Strategic Outlook In Business And Finance Innovation

Strategic Outlook in Business and Finance Innovation: Multidimensional Policies for Emerging Economies brings together new theoretical frameworks and develops appropriate strategies to improve the performance of firms globally.

Multidimensional Strategic Outlook on Global Competitive Energy Economics and Finance analyses current trends in energy production and use, with a focus on technological developments that contribute to the reduction of price in energy production and renewable energy sources that provide continuity in energy production.

This book presents various perspectives on innovative work behaviour, focusing on problem recognition, idea generation, idea promotion and the realisation of these ideas. It first highlights important corporate issues, such as uncertainty, performance management, technological infrastructure, and strategy development, and subsequently presents studies that offer solutions. Further, the book evaluates the significance of research and development, effective communication and corporate governance. Lastly, it discusses the implications of idea realisation, examining resource dependence theory, organizational trust and eco-innovations.

This edited volume seeks to identify the sustainability issues currently affecting the energy business and finance. For this purpose, a broad range of perspectives on sustainability issues in the energy business and finance are taken into consideration in the context of renewable business projects. In turn, several novel strategies from the energy business and finance are illustrated with regard to sustainable organizational factors, technological infrastructure, financial facilities, economic development, and investment potential. Comparing and contrasting different sustainability perspectives can help to develop the most appropriate and successful business strategies for the sustainable energy business and finance. This book presents multidimensional analyses of sustainability issues with regard to renewable energy projects and identifies the most promising strategies, as well as efficient market conditions for the energy business.

In a highly competitive global market, companies need to equip themselves with best practices and strategies to survive. Strategic management, innovative managerial thinking, and a clear decision-making process must be utilized to boost company performance and ultimately drive the company’s success. The Handbook of Research on Managerial Thinking in Global Business Economics identifies the importance of strategic decision making in competitive environments and analyzes the impacts of managerial thinking on global financial economics. The content within this publication examines globalization, consumer behavior, and risk management. It is designed for researchers, academicians, policymakers, government officials, and managers, and covers topics centered on innovation and development within organizations.

Energy has a wide range of uses within a country, includin socially and economically. Providing everything from warmth and light to raw materials for industrial production, energy is an essential need for countries. Due to the importance of energy for countries, energy policies are extremely vital, and energy needs to be affordable, eco-friendly, and continuous so countries can provide for their people and continue to develop industrially. Without the availability of energy that is cheap and continuous, the effectiveness in the energy supply process will be reduced, and society will experience difficulties in having its daily energy needs met. The Handbook of Research on Strategic Management for Current Energy Investments analyzes current trends in energy production and use and identifies energy investment strategies in order to support affordable and available energy for all. Chapters within the book cover technological developments that contribute to the reduction of price in energy production as well as renewable energy sources that provide continuity in energy production but do not emit carbon into the atmosphere. This book highlights topics that cover environmental pollution, energy pricing, economic growth, carbon dioxide emission, and energy management. It is ideal for engineers, technicians, managers, researchers, academicians, policymakers, government officials, and students in related fields.

Running a business today is becoming more complex than two or three decades ago. The world is becoming increasingly open and globalized, and the production processes of goods and provision of services are inscribed in global supply and value-added chains. Large corporations are doing well in such a market, but small and medium-sized enterprises often find it increasingly difficult to function. In addition, apart from the processes exerting pressure on enterprises operating in the real economy, as a result of financial globalization, the scope of financial entities (banks, investment funds, stock exchanges) was also increasing (Knox-Hayes & Wójcik, 2020). However, this is a phase of the past. Currently, not only crossing borders but, above all, far-reaching digitalization and the development of modern technologies set the main direction for the development of enterprises (Florek-Paszkowska et al., 2021). In order to cope with these changes, both individual companies and entire sectors, public administration, and society, as well as national economies, have to make so-called digital transformation (Gajewski et al., 2016). More profound changes are triggered by sustainability, ecology, and human-oriented goals, leading towards industry 5.0. All these processes exert pressure both on big companies as well as on small- and medium-size enterprises. The ongoing changes related to the digitalization process mean not only incorporating modern technologies into existing entities and structures but are much more critical. They are spiritus movens, leading to the transformation of entire sectors of the real economy and the financial markets (Marszk & Lechman, 2021). We can observe the emergence of ecologies and ecosystems (Gancarczyk & Rodil-Marzábal, 2022; Piątkowski & Urbaniec, 2023), mechanisms leading to the development of sharing economies (Szpringer, 2020), as well as the increasing rooting and linking of traditional financial services with services leading to meeting the needs of society. Financial services are embedded in products and become inseparable from these products, and the traditional division into sectors is gradually disappearing. This is possible thanks to the creation of platforms which connect many market participants (Sironi, 2021). In the context of the abovementioned far-reaching processes, many business entities operate according to traditional principles. The key for them are sales, profit and liquidity, which define the crucial financial performance. Among important aspects are also such issues as maintaining the security of business operations and obtaining the desired market indicators in stock companies. For enterprises from developing countries, the basic problem is access to finance, the market, and advanced technologies (Jalil et al., 2022; Łasak, 2022). In developed countries, enterprises also encounter many challenges related to the traditional corporate finance dimension despite a better situation. The current Issue published in the Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation (Volume 19, Issue 4, 2023) is aimed at considering the nexus of topics related to the various aspects of the functioning of financial and non-financial enterprises. The main purpose of the articles is to focus on selected problems related to the financial aspects of business activity. The considered problems were presented in the context of contemporary processes taking place in the environment of enterprises. These include, on the one hand, far-reaching digitalization and the use of advanced technologies and, on the other hand, processes belonging to the Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) area. A description of the situation faced by many enterprises, including financial institutions, undergoing digital transformation is presented in the article written by Łasak and Wyciślak (2023). Digitalization processes not only lead to far-reaching digitization of enterprises and related dilemmas regarding corporate governance but also the transformation of entire sectors of the industry. The banking sector is the best example of this. The question arises what is the pattern of behavior of digital platform partners in the situation of transformation of this sector and platformization of banking services? The paper aims to present the dynamic pattern of behavior among partners stemming from the tensions between governance costs and co-created value within platforms in banking services. The study provides a taxonomy of digital platforms in banking, highlights the values of the most typical platforms, namely blockchain-based and cloud-based platforms, and discusses the potential implications of the platformization of banking services. One of the key contemporary perspectives of business activity is looking through the prism of the need for a responsible and sustainable approach. This is the perspective embodied in the approach referred to by the term ESG. Sustainable business models, considering the ESG principles in the company’s operation, are based on financial and non-financial reasons. The paper written by Zioło, Szaruga, and Spoz (2023) aims to examine the relationship between financial and non-financial factors in enterprises and indicate for which groups of enterprises the relationship of ESG financial performance is most visible in the context of building sustainable business models and the ability to adapt to sustainability. It was found that large enterprises with a solid financial position simultaneously get better non-financial results. In each of the analyzed aspects, large enterprises with an excellent financial standing did better. The conclusion presented by Zioło, Szaruga, and Spoz (2023) does not change the fact that small and medium-sized enterprises play a key role in the economic growth of emerging economies. The paper by Amoa-Gyarteng and Dhliwayo (2023) examines the impact of capital structure and profitability on the short-term solvency of nascent SMSs in Ghana, building on the liability of the newness framework. The study demonstrates that financing decisions and financial performance are crucial mitigating factors for the potential risks of default and failure faced by nascent SMEs. Notably, the study finds that an appropriate balance between debt and equity financing raises the working capital ratio and thus reduces the liability of newness, which is a major challenge faced by nascent SMEs. The analysis also identifies that return on equity (ROE) is a crucial driver of short-term solvency for nascent SMEs. Declining profitability is manifested by a decrease in operating profits and cash flows. The resulting cash flow shortages can cause the company to fall behind on payments and obligations, leading to short-term insolvency, with all the adverse consequences. All these conclusions might be valuable for enterprises in other developing countries. Operational and financial market performance is a crucial determinant not only for SMEs but also for larger companies. Such type of businesses is presented in the paper by Yaşar and Gerede (2023). The article shows how complex are the processes accompanying the functioning of such enterprises as airlines. This paper refers to the competitiveness of such airline companies and the conditions determining their favorable market position and long-term competitive advantage. The market position of such companies is influenced by such factors like firm maturity, its size, financial resources and some technical dimensions (number of flights, fleet homogeneity). This means that despite the processes taking place today, the business performance of such entities as airlines still depends on the classic factors described in the literature of corporate finance. The contemporary opportunities resulting from the dynamic development of information technology contribute to the development of new forms of financing business activity. One such form is crowdfunding. The paper by Nose and Hosomi (2023) is dedicated to the equity crowdfunding (ECF) issue in the Japanese context. The research provides an answer to the question of what makes equity crowdfunding successful. The “Signaling Hypothesis” and “Lack of Financial Literacy Hypothesis” were tested. Despite the research is focusing more on investors’ side, it also sends an important signal to the business considering crowdfunding as a source of funding. The conclusions can be helpful for start-ups planning ECF campaigns in the future. The company’s position on the market may also depend on factors other than financial performance, and recently, it has depended to an increasing extent on environmental, social, and governance performance (defining corporate sustainability performance). In this context very important research thread is the relationship between corporate sustainability performance and stability of dividend payouts. This topic is presented in the paper by Matuszewska-Pierzynka, Mrzygłód, and Pieloch-Babiarz (2023). The research verifies many detailed interdependencies between the ESG performance of an enterprise and the propensity to pay stable dividends to the enterprise. The possibility of financing business activity is determined by the situation in the banking sector. The conditions of financing provided by banks are of particular importance in the case of developing countries, where other forms of raising capital by enterprises are often limited. Shaikh, Tunio, and Dagar (2023) paper discusses the relationship between banks funding liquidity, capital funds and bankers’ lending activity in emerging markets. This research firstly provides insight into the activity of financial companies in emerging markets, and secondly, informs the public, and especially the business, about the lending practices of the banking sector, and in consequence, on the financing opportunities in these economies. These unique studies presented in this Issue enrich our knowledge about contemporary business activity. The papers contribute to understanding the nature of business performance and link corporate finance issues with other, mainly technological and social aspects. Particular attention, however, is paid to the traditional conditions of operation and financing of enterprises. At the same time, however, efforts were made to combine new business conditions, including digitization. The issues raised also concern processes ensuring sustainable development. We want to express the hope that the papers presented here will be of interest to readers, scholars, and researchers worldwide. They provide theoretical concepts, and quantitative analyses, and indicate pathways for further research. Many of the presented areas require further, in-depth analysis.

This book is the first attempt to explore the use and application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and related smart technologies in cities and for the sole purpose of reaching positive peace. The everyday usage of digital technologies in cities encourages us to study the benefits, co-benefits, disadvantages, and threats of ICT application in cities and urban environments. The continuous growth of digital technologies and their growing demand in everyday urban practices and systems are already known to scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers. However, this book explores whether or not such applications and usage help us reaching positive peace. This approach is novel in the field of urban studies, allowing us to identify and highlight best practices, successes, and failures of ICT application to meet positive peace pillars. The scope of the book highlights our focus on positive peace and its eight pillars, mainly how they are meant to be achieved in cities and urban areas. With an analytical view on the topic, we aim to reflect on the systematic features of urban systems, using positive peace pillars as the primary targets. We believe ICT application and usage in cities could be more directive and beneficial to reach peace and prosperity to achieve such a goal. Therefore, this book provides a holistic guideline and coverage of ICT use for positive peace pathways and peace-building practices. We hope the findings of the book help researchers and policy-makers to come up with novel and integrated strategies, ensuring that our everyday usage of digital technologies, ICT, and smart tools, are more meaningful and people-oriented.