Virtual Economics

Digitalization Impact on Sustainable Firm Performance of Small, Medium, and Large Businesses

2024-03-16T12:50:24+00:00

Currently, the world is presented with sophistication in the field of technology, including company management. A superior company is an organization that can optimize all aspects. Speaking of existence, one of the essential pillars that support company sustainability is technology adoption. Referring to this premise, this study is structured to elaborate on the elements that determine firm performance (FP). These elements are designed into three factors: (1) digital technology usage/DTU, (2) digital transformation strategy/DTS, and (3) organizational agility/OA. This study concentrated on 159 samples compiled from small, medium, and large-scale businesses. Nonprobability sampling and purposive sampling data were extracted via PLS-SEM. Quantitative findings revealed that DTU has positive implications for DTS, OA, and FP. Empirical studies prove that DTS and OA also have a positive impact on FP. The current empirical research concludes that the increase in digital technology usage further develops digital transformation strategy, organizational agility, and firm performance. Improvements in digital transformation strategy or organizational agility can improve firm performance. Policy implications open up space for managerial actors to prioritize more complex ideas, solutions, and alternatives in strengthening mastery of the technology.

Staff Competencies for Digital Transformation: Results of Bibliometric Analysis

2024-03-16T13:02:25+00:00

The impact of digital transformation on the future of the working environment is one of the hot topics on the agenda both at the micro- (business) and macro- (national economy) levels. Digitalization and automatization of business processes are treated by many employees as a potential threat to their jobs. The digital skills gap is one of the main barriers to the successful implementation of digital strategies in many companies. Thus, the upskilling of the staff is one of the urgent needs and, simultaneously, issues (due to the staff resistance) in the path towards successful digital transformation. The

goal of the article is to gain a deeper understanding of the intensity and scope of research in the field of personnel training in the context of digital transformation on a global and Latvian scale. The article provides the results of the bibliometric analysis, based on 2109 papers published in 2000-2023 in the sources indexed by SCOPUS. Visualization was made by the application of VOSviewer tools. The analysis yielded five clusters that combine 177 terms – namely, “Digital transformation and technologies”, “Human resources and innovation”, “Education and learning”, “Higher education and the Pandemic”, and “Information technologies and competencies”. Besides, the authors analysed the content of 41 defended doctoral dissertations by Ph.D. students of Latvian Universities in 2012-2023. As a result of the examination, it became evident that the practical solutions put forth are largely disconnected from the focus of this research. This, in turn, indicates the need for an in-depth investigation of the above-mentioned concepts, namely - productivity, motivation, and mitigating resistance in the context of business digital transformation.

Strategic Evaluation and Economic Impact of Fibre Optic Infrastructure

2024-03-16T13:20:20+00:00

Metrolink, LDA as the largest telecommunications company in Timor-Leste, is continuously investing to grow its company and serve the growing needs of its customers with a profit-oriented vision. This research aims to find out the viability of the investment plan that will be implemented at Metrolink, LDA. The investment plan is the construction of a project in Silawan-Batu Gade-Liquica-Dili that is to expand the network. With a total investment of USD 3,000,000 coming from equity at an interest rate of 9% in 2023. Capital budgeting is a process in which a company analyses a project and decides which projects will be included in its financial budget. The type of research that is conducted is descriptive research and this research will perform qualitative analysis to analyse the problems that occur. While the data is in the form of quantitative data. Evaluation of investment eligibility on the project This uses capital budgeting techniques which it uses to find out whether or not an investment proposal is eligible. With the payback period analysis tool, net present value. The two analytical tools are also used by Metrolink, LDA to measure whether the project is adequate or not. From the results of the analysis and the plan of the project Silawan-Batu Gade-Liquica-Dili. Obtained a payback period of 2 years 7 months from the target Metrolink, LDA is 5 years, Net Present Value of USD 3.358.050 of the target that is defined Metrolinks, the result is positive. It shows that the financial investment plan project is not worthy to be implemented.

Gender Equality and Work-life Balance in the Digital Era: A Bibliometric Analysis

2024-03-16T13:34:03+00:00

The impact of digitalisation on work-life balance stemming from flexible working arrangements, which have blurred the boundaries between one’s profession and personal space, has heightened in the face of modern technological advancements. Unlike males, females are the most disadvantaged when it comes to gender norms and formulation of institutional policies as most of the existing policies have been clearly oriented on men as compared to women. The study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the relationship among evidence regarding gender equality and work-life balance in the era of digitalisation. VOSviewer is used to present data obtained from the Scopus database. Articles retrieved were critically appraised and presented in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flowchart. The study finds that the number of publications on the topic of gender equality, work-life balance, and digitalisation has seen a steady increase (47 in 2023 from 4 in 2017). The West and Europe dominate when it comes to contributions made to publications on digitalisation, gender equality, and work-life balance, only one paper is from South Africa and there are no publications contributed from Ghana. The study further reveals that though Germany has the highest number of publications, the United Kingdom and the United States have the highest collaboration and impact (citations). This indicates the gap in literature requiring empirical research on the effect of digitalisation on gender equality and work-life balance in the Ghanaian and developing countries context.

Oscillation Effects of Innovation on Employment

2024-03-17T16:47:12+00:00

On the cusp of a promising era of technological progress and innovation that seeks to deeply alter the essence of employment, recent research indicates that there is no straightforward answer to how these changes will affect the total labour force. This study endeavours to clarify the complex oscillations between these forces. It employs a robust methodological fusion of theoretical frameworks and empirical scrutiny to dissect the innovation-employment nexus within both OECD and non-OECD economies. A dynamic regression model was utilized, integrating employment variables through the total labour force, and innovation metrics through the Innovation Program 5 for OECD countries, along with the Patent Cooperation Treaty for non-OECD countries. The analysis favoured the robust two-step SYS-GMM estimator over various estimations, including the DIF-GMM, uncovering a positive relationship effect between innovation and employment. Specifically, the study reveals that the IP5 exerts a significant positive effect on the labour force within OECD countries, endorsing the labour-friendly nature of innovation. Conversely, the PCT demonstrates a marked beneficial effect on employment in non-OECD countries. These insights shed light on the nuanced and favourable interplay between innovation and employment across diverse economies, accentuating the temporal and interdependent nature of their association. The need for in-depth knowledge of innovation and its specific effects on employment is crucial for policy-makers. This entails the development of tailored policies and strategic plans intended for the patenting and exploiting innovations aiming at strengthening employment in its economic environment, in specific business environments and taking account of temporal and contextual factors.