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Digital transformation of organizations has major implications for required skills and competencies of the workforce, both as a prerequisite for implementation, and, as a consequence of the transformation. The purpose of this study is to analyze required skills and competencies for digital transformation using the context of robotic process automation (RPA) as an example.

This study is based on an explorative, thematic coding analysis of 119 job advertisements related to RPA. The data was collected from major online job platforms, qualitatively coded and subsequently analyzed quantitatively.

The research highlights the general importance of specific skills and competencies for digital transformation and shows a gap between available skills and required skills. Moreover, it is concluded that reskilling the existing workforce might be difficult. Many emerging positions can be found in the consulting sector, which raises questions about the permanent vs temporary nature of the requirements, as well as the difficulty of acquiring the required knowledge.

This paper contributes to knowledge by providing new empirical findings and a novel perspective to the ongoing discussion of digital skills, employment effects and reskilling demands of the existing workforce owing to recent technological developments and automation in the overall context of digital transformation.

The purpose of this paper is to (a) examine the current state of the digital economy in Southeast Asia (SEA), the challenges and opportunities derived from digital transformation and the digital economy, and the impact of the digital economy on SEA, especially human and physical capital development, and (b) propose policy recommendations for SEA countries to better manage digital transformation.

This is a conceptual paper. The theoretical framework has been built from the three-sector governance approach to identify the issues of the digital economy and propose solutions to address the issues. Specifically, it examines the role and activities of the public sector, the private sector and the third sector to address the challenges posed by the digital economy, especially human and physical capital development.

This paper revealed challenges and opportunities derived from the experience of Southeast Asian countries and proposed several policies recommendations, including a common data policy and payment platform for the Asian region, a good training and development policy to equip the workforce with digital skills, and digital mindset as well as build cybersecurity capability and capacity at the regional level.

This paper is significant as it examines the development of the digital economy from an interdisciplinary perspective – including economics, digitalisation, governance, management, public policy, technology and human resource development. It also provides better insights into how SEA's digital economic development can be further improved to contribute to a sustainable regional economy.

Firms are driven to ride on the digital wave in today’s open innovation ecosystem. This study aims to explore the effect of digital transformation (DT) on knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) firms’ innovation ambidexterity, namely, radical versus incremental innovation, respectively. Meanwhile, the authors evaluated the moderating role of the complexity of R&D collaboration portfolio (i.e. organizational diversity and geographic diversity) in the above relationships.

Using a panel data set of 171 Chinese listed firms in the information and communications technology services industry from 2010 to 2018, the proposed hypotheses were empirically attested.

It is found that DT has a positive relationship with radical innovation and an inverted U-shaped relationship with incremental innovation. In terms of the R&D collaboration portfolio, organizational diversity positively moderates the relationships between DT and innovation ambidexterity, respectively. The geographic diversity weakens the inverted U-shaped effect of DT on incremental innovation; however, its moderating role in the link between DT and radical innovation is not empirically verified.

Extant scholars mainly addressed the interplay between KIBS firms and their manufacturing clients, while this study reveals the different consequences of DT on KIBS firms’ innovation ambidexterity to highlight the role of KIBS firms is an independent and essential innovator in a knowledge-driven economy. Notably, the findings contribute to knowledge management (KM) and R&D literature by confirming the diversity of the R&D collaboration portfolio is a critical KM strategy for KIBS firms to develop and promote external knowledge resources.

In the post-COVID-19 era, the hospitality industry is rapidly moving towards digitalization, which requires employees to upgrade their knowledge and skills. Some employees resist those changes and refuse to upgrade their knowledge, skills and ways of doing things. Therefore, there is a need to understand this unexplored area and so this study examines employee intentions to embrace digital technology from the perspective of upgrading their skills and knowledge. The study investigates the moderating role of the employees' resistance to change motive (RCM) on their intention to embrace digital technology, especially in the post-COVID-19 pandemic scenario.

The research is conducted using dynamic capability view (DCV) theory and status quo bias (SQB) theory. Drawing on the existing literature in this area, a theoretical model is developed, which is validated using the structural equation modelling technique to analyse data from hospitality industry employees.

The results indicate that employees' dynamic capability plays a significant role in employees' upgrading their skill and knowledge capabilities, and this significantly improves employee intention to embrace digital technology. It also finds that the employee RCM plays a significant role in the relationship between upgrading skill capability and their knowledge capability to relation to embracing digital technology.

The findings could be used by hospitality managers to better understand employee intentions with regard to adopting digital technology, challenges faced and the way forward.

This paper presents a model aiming to identify the factors influencing the adoption of augmented reality (AR) for industrial services.

The study combines a literature analysis with an empirical study conducted exploring how five large industrial companies are introducing AR for supporting the provision of technical assistance and industrial services to their installed base.

The authors identify four categories (task, workforce, context and technology) that combine 18 factors that manufacturing companies should consider when introducing AR technology to support industrial services.

This paper systematises the fragmented literature on technology adoption and in particular those works related to the factors affecting the adoption of AR in industrial services. Based on literature and empirical evidence, the authors propose a novel framework that can help companies in the selection of AR solution based on their specific applications and situations. This study therefore contributes also to the existing literature on the adoption of I4.0 and digital technologies in industrial services.

In the digital age, emerging technologies have affected every industry. Information and communications technology and digital technologies have transformed traditional supply chains into smart and more resilient ones, enabling effective management of challenges. Given the importance of the two topics, namely sustainable supply chain management and Industry 4.0 in supply chain management, on the one hand, and the dearth of theoretical research performed in this area on the other, this study aims to propose a conceptual model on a sustainable digital supply chain management in manufacturing companies.

This study utilized a qualitative approach. First, an in-depth review of the relevant literature was done. Then, following a multi-grounded theory methodology, relevant data were gathered by reviewing 92 papers and conducting nine semi-structured interviews with industry experts. These data were analyzed using the MAXQDA software.

A total of 41 concepts, ten sub-components and three main components (dimensions) were extracted, and the proposed conceptual model was presented. Finally, based on this conceptual model, three propositions were suggested.

Considering that the present study was performed in the context of Iranian manufacturing companies, caution should be exercised in relation to the generalizability of the obtained results. Also, due to the problems in the digital technology infrastructure and the limited use of these technologies by manufacturing companies (emphasized by the interviewees), this study focused on the theoretical dimension of using digital technologies by these companies.

The proposed comprehensive model can help academicians as well as practitioners to focus better and explore the variables and constructs of the model, paving the way toward successful implementation of digital technologies in the manufacturing supply chain.

To the best knowledge of the authors, this study is among the first of its kind which presents a holistic and comprehensive digital supply chain model aimed at guiding companies to consider sustainability from all the main dimensions and their relevant indicators.

To explore Finnish experts' perceptions of the forms of digital healthcare that are anticipated to be the most utilised in healthcare in the medium-term future (year 2035) and anticipated healthcare workforce impacts those forms will have.

A total of 17 experts representing relevant interest groups participated in a biphasic online Delphi study. The results for each round were analysed using descriptive statistical methods and inductive content analysis.

The forms of digital healthcare that the experts perceived as most likely to be utilised were those enabling patient participation, efficient organisation of services and automated data collection and analysis. The main impacts on the healthcare workforce were seen as being the redirection of workforce needs within the healthcare sector and need for new skills and new professions. The decrease in the need for a healthcare workforce was seen as less likely. The impacts were perceived as being constructed through three means: impacts within healthcare organisations, impacts on healthcare professions and impacts via patients.

The results are not necessarily transferable to other contexts because the experts anticipated local futures. Patients' views were also excluded from the study.

Healthcare organisations function in complex systems where drivers, such as regional demographics, legislation and financial constraints, dictate how digital healthcare is utilised. Anticipating the workforce effects of digital healthcare utilisation has received limited attention; the study adds to this discussion.

The importance of modeling digital leadership in quickly digitizing countries, like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is inevitable for building leadership capabilities to lead, engage and motivate remote employees in the digital environment. Using Blake and Mouton Grid, the current study examines the behavioral approach used by the leaders from both public and private sectors while managing their workforce digitally in the period of the pandemic, when 70% of the workforce worked remotely for the first-time in the region.

An online survey was conducted by the managerial employees working in different firms using self-administered questionnaires and adopting the snowball sampling technique. In total, 476 respondents participated in the study from both the Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The analysis using IBM SPSS and Smart PLS software reported that 9 out of 10 leaders positioned their digital leadership style well above the middle-of-the-road management style (5,5) oriented towards team management (9,9); with 7 out of 9 displaying high team management leadership style, while managing remote workers. However, millennials displayed higher task orientation when compared to generation-x leaders, who concentrated more on their relations with the workers.

The findings have implications for practitioners in technology driven regions. Also the results highlighting the task-oriented approach of millennials digital leaders have implication for owners and board of directors of the firms that seniority is not the only credible approach for leadership positions.

The study reveals the behavioral styles beneficial for digital leaders to develop their leadership capabilities and increase their effectiveness while managing the workforce digitally. Black Mountain Grid and its two-dimensional leadership matrix has been found to be a useful conceptual approach for understanding digital leadership behaviors, and based on study findings, recommendations have been provided to effectively improve its utilization for leading teams. The findings have implications for practitioners in technology driven regions as well as digital leadership field scholars.

Digitalisation, which involves the use of digital technologies in transforming an organisation’s activities, transcends just the acquiring of emerging digital tools. Having the right people to drive the implementation of these technologies and attaining strategic organisational goals is essential. While most studies have focused on the use of emerging technologies in the construction industry, less attention has been given to the ‘people’ dimension. Therefore, this study aims to assess the people-related features needed for construction digitalisation.

The study adopted pragmatic thinking using a mixed-method approach. A Delphi was used to achieve the qualitative aspect of the research, while a questionnaire survey conducted among 222 construction professionals was used to achieve the quantitative aspect. The data gathered were analysed using frequency, percentage, mean item score, Kruskal–Wallis H test, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.

Based on acceptable reliability, validity and model fit indices, the study found that the people-related factors needed for construction digitalisation can be grouped into technical capability of personnel, attracting and retaining digital talent and organisation’s digital culture.

The findings offer valuable benefits to construction organisations as understanding these identified people features can help lead to better deployment of digital tools and the attainment of the digital transformation.

This study attempts to fill the gap in the shortage of literature exploring the people dimension of construction digitalisation. The study offers an excellent theoretical backdrop for future works on digital talent for construction digitalisation, which has gained less attention in the current construction digitalisation discourse.

This study aims to investigate the gender diversity within innovation and entrepreneurship teams and the perceptions of gender imbalance in digital skills among team members in Kazakhstan, a Central Asian country belonging to the Global South.

Primary data were collected from ten leading firms in Kazakhstan's manufacturing, construction and oil and gas sectors, which have international connections or perspectives. The members of the research and development (R&D) departments of these firms completed an online, structured closed-question questionnaire anonymously. A total of 169 completed responses were analyzed using regression analysis, controlling for company size and sector, with gender as the independent variable.

The gender diversity within innovation teams is not as high as anticipated, even though there is a substantial representation of women in the scientific workforce across many firms. Similarly, there is a gender gap in entrepreneurship teams involved in business innovation, although it is slightly less pronounced. Female employees report a greater disparity compared to their male counterparts. Surprisingly, over 60% of both male and female respondents agree that women lack the same level of digital expertise and knowledge as men.

The findings of this research should be interpreted in light of the fact that they are based on a perception-based survey. Local firms exhibit skepticism toward external researchers due to privacy concerns, making their participation challenging. However, it is noteworthy that the survey targeted front-line workers in the innovation and entrepreneurship field, providing informed perspectives that strengthen the study's outcomes.

This study reveals that while women form a considerable proportion the scientific workforce, gender diversity in innovation and entrepreneurship teams is lacking in a Global South country. Gender imbalance in innovation and entrepreneurship is thus present in both developing and developed countries, highlighting the need for interventions to promote gender diversity at the firm level.