study.

An analysis of the available scientific developments has shown that the authors often rely on traditional project management methods, for example, I. V. Okhremenko ^[7], T. S. Zhidkova ^[8], O. N. Kryukova ^[9] suggest using the following methods and tools:

- a goal tree, the construction of which allows you to define strategic and operational goals and objectives;

- a method of brainstorming, which is used to collectively solve problems that have arisen during the implementation of the project;

- a cascade model, through which the project implementation process is divided into several stages, which makes it possible to achieve clear execution of planned actions;

- the decomposition method, which provides for the decomposition of a complex management process into a number of simpler ones, allowing to achieve specific tasks at different stages of the project lifecycle.

According to D. A. Novikov and A.M. Novikov, for effective project management in an educational environment, it is necessary to ensure the implementation of an interconnected system of actions at various phases of project implementation, while the authors distinguish three main phases: design, technological and reflexive phases, each of which is divided into separate stages and stages ^[10]. This approach allows you to structure the design process and achieve a solution to the task.

A. A. Vorobyeva suggests a method of project management in vocational training organizations, which is based on a value-based approach, which involves the formation of values for each of the participants in the educational process, including customers (corporations and the state), educational organizations, and consumers of educational services. This approach allows the organization of vocational training to respond promptly to changes in labor market conditions as a result of the influence of external factors ^[11]. It is also advisable to use a tool such as PEST analysis, which analyzes the impact of regulatory, economic, social, political, and innovative technological factors on the project based on expert assessments.

Thus, by now, an extensive theoretical and methodological framework for project management in educational organizations has been formed. However, it should be borne in mind that the results of the educational activities of vocational training organizations can have an impact on the economic performance of the state as a whole, while the author's current works do not cover this issue sufficiently. In addition, the current level of development of digital and other innovative technologies allows the use of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in project management, which is also poorly researched.

In this regard, the authors have developed a method for managing the project activities of DPO organizations based on the use of modern AI technologies, which allows planning the achievement of individual economic indicators depending on various factors. This method was tested using the example of the regional Academy of the Federal Tax Service (hereinafter referred to as the Academy of the Federal Tax Service of Russia), which carries out professional development activities for tax officials.

The method of managing the project activities of DPO organizations for the regional Academy of the Federal Tax Service of Russia consists in simultaneously optimizing income tax, personal income tax and property taxes in all regions, depending on the relevant factors of the tax base, improving the skills of tax officials and information security in the regions.

For the regional Academy of the Federal Tax Service of Russia, an indicator of the effectiveness of the training of tax officials under the DPO programs is an increase in tax collection, depending on factors: the tax base, the level of qualifications of employees, information security.

Let's look at this mechanism in more detail.

1. Identifying the real tax base for taxes of organizations and individuals and countering the veiling of financial statements can increase tax collection. Therefore, this process needs to be planned.

2. Professional development of employees also affects tax collection. Thus, employees with higher education (bachelors), graduate students and doctoral students are most able to increase tax collection rates due to their highest qualifications. For this reason, the factors of professional development should also be planned.

3. Information security, on the one hand, facilitates the interaction of taxpayers and tax authorities, and, on the other, protects financial settlements. This also helps to increase tax collection, so these factors should also be planned.

Planning for these factors becomes possible as a result of optimizing tax collection. To this end, the factors of the tax base, professional development and information security will be designated as input variables, and the main taxes as target functions (Table 1).

Table 1. The structure of input data for optimizing tax collection

This optimization can be performed using a multi-objective Genetic algorithm (MGA), Simulated Annealing (SA), and Pattern Search (PS) in Matlab. As an MGA, we will use a three-objective algorithm, since we simultaneously optimize three goals.: 1) income tax (y1), 2) personal income tax (y2) and 3) property taxes (y3).

The stages of simultaneous planning of the tax base, professional development and information security in order to increase tax collection using the MGA, SA and PS algorithms are presented below.

Stage 1 – preparation of data for analysis: adjustment for inflation and standardization. At this stage, the data from the sample of statistical data available on the official Rosstat website for the period 2013-2023, which are presented in rubles, are adjusted for inflation so that they are at comparable prices in 2023, then standardization of all input parameter data for the entire sample of 2013-2023 is carried out.

Stage 2 – obtaining multiple nonlinear regressions for income tax, personal income tax, and property taxes. For each of the three objective functions in the Statisitica program, the specified regression is built depending on the corresponding three input parameters, which are different for each objective function. So, for the profit tax function (y1), this will be the net financial result of organizations (x1), graduation of bachelors, specialists, and masters (x2), and the cost of implementing and using digital technologies (x3). For the personal income tax function (y2), these are the average per capita monetary incomes of the population (x1), the number of graduate students (x2), and the implementation of financial calculations in electronic form (x3). For the property taxes function (y3), this is the cost of fixed assets (x1), the number of doctoral students (x2), and the provision of access to databases via the Internet (x3).

The quality of the obtained nonlinear regressions is checked primarily by using the value of the coefficient of determination R2, which should be as close as possible to 1. The shape of the distribution of the residuals of each regression is also taken into account. The distribution should be close to normal. The residuals represent the difference between the actual values and those predicted by the regression.

Stage 3 – obtaining a Pareto front for the target functions of income tax, personal income tax, and property taxes using MGA. At this stage, the Matlab program solves the problem of simultaneous three-objective maximization of the specified objective functions obtained at the previous stage. Optimization is carried out on the actual segments of the target functions for the period 2013-2023. At the same time, the type of function itself also affects the choice of segments. This applies primarily to square roots and natural logarithms, for which negative or non-positive arguments are impossible. The three-dimensional Pareto front is obtained in the coordinate system goal 1 – income tax / goal 2 – personal income tax / goal 3 – property taxes.

Stage 4 – finding the point on the Pareto front that is closest to the actual values of the target functions in the last year. Since the final conclusions will be based on the results of the activities of a particular region in the last year of 2023, the proximity of the designated point to the actual values of the target functions is also selected in this last year. The coordinates of the obtained point, i.e. the values of the three objective functions, form the guidelines of the optimal values that the regions should strive for.

Step 5 is to determine whether the actual values of the function parameters correspond to the target values for the selected point. How close the actual values of all 9 parameters are to the target values for a particular region characterizes the success of its activities. It also sets the direction for the necessary increase or decrease in parameter values in order to achieve the optimal (maximum) value of each objective function (each tax) according to the point selected at the previous stage on the Pareto front of optimal values.

Stage 6 – planning the factors of the tax base, professional development, information security according to the MGA. To do this, the actual and target parameters of the functions are first converted back from standardized to regular ones. Then, based on the actual data values obtained (adjusted for inflation), conclusions are drawn about whether each of the 9 input parameters should be changed in the near future, and if so, upward or downward, and by how much.

Stage 7 is a separate optimization of each objective function using the SA/PS algorithm. In each of these two cases, each function is optimized anew, which will eventually allow for more rigorous guidelines for planning both the target functions of each tax and the function parameters.

Stage 8 – clarification of the plan on the factors of the tax base, professional development, information security according to SA/PS. In most cases, the optimization results according to the SA and PS algorithms are the same. However, there are exceptions when the SA algorithm is less accurate. Nevertheless, both results allow us to clarify the conclusions regarding the need to increase or decrease the values of the parameters of the objective functions, as well as the magnitude of such a change.

When using the project management method of the DPO organization on the example of the regional Academy of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the Nizhny Novgorod region in 2021, the results presented in Table 2 were obtained.

Table 2. The results of the MGA, SA and PS algorithms (source: compiled by the author)

The analysis allows us to draw the following conclusions:

1. According to the results of the MGA algorithm in the Nizhny Novgorod region in 2023, only the information security parameters are close to optimal. These include input 7 - the cost of implementing and using digital technologies, input 8 - making financial calculations in electronic form, input 9 - providing access to databases via the Internet (in table 2, the actual values of the factors that are close to optimal are highlighted in bold).

2. According to the results of the SA and PS algorithms, the conclusions are the same (with the exception of entry 7 - the cost of implementing and using digital technologies), which indicates that digital technologies are not yet sufficiently developed.

3. According to the results of the MGA, SA and PS algorithms, the tax base for basic taxes (inputs 1-3) and the qualifications of employees (inputs 4-6) can be improved, since these input parameters differ greatly from the target values obtained.

The analysis made it possible to draw the following conclusions. Since the actual receipts for corporate income tax and property taxes have not reached the projected values for the Nizhny Novgorod region by 2023, it is necessary to improve the skills of tax authorities involved in control work regarding these mandatory payments. In this regard, in the Academy of the Federal Tax Service of Russia in 2024-2025, projects were implemented to introduce educational programs "Income Tax Administration", "Property taxes of individuals and legal entities", according to which 48 employees of the tax authorities of the Nizhny Novgorod region underwent advanced training.

Thus, the proposed method makes it possible to make informed decisions in the management of the project activities of the organization, which lead to an increase in the efficiency of the organization itself and have a positive impact on the state of the economy as a whole.

Conclusion

The presented method allows us to get the most complete picture of how a particular region under study should change the parameters of the tax base for the main taxes collected, how and what qualifications to improve for employees, as well as in which direction to develop the information security of the region. A comprehensive solution to these issues will allow the regional Academy of the Federal Tax Service of Russia to plan professional development for employees in such a way that at the same time priority equally important tasks affecting tax collection in the regions are also solved.

For the Nizhny Novgorod region in 2023, the main conclusion is that only the information security parameters are close to optimal. At the same time, the tax base for basic taxes and the qualifications of employees can be improved. The personnel potential of the region corresponds to the range of characteristics for the leading regions. However, this qualification of employees is not used effectively enough, which affects the failure to achieve the projected values for income taxes, property taxes and tax arrears.

It should be noted that vocational training organizations that carry out professional development activities for employees in other sectors of the national economy can also apply this AI-based project management method by defining for themselves a list of significant economic indicators that are subject to forecasting and further planning.

Thus, in the course of the research, the authors have substantiated a method for managing the project activities of vocational training organizations, which allows making informed choices when making decisions regarding the implementation of educational projects and determining priority areas of work based on the use of artificial intelligence technologies that predict and plan significant economic indicators of the branch of the national economy for which the educational institution trains specialists.