Digital Economy

Digital technology-enabled business processes are integrated into the digital economy. Such technologies also enable the internet to conduct digital commerce in a trustless network and decentralized environment. This chapter also draws attention to the new form of economy, which focuses on the development and functions of the digital economy as a new growth engine for Society 5.0 and sheds light on emerging technologies and how the disruptive element of blockchain technology challenges the status quo of the old economy and the underpinning digital disruption imposed by decentralize platformisation. The core components of the digital economy, including digital technologies that serve as the new engine of growth for Society 5.0, were identified. The chapter concluded by highlighting the implications of digital technologies, and how standardisation, upgrading curriculum, legislative frameworks, and policies remedy the impediment of growing the digital economy for Society 5.0.

How Do Upper Echelons Perceive Porter’s Five Forces? Evidence From Strategic Entrepreneurship in China

Porter’s five forces model is an authoritative management tool used in analyzing the profitability and attractiveness of industries through an outside-in viewpoint. In the past decade, dramatic and rapid changes have prompted some criticism of the model. The comparison between new and old economy analysis makes the fundamentals of the model seem weak. Moreover, the past decade has shown that strategy and entrepreneurship in China are not completely dependent on the model. This study first aims to verify the sustainability of the five forces model and analyze its integration into China’s entrepreneurial economy. By conducting in-depth interviews among the upper echelons from various industries, it was found that along with the competitive factors emphasized by the model, Chinese entrepreneurs attend to cooperative factors such as Guanxi, the Chinese term for relationship, and the possibilities of technology integration with the five forces. They also tend to enlarge the strategic view to consider factors such as how the market evaluates the forces. To verify these findings, the authors carried out a large-scale survey with a modified questionnaire analyzing the data collected using exploratory factor analysis with SPSS 22. The outcome shows that Porter’s model is still valid to some extent. Companies are still working in a network of buyers, suppliers, substitutes, new entrants, and competitors. However, reinventions are necessary to include the new factors of Guanxi, technology (e-commerce and logistics), and marketing and branding, which have changed the structure of the industry. These factors arise from the cooperative nature of Chinese culture and may have equal or even larger significance compared with their competitive counterparts in today’s business world.

Big data and competition analysis under Australian competition law: comeback of the structuralist approach?

Competition assessment in Australia has traditionally been based on an evaluation of the market structure relying on five factors, namely the degree of market concentration, the height of barriers to entry, the extent of product differentiation, the extent of vertical integration, and the nature of arrangements between firms. These factors, known as the ‘QCMA factors’, are characteristic of competition in the manufacturing industries of the ‘old economy’. Since the ascendancy of Chicago and Post-Chicago School thinking competition analysis in Australia has also taken into consideration non-structural factors. However, in light of the dominance of big tech companies in online markets, the so-called ‘Neo-Brandeisian School’ has advocated focusing on structural elements that are characteristic of online markets. This article examines to what extent the QCMA factors still a suitable structural framework for the assessment of competition in online markets.

Reaching for the Stars: The Role and Value of Digital Reputation

In the old economy, reputation was considered an important but somewhat underestimated intangible asset. In the digital economy, the significance of reputation is expanded in scope. It enables the building of trust among “quasi-strangers” who engage in an economic transaction. Reputation scores, usually in the form of feedback, ranking and rating systems, facilitate the building of trust in the absence of a direct relationship between sellers and buyers. Concomitantly with the rise of social network sites and the proliferation of metrics and analytics of all kinds, the era of the “reputation economy” has dawned. A good reputation usually brings further good evaluations. On the other hand, a bad reputation can be a long-term setback for a company. Having no reputation means virtual non-existence in the eyes of today’s consumers. Professional reputation management is therefore a core task that makes a decisive contribution to the success of a company.

Why Did the Investment–Cash Flow Sensitivity Decline over Time?

We propose an explanation for why corporate investment used to be sensitive to cash flow and why the sensitivity declined over time. The sensitivity stems from the informational role of cash flow in inferring the productivity of tangible capital in the old economy. Over time, however, more new-economy firms enter the market. These firms have reduced tangible capital productivity and reduced cash-flow predictability, which drives the decline in the average investment–cash flow sensitivity. Theoretical and empirical analyses support this explanation.

Significance and role of using electronic communications in entrepreneurial companies

With the development of computer science, time and computer networks, primarily the Internet, as well as the increasing use of information and communication technologies in the company's business, it establishes a new form of business, and thus the economy. For several years, computing has been ranked high on political agendas in Europe and the world. Today, the European Commission considers computing to be literacy, which is the basis for understanding how digital technologies work and serves the development of 21st century skills, such as, among other things, "electronic business, ie. digital economics and analytical thinking. E-business operates on different principles in relation to the old economy and requires a different economic philosophy. Information, ideas, innovation and knowledge that create values, growth and productivity. The modern way of doing business guarantees a better access to the market and thus increases the position of companies, especially small and medium enterprises, in time and better use of their own resources provided by information and communication technologies. Companies, ie. SMEs in their challenges in the later stages of development will be precisely that, the better position in the global Internet market with its basic premises of creating good material bases and time make their offer accessible to potential consumers.

Leadership in the Digital Era

The new generation, who grew up with social media and the intensive use of information technology, is pouring into the job market, disrupting the corporate culture and leadership models that have been known until now. If these young experts have unique working methods and a language of their own, they are also at the center of the value creation network. How can a leader cope with these changes and exploit the remarkable potential of this new generation? No Fear builds on the personal experiences of leaders of major international companies and points the way forward for any leader who wants to grow its business and its employees in the digital age. The digital revolution will pose new challenges to the leaders of the companies. First of all, the proliferation of technological innovations and their rapid diffusion are a major challenge to understand, assimilate and use them wisely. Second, the exponential growth of Internet-based businesses poses a major challenge for those in the old economy that are at risk of a rapid break in their core business.