Effects of digital transformation on firm performance: The role of IT capabilities and digital orientation.

Organisations undertake profound changes to fit in a rapidly evolving digital setting. However, although the IT capabilities of the organisational members play a critical role in this, the mechanism driving IT capabilities towards enhanced firm performance is not fully understood. A theoretical model to analyse the role of digital orientation and digital transformation in this relationship is introduced and tested on a set of 246 firms through the Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling method (PLS-SEM). This research contributes to the literature by introducing the social aspect to the study of technology management, delving also into the antecedents of digital transformation. Results confirm a positive effect of IT capabilities on firm performance through the development of a digital orientation and the digital transformation of the organisation.

On the Impact of Information Technologies Secondary-School Capacity in Business Development: Evidence From Smart Cities Around the World.

Smart City initiatives across the globe have spurred increasing demand for high-skilled workers. The digital transformation, one of the main building blocks of the Smart City movement, is calling for a workforce prepared to develop novel business processes. Problem-solving, critical and analytical thinking are now the essential skills being looked at by employees. The development of the so-called STEM curriculum, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics is being given a lot of attention by educational boards in response to preparing young generations for the Smart City work market. Based on the IMD Smart City Index, PISA, and World Bank reports, we develop a model for assessing the impact of the IT secondary school capacities on Smart-City business developments. The model reveals the relationship between the technological capacity of the secondary-school, and the business activity of a Smart City. Moreover, the study shows the existence of a positive relationship between the IT capacity of secondary schools and the resulting entrepreneurial activity of the city. Our results are of interest to decision-makers and stakeholders responsible for designing educational policies and agents involved in the digital transformation and development of Smart Cities initiatives.

Contribution of Entrepreneurship to the Social Integration of People Intellectual Disabilities: A Case Study Based on the Analysis of Social Networks.

In an environment characterized by high unemployment rates among people with disabilities, the objective of the present work is to analyze entrepreneurship as a labor option which fully inserts people with intellectual disabilities (PwID) into their societies. In order to carry out this research, a case study methodology based on social network analysis has been adopted, given the nature of the variables analyzed. The results indicate that the fact of having managed to start up the company has been an important source of self-confidence and inspiration, as well as increasing and intensifying the social networks of PwID involved in the entrepreneurial project.