Digitization (action by which analogue processes, procedures, and objects are converted to digital format) can lead to the internal transformation of companies’ business models, strategies, processes, and procedures, which we generally call digital transformation.

This digital transformation, or the ability to carry it out, could be seen as a competitive advantage. If we take the banking sector as an example and, within it, we differentiate purely digital players and compare them to traditional players, we could conclude that the competitive advantage is not just about digitization and digital transformation of the former, but a much broader positioning that encompasses the company’s attitude towards innovation – called innovation orientation –, of which one of its results would be, for example, digitization and subsequent digital transformation.

This article aims to identify the key characteristics of purely digital players when compared to their traditional competitors in relation to innovation orientation and what differential characteristics have helped them achieve that level of digitization and digital transformation – understood as a result of such innovation orientation – successfully.

The development of electronics, telecommunications, and computing during the 20th century is one of the fastest and most transformative revolutions in human history. Compared to the successive revolutions in society’s progress since prehistoric history, it creates a new paradigm of progress that continues to be difficult to assimilate. The times between scientific findings, their realization in products or services, and their understanding by society, are becoming shorter and more demanding. Understanding how innovation, not only technological but also global, translates into a real transformation of society, its processes and how people approach it, requires the coordination of all social actors to achieve equitable and sustainable economic and social progress.

This article contextualizes and explores the keys to the relationship between innovation – understood as a complex process –, transformation – which is now digital –, and the transfer of knowledge necessary for the former to really become a transformative element of society.

On many occasions, when the words innovate or innovation are mentioned, there is a feeling of fear, fear or rejection, sensing that it does not suit us because of a supposed inability to do it or because it is “their thing” (research centres, developed companies, universities, etc.), without taking into account that we are probably innovating very often in our daily lives and most of the time without realising it. Therefore, if we reflect for a moment, we will see that we all innovate in one way or another to adapt to life circumstances.

We must remember that to innovate is “to introduce something new (in something)”, and as possible synonyms we have: to alter, change, modernize and modify. So: is there any organization in society or any person who has not carried out (voluntarily or not) any of these actions?

The methodology for culminating innovations is as varied and extensive as there are innovators, but here we will propose one based on an internal (inside view) and external (outside view) of the person who has to innovate, from the result of which a change, alteration or modification can emerge that ends up becoming what we all do and should continue to do: an innovation.

The lack of consensus on the definition of innovation could lead to different interpretations affecting the understanding and relevance of innovation in business. Business strategy needs innovation because innovation is a key element that that clearly improves performance when applied. Up to three-quarters of productivity development in European industry can be attributed to innovation, and companies that apply innovation in their strategies show better performance. Innovation is a fundamental pillar of business strategy; it is not just a technological project, it is a culture, a mindset, a tool that provides competitive value to the company and added value to customers.

Business innovation needs its own strategy in order to be ready for firm sustainability and competitiveness. Innovation strategy is a set of actions that drive all procedures and guidelines in an organization to generate and manage innovations toward achieving the business objectives. It involves planning, prioritizing, and developing the right types of innovation (technological or not) ensuring the appropriate resources, knowledge, capabilities, and organizational structure, among others. It is important not to manage an innovation strategy in isolation or independently of the rest of the company’s functions. Innovation strategy should be based on corporate strategy and understood as an integral component of long-term strategic business management. With innovation strategy, a company can control and manage the generation of innovation, even though few companies have a clear innovation strategy.

It is positive to incorporate innovation strategy into business strategy to be better placed to compete in terms of differentiation, productivity and economic growth, and to achieve better financial results. This Final Work for the Master in Innovation and Digital Transformation, analyses different innovation strategies and their possible influential factors.

The trend toward (new) ways of working in Spain after the Covid-19 pandemic shows a deployment of extensive organizational flexibility for dealing with any environment. The focus is on project-based organization, workers’ overall health, implementing systems to monitor performance and two pending tasks: innovation and digitalization. The article describes a study by the Spanish Association of People Management and Development (AEDIPE) during the last quarter of 2021 and the first of 2022, gathering the opinion of 527 CEOs and Human Resources managers of prominent Spanish companies. The results show eight main ideas that enable companies to develop flexibility and reorganization as a means for their stability. 1) More than 35% of workers will consolidate their partial work from home. 2) Companies are looking for performance monitoring tools that give them support for control and trust. 3) The wellbeing of employees is central in the post-Covid-19 era. 4) Innovation and digitalization continue to be pending issues. 5) There are significant differences between the coping strategies of large and small companies. 6) Workspaces tend to become collaborative and sustainable. 7) Project management displaces departmental management in organizational structures. 8) Recruitment and selection are of increasing concern to human resources professionals.

For the 25th anniversary of Economic and Business Studies at the UOC, professors Pacheco-Bernal and Jiménez-Zarco reflect on the way in which technology has influenced the disciplines of marketing and market research, both in terms of their evolution and their scope. They also present challenges linked to these disciplines and faced by organizations at a key moment of digital transformation. For marketing, technology has provided a before and after. Basic concepts that currently determine the core of the discipline emerge and are consolidated as technology places new tools, devices, channels and even environments within our reach. Marketing is going from the field of short-term sales to building and maintaining, in real time, complex and lasting relationships with a strong emotional component between agents of various natures and with varying interests. In terms of market research, the potential offered by the development of new technologies in understanding consumers, while it has not eclipsed more traditional market research, has modified the panorama with regard to the quality and quantity of the information obtained and the breadth of methodological options for gathering data. In the midst of the digital era, the integration of data coming from various sources and the use of hybrid methodologies enable the sector to anticipate trends and better understand market behaviour.

This article discusses the analysis of the concept of collaborative economics, taking the various streams of knowledge into consideration. It also provides an overview of the different collaborative business models that have existed so far and how their evolution over time has been due to different factors, including information and communication technologies (ICTs). While it is true that these business models are still in the midst of consolidation, they represent a great opportunity both for users who want to see their consumption needs met, as well as for companies that are not only looking for new sources of revenue, but also innovation when approaching their customers. Finally, the sharing economy represents a very recent field of research that is full of opportunities for contributing to science and the development of new business models.

The value of a company is usually measured with data included in the firm’s accounting records and other financial information, such as financial forecasts. This type of valuation provides an incomplete value, since it does not take into account other economic, social and environmental aspects. For this reason, the objective of this article is to discuss how companies can quantify the costs and benefits that their activities generate for society and the environment (externalities). Therefore, the article describes how to reach an estimate of the company’s real value (or total value) by adding the social and environmental value to the firm’s financial value, according to the «True Value» methodology (KPMG, 2014). Additionally, this methodology is applied to a business in order to estimate its real value. Once the estimate has been calculated, the study analyzes how externalities can end up affecting the value of the company. Finally, a strategy is proposed so that the business can minimize the negative impact of externalities on its results.

The foundations of traditional financial business are being shaken by the emergence of new actors who are introducing new business models based on the opportunities offered by recent technological advances. Fintechs are technology-based companies that offer financial services digitally through technological solutions and which focus on the needs and preferences of the consumer. Faced with the threat posed by this disruption in the financial market, banks and fintechs are developing collaboration strategies that take advantage of the innovative potential of fintechs in order to bring it to the general public through traditional banking structures and portfolios. This integration process is not free from obstacles and challenges, one of the main ones being the change in the business culture of traditional financial institutions.

The evolution of ICTs and the internet has a clear influence on all areas of tourist destination development, both directly and indirectly, and in both internal and external tasks. Destinations face a new cycle of growth, one in which they must take advantage – to varying degrees – of the use of new technological developments as well as new formulae and strategies for management and planning. Essentially, the challenge is to tackle with assurance the need for reorientation towards a model that is more efficient, one that is adapted to changes in demand, and is based on an integration of all the elements making up the destination, the tourists and the local population.

In this context there emerges a new framework for management, a basic feature of which is the governance of tourism, and in which ICTs and the internet are key factors in the transition to the new model of smart tourism destinations. An important part of the basis for this framework will be knowledge and the active participation of all agents.