Encouraging internationalization and sustainable competitiveness in construction. A preliminary approach in Portugal

The Civil Construction and Public Works sector in Portugal has undergone huge oscillations over the last years, reflected on the number of companies, turnover and number of direct employees assigned to the activity. This sector is an important sector for economic growth and companies must adopt strategic analysis and control tools in order to survive and remain competitive. Companies operate in a large, highly competitive and demanding market, with new players and new business models. Companies need to find new ways of competing worldwide and internationalization emerges as one of the business responses to the challenge of globalization. Sustainability is a commitment to the future, a route that organizations must travel to search the best solutions to humankind problems, whether they are economic, social or environmental.

Business models transformed by digitalization in contemporary art museums and galleries

In the 21st Century, the common features of the developing digital technol- ogy are compressed information, accelerated information management, big data, multiple interaction, personalization and uninterrupted access and convergence. These features are seen as factors that accelerate access to information, reduce some communication and cost expenses economically, speed up sales and marketing, provide visibility to institutions, and increase ideas and sharing. With the effects of digital technology Contemporary art museums and galleries have experienced digitalization processes in order to maintain their existence and achieve their goals. Digitalization is not limited to being a technical application, but it is a process that transforms contem- porary art institutions as a whole, especially in communication, institution- alism, branding, marketing, finance and sustainability. Therefore, digital technology requires to be available to institutions. Being a contemporary art institution requires being intellectually and technologically renewed in institutional, managerial and communicative terms. The mission and sustain- ability of art and art institutions should be ensured in harmony with technol- ogy. Therefore, new business models have been required in the digitalization processes in art institutions and the need for changing business models will increase as technology develops. Purpose of the study: To identify the new business models of contemporary art museums and galleries, and in parallel, the features they need in human resources, and to raise awareness on this issue. In this study, the hybrid structure of new business models needed in contemporary art institutions has been revealed as a whole. In the study, it has been revealed based on the examples and the viewpoints of authorized persons that, managerial digital strategies in contemporary art museums and galleries should contain the distinction specific to art. The main result that emerged from the interviews is the hybrid structures of the new business models needed by contemporary art museums and galleries in the digital age, blended with digital technology and the knowledge of art management.

Cloud Computing Models for Business

The idea of cloud computing is not a new one, it has been developed and discussed for many years. Cloud computing is a model which allows to get access to the network upon request from the set of adjustable computing services, such as infrastructure, applications and storages. Cloud services and data storage products allow their users to store and share any type of document and file from any device connected to Internet. There are several types of cloud services, which can be subdivided into: SaaS (Software as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service), IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service). Besides, there are several deployment models, such as public, residential, hybrid or community cloud. Cloud computing models are based on modern process paradigm, which offers new alternatives to the companies of various ranges for implementation of innovative business models. With the help of these new business models small companies will be able to use cloud computing platforms and to increase gradually their computation capacities and data storage capacities depending on the requirements in real time mode, which creates a unique opportunity for market competition. Keywords— cloud computing, IaaS, OpenStack, PaaS, SaaS.

Nexus Between Entrepreneurship Education and Employability Skills of Tertiary Institution Students in Ilorin Metropolis

This study examines nexus between entrepreneurship education and employability skills of tertiary institution students in Ilorin metropolis. To establish this, two research questions were raised for the study. The target population for the study comprised students of Kwara state College of Education, Ilorin. One hundred and eighty students were randomly selected. A structured questionnaire was designed as the instrument for data collection. Regression analysis statistical method at 0.05 level of significance was used to test the formulated hypotheses. The study revealed that entrepreneurship curriculum contents contain information on how students can identify and shape opportunities, new business concepts and bring through entrepreneurship among students of tertiary institution in Ilorin Metropolis. This study concluded that entrepreneurship education is a good policy on employability skills acquisition among students which makes them to be self-sustenance after graduation. The study recommended among others that entrepreneurship lecturers should introduce and use innovative/modern methods in teaching students of higher institutions the art and practice of entrepreneurship. This can be achieved by ensuring that right facilities are in place and the lecturers must be qualified and equipped with adequate and updated knowledge and skills. Keywords: Curriculum, Entrepreneurship, Education, Employability skills, Ilorin

How Impurities Responsible for Recalls Emerge in Hand Sanitizers

The global pandemic has created an unprecedented demand for alcohol-based hand sanitizers. This stimulated the entry of many new producers of hand sanitizers, both to provide a new business during the general shutdowns, and to meet the needs of society. Similarly, this created a need for alcohol sources well beyond what had been produced for the consumer market. This has led to numerous recalls of formulations in both the United States and Canada for exceeding the limits of several key impurities, arising from oxidized forms of alcohols, that could risk consumers’ health. Some of these recalls likely arise from the use of substandard ingredients, but others are less easily explained. However, the inclusion of hydrogen peroxide, and the possibly introduction of metal salts from processing could explain the levels of oxidative impurities. This study investigates these questions experimentally using the standard WHO formula as the base formulation, and finds that these impurities do readily arise in the presence of metal salts.

Business Models in the Industry 4.0 Environment—Results of Web of Science Bibliometric Analysis

The Fourth Industrial Revolution affects the operations of companies and results in new strategic thinking. The changes resulting from the requirements of Industry 4.0 force restructuring in many areas of management or the building of new business models. The aim of this article was to indicate the pillars that will form the basis for building business models of enterprises functioning in the era of Industry 4.0. The research methods used in this article were bibliometric analysis and analysis of the content of sophisticated publications. The results of this research are the analysis of the dynamics of publications in the area of business models in the era of Industry 4.0, an indication of the research areas undertaken in these publications and the identification of the pillars that will constitute the basis for building business models in the era of Industry 4.0. Business models in the era of Industry 4.0 are to be a method of increasing and using the company’s resources in order to achieve a competitive advantage through personalization of products and their new quality; their key competitive advantage will be a structure based on a network of cyber-physical cooperation. This article is dedicated to scientists and business practitioners looking for tips for building modern business models.

Investigation the Place of BIAN Standard in Digital Banking Enterprise Architecture

Today organizations encounter many issues such as newfound technologies, new business models, and rapid variations. Nowadays, following evolutions in the global context, caused by information and communication technology in the field of trade, industry, and specifically information technology, has impelled organizations, companies, and particularly banks to undergo changes and alter their reaction method to the market. In this way, the role of enterprise architecture and using standards and reference models are crucial to the organizations. Accordingly, the organization that wants to be active in the digital transformation and move towards digital banking should be able to implement an agile enterprise architecture and use reference models such as BIAN. The objective of this article is to investigate the role of Business Architecture Industry Network (BIAN) Standard in moving towards digital banking.

ЗНАЧЕННЯ ІНФРАСТРУКТУРНОГО ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ ІННОВАЦІЙНО-ІНВЕСТИЦІЙНИХ ПРОЦЕСІВ У РОЗВИТКУ СІЛЬСЬКИХ ТЕРИТОРІЙ В УМОВАХ КОНКУРЕНТНОЇ ЕКОНОМІКИ

The article provides insights into implications of modern competitive economy for the national economic development and argues that in the new business realia it is critical to search for internal reserves for socioeconomic growth at all levels of administrative and territorial entities including socioeconomic development of rural areas based on natural, technological, human and other factors aimed at attaining competitive advantages. The study demonstrates that in the context of innovation and investment processes, building appropriate infrastructure is the priority objective to boost rural areas development. Such approach will contribute to creating an attractive investment environment, shaping an innovative structure of rural areas able to provide a full chain of creating and disseminating innovations and new technologies in production, enhance investment and innovation capacity of rural areas, modernization and change of territorial industries. The study identifies the terms and determinants in building effective infrastructure support for facilitating innovation and investment process of rural development and its properties that arise within the competitive economy paradigm. Apart from that, the study presents a framework of endogenous and exogenous factors affecting the infrastructure support for innovation and investment processes to foster rural development in Ukraine. The following factors are discussed as the most critical ones: legal, financial, investment-based, organizational, managerial, psychological, motivational, economic, consulting, informational, professional, scientific, industrial, technological, marketing, socioeconomic, etc. The summary outlines the key vectors of institutional, organizational and economic transformation that will promote building effective infrastructure support for further innovative development of rural areas.

Analisis SWOT Sebagai Strategi Meningkatkan Daya Saing Pada Apotek 325 Surabaya

This research was conducted at Apotek 325 which is located on Jl. Demak No. 325, Dupak, Krembangan District, Surabaya City, East Java. The pharmacy has been established since 2000 where a new business strategy is needed to face increasing competitive and increasing complex business competition. The research method used is a descriptive quantitative approach, using the SWOT method and data collection techniques with primary data and secondary data, in which the author's secondary data is through in-depth interviews, documentation and participatory observations relating to the SWOT analysis owned by Apotek 325 Surabaya. After getting the data then the data will be analyzed with SWOT. The results of the research from the SWOT analysis obtained IFAS results with a total score of 2.01 while for EFAS results with a total score of 2.49. From the results of the SWOT diagram, Pharmacy 325 is in quadrant II, namely the Diversification Strategy. The results of the SWOT Matrix Strategy obtained that the SO Strategy was 1.7, the ST Strategy was 2.91, the WO Strategy was 1.59, and the WT Strategy was 2.8.