Background: Digital transformation has become a systemic driver of economic restructuring, reshaping innovation systems, labour markets, and skill demand worldwide. In transition economies, employment and productivity effects of digitalization remain uneven due to persistent skill mismatches, weak innovation ecosystems, and misalignment between education systems and labour market needs. Objectives: The paper aims to examine how digital transformation affects employment outcomes in a transition economy by analysing the role of digital skills and education job alignment as key mediating factors. It seeks to explain why the benefits of digitalization remain unevenly distributed across sectors and worker groups despite rising educational attainment. Methods/Approach: The study employs a quantitative, cross-sectional research design based on primary survey data collected from 150 employed individuals across multiple sectors. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression are used to assess the relationship between digital skill proficiency, perceived labour market barriers, and career advancement outcomes within an innovation systems framework. The results indicate that insufficient digital skills constitute a significant barrier to career advancement regardless of formal education level. Higher digital skill proficiency substantially reduces the likelihood of experiencing career constraints, while the perceived benefits of digitalization are concentrated in technology-intensive sectors, revealing pronounced structural and sectoral heterogeneity. Conclusions: The findings confirm that digital transformation delivers inclusive labour market outcomes only when supported by adequate human capital and well-functioning innovation systems. Strengthening digital skills development, lifelong learning, education and labour market alignment is essential for ensuring that digitalization translates into sustainable employment growth and innovation-driven competitiveness in transition economies.
Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of travel agency and tour operator websites in Estonia and Bulgaria, focusing on technical performance, accessibility, and user experience. The goal is to identify strengths and weaknesses to improve marketing, customer engagement, and competitive positioning in local tourism markets. Methods/Approaches: The research employs a multi-criteria evaluation model using a fuzzy inference system, combining numerical data and expert assessments. Free and open-source tools were used to assess technical, functional, and user-facing aspects of websites, and practical calculations were implemented in MATLAB to enable comparative analysis across different agencies. Results: The analysis revealed that Estonian tour operator websites generally perform better in technical components, while Bulgarian travel agency websites require improvements in accessibility, particularly relevant for mass beach tourism. Some agencies demonstrated consistent performance across all indicators, whereas others showed significant variation in website quality, affecting overall ratings. Conclusions: The study confirms the importance of evaluating local tourism websites to enhance marketing effectiveness and operational efficiency. The proposed fuzzy-based methodology provides an accessible and practical tool for generating integrated numerical assessments of website quality, helping management identify problem areas, benchmark against competitors, and guide website development and improvement strategies.
Background: Digital transformation emerges as a strategic priority for firms due to the expansion of the digital economy. With the rapid development of digital tools, firms are leveraging digital technologies to increase operational efficiency and information transparency. Despite the growing interest in digital transformation, its effect on stock price co-movement remains largely unexplored in US market. Additionally, the role of technology committees is also not well understood. Objective: The study aims to investigate the theoretical rationale of how firm's digital initiatives affect stock return co-movement by reducing information asymmetry and improving the information environment while also investigating the moderating role of governance board-level committees, such as technology committee in shaping this relationship. Methodology: Using the sample of 354 United States firms over the period 2013 to 2023, the study employs fixed effect to control the unobserved heterogeneity and the dynamic generalized method of momentum (GMM) to address potential endogeneity. Results: The findings of our research indicate that digital transformation significantly reduces return co-movement by reducing information asymmetry. However, the moderating role of technology committees did not strengthen the relationship between digital transformation and stock price synchronicity. Further, alternative measures and multiple sensitive checks robustly support the conclusion. Conclusion: Overall results of our study suggest that digital transformation significantly reduces stock price synchronicity. The board-level technology committee did not have a moderating effect, possibly because technology committees are scarce and not yet fully mature, or they may serve as a symbolic gesture. These findings highlight the importance of digital initiative and effective governance mechanisms in mature markets.
Purpose: As Vietnam continues to increase its digital transformation and deepen its global integration, businesses face growing pressure to adopt marketing strategies that improve effectiveness. Therefore, the current research seeks to examine the effects of traditional, digital, and hybrid marketing strategies on firm performance in the Vietnam economy with the aim of identifying the most effective method. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted for the purpose of confirming the validity and representativeness of the research data. A total of 247 strategic marketing managers, each representing a publicly listed company in Vietnam, participated in the research. The data were collected through an online questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses were undertaken to evaluate the impact of each marketing strategy on firm performance, encompassing financial and non-financial indicators. In addition, a multiple regression analysis was performed to analyze the impact of different types of marketing strategies on firm performance, and AHP was applied to analyze the relative importance of marketing strategies to firm performance. Results: All the marketing strategies exert positive effects on firm performance. While both traditional and digital marketing strategies have significant effects, hybrid marketing strategies (integrating traditional and digital approaches) demonstrate the strongest overall influence on firm performance (HMS >DMS >TMS), clearly indicating their meaningful and synergistic approach to both financial and non-financial outcomes. Conclusions: Digital and traditional integration increases operational efficiency and fosters a sustainable competitive advantage for Vietnamese businesses. The research provides the managerial knowledge for managers on how to apply hybrid marketing strategies to improve firm performance in a fast developing business environment.
This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the emerging academic field of economic tokenization. Using a dataset of 264 documents from Scopus and Web of Science, we employ performance analysis and science mapping to delineate the intellectual, conceptual, and social structures of this domain. The findings reveal a field in a nascent, pre-paradigmatic stage, characterized by exponential growth in publications since 2021 but a fragmented intellectual and social structure. Performance analysis identifies the most influential works, authors, and journals, showing that while specialized outlets drive publication volume, the most impactful research appears in top-tier finance journals. The internal citation network is sparse, indicating a lack of cohesive academic conversation. Science mapping reveals the field's intellectual foundations are built on three pillars: the foundational technology of blockchain protocols, the economic precedent of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), and the formal economic theory of "tokenomics." Co-occurrence analysis maps the conceptual landscape, which is structured around a technological core (blockchain, smart contracts) that branches into key themes such as entrepreneurial finance, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization, and sustainability. Temporal analysis demonstrates a clear research trajectory from foundational concepts toward newer frontiers like DeFi, DAOs, and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Finally, co-authorship analysis confirms the field's social fragmentation, with research being conducted by small, disconnected teams.
Objectives: Tourism companies actively use websites to attract and retain customers in the highly competitive digital market. Websites are becoming one of the main tools for promoting tourism services and interacting with clients. At the same time, high-quality website design, well-thought-out components, and user-friendly interface elements can significantly influence customer choice and enhance their experience with the tourism service. Methods/Approaches: An analysis, generalization, and systematization of literary sources were carried out to identify and briefly present the key fundamental concepts and practical aspects of creating and maintaining tourism-oriented websites. Their specific features and requirements were examined in the context of consumer behavior, user convenience, as well as the composition, structure, and functioning of website elements. Results: The main requirements for tourism agency websites in terms of functionality, design, and user-friendliness are summarized and presented. A tourism website's Search Engine Optimization features and components are identified. Tools and criteria for evaluating such websites, measuring user experience metrics, and customer loyalty are described. Social proof is examined as a digital marketing tool for tourism agencies to use on their websites or mobile applications. Conclusions: The results presented in the article support the active development of tourism websites, including the use of modern structural elements, marketing tools, and design trends. The proposed approaches to developing and content tourism websites represent an important direction and an integral part of the tourism industry's toolkit. The recommendations provided positively impact service delivery, user interaction, and the overall customer experience.
SMEs are key to economic development, fostering employment and entrepreneurship. Restaurant SMEs in Bulgaria and Ukraine face growing managerial challenges, while digital technologies reshape consumer behavior and business models, highlighting the need to integrate IT to optimize business processes and marketing management. Objective. The study aims to substantiate managerial approaches for implementing information technologies in the marketing processes of restaurant SMEs under budget constraints. Methods. The abstract-logical method was used to classify groups of information technologies applied in the restaurant sector and to identify approaches to implementing digital tools that support managerial decision-making. Methods of analysis and synthesis based on expert assessment made it possible to determine the structure of the marketing budget depending on the type of establishment and the number of digital tools used. Results. An assessment of widely used information technologies in the restaurant services market revealed their diversity and the need for a strategic selection of digital tools based on the specific characteristics of the establishment and the share of marketing expenditures. A conceptual three-level model for the implementation of IT in restaurant enterprises is proposed, demonstrating that the effectiveness of digitalization depends on the implementation algorithm and the alignment of tools with organizational needs. A model for automating key marketing functions was also developed. Based on a survey of 20 restaurant establishments in Chernivtsi (Ukraine), marketing budget profiles for different types of catering establishments were identified. Conclusions. The adoption of digitalization tools increases the competitiveness of restaurant enterprises, improves product and service quality, optimizes marketing costs, and enhances the effectiveness of marketing process management.
Objective: Intangibles have changed the concept of how business value is created, but intangibles still have restricted disclosure via accounting, and as a result there is pervasive information asymmetry. In 2021, the Corporate Governance Code (CGC) in Japan was revised to include new standards for companies in explaining or managing their intellectual property (IP) and other non-tangible asset strategies, but this soft law is already showing evidence of being interpreted in different ways by different companies. Among the goals of this study are understanding the connection between comply with or explain with Supplementary Principles (SP) 3.1.3 and 4.2.2 and the perception of managing executives about IP governance and disclosure, and whether this relationship differs for firms with a Price to Book Ratio (PBR) above and below 1. Method: A survey of the herds of IP departments in firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Standard Market was combined with the financial information of the firms and analysed using non-parametric tests and Spearman correlations to look for patterns conditional on valuations. Results: Firms with PBR < 1 comply with SP 4.2.2 as a component of the substantive governance, displaying managerial attention more in line with signalling because they are focusing on placating investors. In contrast, firms with PBR >= 1 have no significant related to the two factors and exhibit firm specific cost driven disclosure that is selective rather than mandatory, while SP 3.1.3 has poor explanatory power in describing attitudes toward disclosure. Conclusion: The results are consistent with a disclosure threshold influenced by values at PBR = 1, which is likely to result in asymmetrical incentives for transparency and underlies the existence of variable degrees of compliance in Japan's comply-or-explain system. The research contributes new internal-actor information, and the findings indicate that more concrete instructions or standardized examples on how to present intangible assets would help create more uniformity in the practices of firms and enhance the potential of the CGC.
Objectives: This study explores the impact of market orientation on innovation, intellectual capital, and strategic management accounting in tourism enterprises in Vietnam. The main objective is to analyze how market orientation, specifically customer orientation, influences the components of intellectual capital, innovation capacity, and strategic management accounting. Methods/Approach: Data collection was conducted in Ho Chi Minh City through a questionnaire survey. We received 508 responses from senior and middle managers in tourism enterprises. The survey subjects were carefully selected due to their strategic decision-making roles, ensuring the representativeness and relevance of the data. The collected data was analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLSSEM). Results: Results generated confirm that market orientation has positive effects on human capital (/3=0.541, p<0.01), structural capital (/3=0.306, p<0.01), relational capital (/3=0.409, p<0.01), and innovation capacity (/3=0.471, p<0.01) which in turn positively influence strategic management accounting through the channel of impacts from human capital (/3=0.309, p<0.01), structural capital (/3=0.146, p<0.05), relational capital (/3= 0.220, p<0.01) and innovation capacity( /3= 0 .250,p < 001 ). These results deliver direct evidence that market orientation and intellectual capital play significant roles in carrying out innovations and strategic management accounting for improved managerial effectivenes. Implications: To eliminate imperfections in the use of strategic management accounting and innovation, enterprises need to enhance academic and industrial cooperation, generate specific support channels for innovation and management practices, and implement advanced management techniques while creating innovation. This will help optimize intellectual resources by increasing the effectiveness of management practices with healing for long-term economic growth in Vietnam tourism.
With the continuous aggregation of the global urban population and economic activities, the impact of digital technology on public governance has shifted from the tool level to the cognitive and logical levels. In this context, this study explores the evolution path and performance differences of urban digital twin (UDT) as a highly concentrated governance metaphor in different institutional environments. Objective: This article aims to explain the transnational differences between China and the EU in urban digital twin governance through the analytical perspective embedded in the system. The article examines how different institutional logics shape the allocation of the public sector's dynamic capabilities and explores the resulting trade-off between governance efficiency and legitimacy, particularly to provide strategic guidance for transition economies. Method: This study adopts the "Most Different Systems Design" (MDSD) method to compare and analyse the governance prototypes of China and the European Union. This study combines the institutional logic perspective (ILP) with the dynamic capabilities framework (DCF) to code policy texts and urban cases (for example, "city brain" and "citizen twins") to describe how system logic is transformed into the operational ability of "Sensing, Seizing, and Transforming". Results: This study found a structural "efficiency-legitimacy paradox": (1) The Chinese model, characterised by state-led vertical integration, minimises internal coordination costs and performs well in rapid closed-loop implementation ("output efficiency"), but faces challenges in accountability and diversity of innovative ecosystems. (2) The EU model, driven by rights protection and interoperability (for example, a multi-party information management system), ensures stronger "input legitimacy" and institutional resilience, but due to complex multi-stakeholder negotiations, it faces higher coordination friction and results in a slower diffusion rate. Conclusion: The governance performance of urban digital twin (UDT) depends not only on technical maturity, but also on institutional logic and the adaptability of organisational structure. The study shows that transition economies should avoid simply copying extreme models. On the contrary, they should build a hybrid governance architecture, dynamic balance between development pressure and rights constraints, and maintain a dynamic equilibrium between efficiency and legitimacy through hierarchical governance and interoperability mechanisms.
