Analysis of key university leadership factors based on their international rankings (QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education)

In this present age of globalization, the logistics and transportation industry has become an integral part of most businesses/firms as it is aimed at ensuring the effective movement of people, distribution of goods and services from one location to another on time. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on the logistics and transportation sectors. The qualitative research approach was adopted using analysis and synthesis of scientific literature, data from news reports, organizational sites, and a case study of data contents. The paper presented the analysis of negative and positive effects of COVID-19 on the logistics and transportation industry. The study also discusses possible strategies and further steps for improvement of the logistics and transportation sector, including the automation and introduction of other technologies, a sustainable and flexible transportation system, cooperation of logistics and transportation business. Findings regarding the positive implications of COVID-19 show noticeable advancements in the logistics and transportation sector, such as the rise of e-commerce businesses with efficient delivery options, and the development of 3rd party logistics services as more companies outsource supply chain operations. The study revealed the importance of strategic planning with a joint effort from the research centers, public sector, private sector, and educational institutions as one of the proposed solutions for the logistics and transportation industry.

Current local and national demographic trends have deepened the existing and formed new global demographic processes that have received a new historical reasoning that requires deep scientific research taking into account the influence of the multifactorial global dimension of the modern society development.
The purpose of the article is to study the development of global demographic processes and to define the causes of their occurrence, manifestations, implications and prospects for implementation in the first half of the 21st century.
The authors have identified and characterized four global demographic processes, namely population growth, migration, increase of tourism, and change in population structure. It is projected that in the 30’s of the 21st century, the number and growth rates of the world population will reach the objective growth and these dynamics over the next two decades will begin to change in the direction of reducing the growth rates, which will lead to gradual stabilization, and eventually reduce the size of the world population. By the middle of the 21st century, one can observe the preservation of the growth rates of international and domestic migration, the growth of international migration flows from the South to the North and from the East to the West, the strengthening of new economically developed centers of gravity (Canada, Australia and New Zealand), the increase in migration of rural population to cities, as well as urbanization and activation of the metropolises development. The share of international tourists in comparison with the world population will be constantly increasing, and the annual growth rate of the number of international tourists will significantly depend on the world economy and may vary at the several percent level. Permanent change will occur in the age, religious-cultural and socio-economic structure of the population.

Profit is the main purpose and the key result of any enterprise operation. Profit management involves two stages, namely, generation and distribution. Profit generation is the main stage in the overall process of profit management and not only the basis for its distribution, but also a source of the production assets renewal and the new self-financing of the further development of the enterprise. Based on the analysis of approaches to the essence and classification of company profits, an advanced complex classification is proposed. In order to improve the profit generation management of a motor transport enterprise and to identify the main factors affecting its profits, an analysis of technical and economic indicators, analysis of profitability indicators and SWOT analysis were carried out. Given the results obtained, a questionnaire was created and a survey was carried out among managers and specialists of the enterprise, which allowed to identify the factors that have the greatest impact on the activity of the motor transport enterprise. The factors are classified into external and internal. Also, a factor analysis of the company’s profit was carried out, which made it possible to determine key indicators that require priority attention in managing the profit generation at a motor transport enterprise. It was concluded that the most important external factors include the Ministry of Infrastructure’s activities aiming at adapting the world tendencies to the Ukrainian automotive industry. The internal factors in controlling the profit generation of the enterprises are in paying greatest attention to the volume of services rendered, their cost and the size of transportation tariffs.