O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion ProcessesReturn

To identify the most recent trends in the literature about the convergence of FinTech and Sustainability, this study combines bibliometric analysis with a thorough literature review using documents from the Scopus database. The current body of literature in a particular topic of research is thoroughly and methodically examined on a systematic literature analysis. One quantitative technique that makes it easier to identify current trends and underlying ideas in a subject is bibliometric analysis. Trends, evolution, bibliometrics, mapping, and qualitative content analyses serve as the foundation for the analysis. By following all inclusion and exclusion criteria, 116 papers that were taken from the Scopus database were bibliometrically reviewed in order to identify popular keywords, notable authors, institutions, and countries. WordStat was used for content analysis, and Biblioshiney and VOSviewer were used to determine the most cited papers. The results identified five noteworthy clusters. The results show a significant increase in the examination of the connection between FinTech and Sustainability starting in 2021, highlighting the significance of technological advancements and financial innovations in the corporate sphere.
Implications for Central European audience: The study's conclusions have significance for sustainability research as well as FinTech, stressing the importance of relevant research methods and the part FinTech plays in developing and putting sustainable practises and initiatives into reality. The study outlines the development of the literature on the connection between sustainability and fintech, offering insights into influential writers, countries, organisations, and journal sources. The study's insights help to direct future research in this field by providing a road map for more investigation and comprehension of the changing dynamics between sustainability and FinTech.

The coronavirus pandemic was one of the greatest global challenges in history – primarily as a health issue, but also as an economic challenge. The need to control the pandemic has led to a significant shift towards virtual collaboration, which has also exposed the lack of preparedness of most German companies for the abrupt virtualization of teamwork. This raises the question of approaches to the implementation and design of virtual collaboration in practice. This paper reviews and extends the current state of research into virtual collaboration by interviewing experts in the IT consulting industry, considering the challenges in the context of the pandemic. As a response, this paper proposes practical approaches to the implementation and design of virtual collaboration, including a guideline for adapting to the increasingly virtual collaboration environment within teams and beyond the pandemic.
Implications for Central European audience: The model presented in this paper includes factors that are relevant to current practice and can enhance efficient and productive virtual collaboration in the post-pandemic world. 

The purpose of this study is to investigate the expectations of the management of different industries in the Czech Republic related to governmental support for their implementation of Industry 4.0 and their preparedness for the challenges associated with these technological changes. Mixed research, specifically exploratory sequential design, was used. The findings of qualitative data analyses from in-depth semi-structured interviews (n=41) with representatives of different industry sectors formed subsequent quantitative data collection (N=146, the board of management members representing various industries) through survey items corresponding with formalized research questions. The findings revealed a strong group of companies already implementing Industry 4.0 elements (85% of respondents) driven by companies with 250+ employees. As perceived by the management, the critical threat related to the workforce is a lack of skilled labour. Managers tend to prefer a transparent business environment without state interventions or interventions targeted to strategic state industries, preferably to the spheres of education, research & development, energy sector, sustainable agriculture, and healthcare. The results indicate that the easier administration and education reform are among the companies' boldest expectations from the government, among general conditions for current business.
Implications for the Central European audience: Central European companies face challenges related to implementing the Industry 4.0 elements. Therefore, the findings that aim to contribute to the debate addressing administration simplification, business environment transparency, and reform of the education system are considered relevant for the CE audience.

COBIT is a process-oriented IT governance framework. In the 2019 version, the framework offers a significantly redesigned approach to prioritise processes and set process target capability levels. The design phase is very important to achieve a governance system in future. Although there are several design factors defined in the design phase of COBIT 2019, these factors do not assess process suitability and value for the governance system. Thus, connections and continuity among processes are not taken into consideration enough. Therefore, the aim of the article is to suggest another design factor based on the interrelationships of processes in the COBIT framework represented by its information flows. The nature of the proposed innovation is described, and the analysis of process information flows and items is performed. The article also publishes several inconsistencies in COBIT 2019 documentation that have been identified in the process of research. The application of process information flows and items analysis has been illustrated in two case studies. We have identified new information that can be relevant to decision making in the design phase and discussed their importance for the planned governance system. The results could help to improve the quality of the design phase by providing additional information about the context of the processes designed to ensure the governance system.
Implications for Central European audience: The implications for senior managers in the Central European region will be beneficial. Optimisation and effective use of information technologies is a prerequisite for achieving long-term competitiveness. COBIT is a best practice framework, and its implementation in companies is largely based on the specifics of each organisation. Therefore, it is important to pay close attention to the implementation phase of the application of COBIT. Framework application positively supports the holistic approach to management, resource optimisation, management based on responsibility and measurability. Today, these attributes of the organisation’s management are emphasised not only in Central Europe but in developed countries in general.

In today's turbulent times, businesses must cope with an increasing focus on digital technology, automation and robotics systems. It represents the fourth industrial revolution, called Industry 4.0. The goals of Industry 4.0 are achieving higher levels of operational efficiency and productivity, as well as a higher level of automation. Concerning Industry 4.0, therefore, not only the technological aspect but also the size of the organization, the scope of business by industry and other elements are considered and analyzed based on Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher test. According to statistical analysis, it was found that the size of the company affects its relationship to Industry 4.0, and we can say that the larger the business, the more it is affected by Industry 4.0. This influence was manifested primarily in companies operating in the field of commercial activities, or Agriculture and Construction. In terms of the relationship between the written strategy and Industry 4.0, it can be stated that the link between them has occurred in small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the areas of Professional and Administrative Activities, Manufacturing and Wholesale, Transport and Accommodation. In contrast, this effect has not been proven in micro-enterprises.
Implications for a Central European audience: The paper primarily deals with the analysis of the relationship between enterprise size and Industry 4.0 and the study of the relationship between the division of enterprises by industry in relation to CZ-NACE. A significant difference was found between the enterprises affected and unaffected by Industry 4.0 when evaluating the size of the enterprise. Enterprises involved by Industry 4.0 employ more workers, which may be due to the introduction of automation and robotic automation, which means the initial phase. As the results further show, the written strategy is mostly the domain of medium-sized enterprises, with only 29 % of micro-enterprises and 41 % of small enterprises having it defined.

This paper investigates whether the activities of start-ups specialising in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions could contribute to upgrading in dependent market economies. Mapping the ecosystem of Hungarian AI-solution providers, collecting, and analysing data of their solutions, activities, and performance, we identify the main mechanisms of AI-driven upgrading. We argue that AI-solution providers induce productivity and resource efficiency improvement at technology adopters by enabling process upgrading. By selling their services to the local subsidiaries of global companies, they intensify the local backward linkages of these companies. Increased local embeddedness of subsidiaries is an important manifestation of economic upgrading. Additionally, AI-solution providers diversify the drivers of growth. In dependent market economies, where export-oriented manufacturing activities controlled by efficiency-seeking foreign investors used to be the main (unique) growth engine, the activities of domestic-owned AI solution providers represent a new driver of growth: technology-oriented entrepreneurship. We found, however, that the economic impact of Hungarian AI-oriented ventures is limited, no matter how innovative their solutions are. Managerial implications include the indispensability of devising an adequate business development strategy and a value capture strategy. Without adequate entrepreneurial skills, and without being visible on the global stage of ‘AI-start-ups to watch’, the development prospects of even the most innovative ventures are limited. A key policy implication for supporting the scaling up of AI start-ups by promoting the adoption of AI-powered solutions and stimulating venture capital financing promises good return on public investments.

This paper seeks to examine the various sources of knowledge and innovation that Slovak and Hungarian manufacturing firms rely on to improve their innovative performance. To carry out our empirical analysis we used the multiple regression technique and data from the Community Innovation Survey conducted between 2010 and 2012. Our empirical analysis demonstrated divergent results for both countries. Slovak firms derived their innovation from in-house activities and other sources such as scientific journals and conferences while Hungarian firms relied on market sources such as cooperation with clients or customers from the private sector for their innovation as well as from scientific journals. However, there was a convergence in the results, manufacturing firms in both countries didn’t collaborate with research institutions such as universities and other public and private research organization for their innovation. This study, therefore, proposes firms to foster closer collaboration with these research institutions since they are the birthplaces of innovation that can increase their competitiveness and innovation performance.

The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate the beneficial impact of advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT) on firms' environmental performance. Drawing on interviews conducted with 16 Hungarian manufacturing subsidiaries on their experience with AMT, we find three functional areas, where industry 4.0 solutions can not only enhance operational excellence and cost-efficiency, but they can also improve eco-efficiency, but they can also improve eco-efficiency, namely in the field of quality management (through smart production control, data analytics and predictive modelling solutions); process optimization (through capacity planning and production scheduling solutions); and product and process engineering (through advanced virtual technologies). We also find that AMT adoption facilitated subsidiary upgrading along various dimensions. The main managerial implication is that subsidiaries need to be proactive, and emphasize also the benefits stemming from energy and resource efficiency improvement when lobbying for investment in AMT.

In recent years the luxury industry has been strongly affected by the rapid evolution of digital technology and the internet. The use of the internet and the new digital technologies has contributed to the growth of the market and its different sectors. This meant an advantage for others, but for the luxury sector, it has been a challenge and the adaptation process slow. The online participation - in certain cases incipient - of some brands in the sector has been directed by new consumption habits, which had an impact in the marketing and communication strategies on a managerial level. Based on a theoretical review, this paper proposes a central concept known as brand expression, from which elements involved in the phenomenon of the digital era, some significant for the development of the study, are described. The resulting relations between them, together with findings obtained in interviews of consumers in the sector, describe the reason for the adaptation in content and approach of the current strategies; that in turn sets the guidelines for continuing and future developments.