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.

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.

Digital Transformation and the Evolution of the Platform Economy

This chapter provides an overview of the evolution of the platform economy through the lens of digital transformation and transit from Industry 3.0 (I3.0) to Industry 4.0 (I4.0). The platform economy belongs to both I3.0 and I4.0 and goes through two cycles of digital transformation within them. In I3.0, the starting point of the platform economy is the digitization of social and commercial interactions over user-generated content. The resulting issues of trust and regulation of user interactions find solutions in new business models based on online reputation systems and algorithmic regulation. The specificity of I4.0 is the tendency to platform products, homes, factories, and cities through broad digitization of interactions between humans and things, and things and things. For the platform economy, the new cycle of digital transformation in the context of I4.0 means creating business models based on the ultimate customization of both the production and consumption of product-as-platforms and the rental of digital product models.

Modelling Business in Healthcare

The appeal for new business models is at high level nowadays in all market sectors involving all economic agents. Dealing with classical, non-responsive, bureaucratic structures, traditional organizational arrangements impose delays on management, ineffective control features, and, more critical, limitations to innovate. In this chapter, the authors analyze the proposition for new business models with the consideration of two huge pressuring motivations: to innovate in the healthcare sector and adopt emerging technologies. Both dimensions brought opportune facts for business models development and application, but, with an immense and uncontrolled dynamicity, also produced a confused, turbulent scenario where the academic and scientific knowledge, always demanded, was not developed and communicated efficiently. To address this imperfect scenario, the authors present their reflections around perspectives on building and applying business models supported by emerging technologies for the healthcare sector, offering a background to foster these discussions in further studies and decision-making contexts.

My Wardrobe in the Cloud

In response to the 2008 global financial crisis, a range of disruptive business model innovations emerged. The fashion industry saw the introduction of fashion rental platforms, aimed at appealing to price-conscious consumers still hungry for the latest styles. While these new business models filled a gap in the market and saw, in some cases, profit in the millions, the phenomenon remained rather niche. The recent pandemic, alongside other isomorphic pressures, have put further constraints on these fashion rental businesses and their entrepreneurs, leaving them struggling in the current economic climate. This chapter explores the entrepreneurial motivations behind rental platforms, the different platform models in operation, and the challenges these businesses face in the 21st century, including increased technological developments, environmental sustainability, and external pressures, such as the most recent pandemic, which saw economies shutting down. Empirically, the authors draw upon a novel dataset comprising six international case studies.

A theoretical framework on network's dynamics for precision agriculture technologies adoption

Recently, the agricultural sector has had to face several challenges related to the innovation process, the most significant of which seems to be that of its digital transformation. As a consequence, the issue of digital technology adoption is becoming of important scientific interest due to its potential impact on products, services, processes, and new business models. In general, the adoption behavior can be indirectly explained by studying factors that lead a firm to innovate; among these factors, the literature emphasizes the function of networks. The objective of the paper is to investigate the role of networks as key drivers of precision agriculture technologies adoption. To achieve this goal, qualitative research was developed by using 8 case studies recollected among that few Italian farms which can be defined as innovative for having already experienced precision agriculture. Results show that only a few farms can develop and manage innovations internally; success often requires cooperation between individual actors and organizations. Finally, the paper provides some practical advice and a set of propositions for those farms that are trying to achieve digital technological innovations.

Integrated Predictive Experience Management Framework (IPEMF) for Improving Customers Experience

Enterprises are adopting digital transformation with an exponential rate to drive growth through new business models and the use of digital technologies. Digital transformation is a business imperative rather than technology imperative. Hence, customer experience during and post-transformation is key to the success of the digital transformation. The present paper proposes an Integrated Predictive Experience Management Framework (IPEMF) for improving customer experience. IPEMF is- a structured and methodological business processes centric connected experience framework with the customer at the centre. The uniqueness of IPEMF is that it seamlessly integrates business processes, technology, organisation, and customer behaviour. It is agnostic of the business vertical or the geography. The framework puts forth an approach to predict the impact on customer experience proactively and provides a feedback loop to help continuously improve the experience. IPEMF helps enterprises build intuitive, trusted relationships and hyper-personalised customer experience through the customer journey.

Agroecological cluster as a system integrator of the Baikal region

The Baikal Region, despite its favorable geopolitical position (between Europe and Asia) and the most famous lake on the planet, located in its territory, is peripheral and depressive. The lag in socio-economic development is due to severe environmental restrictions imposed on economic activities. New business models and process solutions are necessary to enable the transition to a digital economy without harming the environment. Development of a agroecological cluster based on a digital platform will help increase the connectivity of the macroregional space, its integration and the rational use of the resources of the Baikal ecosystem. Due to generation of a synergistic effect that manifests itself in the socio-economic and environmental spheres the agroecological cluster acts as an integrator uniting the subjects of the “state – society – business” triad on the basis of mutually beneficial partnership.