The Instrumental Apparatus of the Innovative Potential Audit of the Enterprise in the Implementation of Project Activities

Innovative development ensures high efficiency and competitiveness in production. However, project activities and sufficient investments are needed in order to encourage innovation. In this way, the relevance of studying the feasibility of project activities in the context of innovative development is growing. This study is aimed at developing tools for auditing the innovative potential of an enterprise, which could be used for investigating the relationships between the dynamics of the innovative potential and the project performance figures grouped by investment categories. The paper examines the impact of project activities on the innovative potential of an enterprise and its innovative position in the industry. The suggested instrumental approach was tested on some enterprises operating in the construction industry. The testing allowed us to rank the enterpris es in the industry using open data and to study the relationship between the types of investments made into projects by a particular enterprise and its innovative position. To identify the dependencies, we recommend using correlation and regression analysis. The significance of the approach is in its versatility, since it can be adapted to the conditions of operation in any industry, provided there is sufficient data.

Audit activities; Innovation audit; Innovative development; Innovative potential; Instrumental approach

Thus, the enterprise's innovative potential (IP) has to be evaluated and the “determinants of development efficiency” identified in its composition. This identification will help us learn about the problematic elements of corporate innovation (Kajander et al., 2012). The audit of the IP can be used for developing approaches to complex problem-solving and improving the company’s development strategy. Consequently, studying the feasibility of PA of the enterprise by evaluating the effectiveness of its innovative activity is extremely relevant. The development strategy determines the number of opportunities to prevent the financing of expensive and potentially unsuccessful projects that can be incorporated in the business entity's innovation policy.

The objective of the study is to develop tools for auditing an enterprise IP, that can be used in the audit for identifying the relationships between the dynamics of the IP and project performance figures grouped by investment categories. To achieve this objective, the authors examine the impact of PA on the IP, propose a system of indicators based on open data that can be used for assessing the IP of an enterprise, study the possibility of an audit of the IP to learn about the relationships between its dynamics and the project performance figures grouped by investment categories.

The research relies on the authors’ studies in the fields of project activities, innovative development, investment analysis, and enterprise economics. The researchers' worldviews and differing opinions ensure a comprehensive look at an enterprise's IP formation processes and determine the trajectories for its innovative growth. The research materials were chosen based on the statement that project activities do not always result in consistent innovative growth, which necessitates the rational use of financial resources through methods aimed at optimizing investment activities and reducing potentially inefficient areas.

1.1.  Role of project activities in the formation of innovative potential (IP)

Enterprise management should focus on cost-effective projects so that the strategic goals of the company can be attained. Sustainable growth largely depends on PA. PA are expected to result in intensive business development, with innovations being essential. This is the way to maximize productivity and reduce costs with minimal capital investment (Burova et al., 2021; Zaytsev et al., 2020b; Donbesuur et al., 2020). At the same time, PA are macroeconomically significant because an entity's IP, as well as that of territories, industries, and clusters, is dependent on resource efficiency. The scientific literature highlights that effective PA is grounded on “innovative thinking”, whose quality affects the ability to stimulate innovative activity (Kuzovleva et al., 2019).

 Traditional approaches to innovative business development define the structure of the IP and highlight its individual elements that should be influenced by management in order to achieve economic growth. Such elements should include human capital, information, business reputation, technology, and other intangible assets of an enterprise (Zheng et al., 2018; Christensen, 2001; Westley & Mintzberg, 1989). The instable innovation environment during the 4^th Industrial Revolution can have a negative impact on enterprises that ignore social, institutional, and innovative factors. Low sustainability indicators can keep multi-level structures in a trap of socio-economic failure ( Vlasova et al., 2021; Rakhmeeva & Animitsa, 2020; Thoenig, 2016;). Such a threat is explicit for business structures that lack a management system aimed at innovative growth or are not involved in projects that contribute to such growth.

When investing in innovative projects, the rational use of financial resources is essential for maintaining the sustainability and competitiveness of enterprises in all industries. However, researchers note that traditional approaches to choosing innovative projects to be invested in have a number of serious assumptions due to their complexity and focus on classified data, which leads to building new economic and mathematical models