Prelims

Half Title Page

Digital Transformation, Strategic Resilience, Cyber Security and Risk Management

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CONTEMPORARY STUDIES IN ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

Series Editor: Simon Grima

Title Page

CONTEMPORARY STUDIES IN ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS - VOLUME 111A

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, STRATEGIC RESILIENCE, CYBER SECURITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT

EDITED BY

SIMON GRIMA

University of Malta, Malta

ELEFTHERIOS THALASSINOS

University of Piraeus, Greece

MIRELA CRISTEA

University of Craiova, Romania

MARTA KADŁUBEK

Czestochowa University of Technology, Poland

DIMITRIOS MADITINOS

International Hellenic University, Greece

AND

LĪGA PEISENIECE

BA School of Business and Finance, Latvia

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL.

First edition 2023

Editorial matter and selection © 2023 Simon Grima, Eleftherios Thalassinos, Mirela Cristea, Marta Kadłubek, Dimitrios Maditinos and Līga Peiseniece.

Individual chapters © 2023 The authors.

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ISBN: 978-1-80455-254-4 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80455-253-7 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80455-255-1 (Epub)

ISSN: 1569-3759 (Series)

Contents

About the Editors

Simon Grima is the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy, Associate Professor and the Head of the Department of Insurance and Risk Management which he set up in 2015 and started and coordinates the MA and MSc Insurance and Risk Management degrees together with the BCom in Insurance at the University of Malta. He is also a Professor at the University of Latvia, Faculty of Business, Management and Economics and a Visiting Professor at UNICATT Milan. He served as the President of the Malta Association of Risk Management and President of the Malta Association of Compliance Officers between 2013 and 2015 and between 2016 and 2018, respectively. Moreover, he is the Chairman of the Scientific Education Committee of the Public Risk Management Organization and the Federation of European Risk Managers. His research focus is on governance, regulations and internal controls and has over 30 years of experience varied between financial services, academia and public entities. He has acted as Co-chair and is a member of the scientific programme committee on some international conferences and is a chief editor, editor and review editor of some journals and book series. He has been awarded outstanding reviewer for Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance in the 2017 and 2022 Emerald Literati Awards. Moreover, he acts as an Independent Director for Financial Services Firms, sits on Risk, Compliance, Procurement, Investment and Audit Committees and carries out duties as a Compliance Officer, Internal Auditor and Risk Manager.

Eleftherios Thalassinos, PhD (UIC, Chicago, USA, 1983), DHC Degrees in Economics (Danubius University of Galati, Romania, 2013; University of Craiova, Romania, 2015; and Rostov State University of Economics, Russia, 2018), MBA (De-Paul U Chicago, USA, 1979) and BA (U of Athens, Greece, 1976), a Jean Monnet Chair Professor experienced in European Economic Integration and International Finance. He is Editor-in-Chief of ERSJ, IJEBA, Editor of IJFIRM and Chair of ICABE. His professional experience includes quantitative analysis, technical and financial analysis, banking, business consulting, project evaluations, international business, international finance and maritime economics. He has a long track of publications in several journals, collective volumes and chapter books. Among them a publication as a chapter book in the World Scientific Handbook in Financial Economics Series, Vol. 5, is dedicated to the memory of Late Milton Miller, Nobel prize winner in Economics in 1990. Parallel to the academic career, he has performed as Bank Director for 12 years, Ministerial Advisor for 6 years, Public Servant for 4 years and Independent Consultant for a long time.

Mirela Cristea is a Professor at the University of Craiova (Romania), Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Department of Finance, Banking and Economic Analysis and Center for Economic, Banking and Financial Research (CEBAFI). Her main research directions and teaching activities are insurance and private pension funds, banking administration and interdisciplinary research in economics. She is also a PhD Coordinator within the Doctoral School of Economics at the University of Craiova by obtaining the PhD habil. in Economics. She obtained the scientific title of PhD in Economics at the University of Craiova and graduated the Post-Doctoral School in Economics and Applied Sciences in Economics at the Romanian Academy from Bucharest on the subject of private pension system in Romania. She received two awards from the Faculties on Economics Association from Romania in 2007 and 2013 for two books on life insurance and pension system subjects. In addition, she is a reviewer and member of the scientific and organisational committees for numerous journals and conferences.

Marta Kadłubek is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Logistics at the Faculty of Management, the Częstochowa University of Technology in Poland. She completed her studies with honours at the Czestochowa University of Technology, PhD in Management, Master’s in Economics and Enterprise Management (in Polish language), Master’s in Management (in English language) and Master’s in Enterprise on International Market (in English language), respectively. The scientific fields of her interest are logistics management, supply chain management, transportation enterprises, logistics service providers and logistics customer service. She has 20 years of teaching and research experience in higher education. She is an author of over 200 scientific publications including books, book chapters, journal papers and proceedings presented at international conferences. She is a member of scientific and review boards of several journals and conferences and a member of numerous research and scientific societies.

Dimitrios Maditinos holds a degree with specialisation in Business Administration and Informatics from Lund University, Sweden, and a PhD in Finance and Financial Modelling from Greenwich University, London, UK. Currently, he is a Professor in Business Administration and Informatics at International Hellenic University. His research interests are in financial modelling, performance measurement, investors behaviour, e-business and e-commerce, applications and internet use, digital business, management information systems, SCM and business digitalisation, with three books, more than 60 published papers in international scientific journals and more than 90 papers presented in international conferences. Moreover, he serves as a Scientific board member in many International Scientific Journals. His appears in Scopus with 31 published papers, 839 citations and h-index of 13, while in Google Scholar he appears with 3,100 references, h-index 23 and i10-index 37 (31 October 2022).

Liga Peiseniece Dr. Sc. Admin. is the Rector at BA School of Business and Finance (BASBF), Latvia. She holds a Master’s degrees in Mathematics and Public Management. She has been conferred a Doctoral degree in Business Management at the University of Latvia. She has gained extensive experience in Professional Higher Education Management, as well as expertise in the Human Resources Management. For eight years L. Peiseniece has worked as a HR manager in various organisations which gave her enormous practical experience in the field of management. For 10 years, as a Vice Rector for Academic Affairs at BA School of Business and Finance, L. Peiseniece contributed to the development and modernisation of higher education through her immense motivation and intensive research done. She is program director of the joint doctoral program ‘Business Management’ run by BA School of Business and Finance and RISEBA (Latvia). Apart from her job in the field of management, L. Peiseniece is one of the leading Associate Professors delivering lectures on HR Management, Leadership, and Innovation Management. As a researcher of CRANET Association, that unites members from more than 50 countries, she focuses on HR Management issues, actively publishing research articles and participating in international conferences. She is the author of 18 publications. L. Peiseniece has represented BA School of Business and Finance and contributed to socially important issues such as financial literacy development in Latvia, as well as participated in ‘Junior Achievement Latvia’ activities to promote entrepreneurial drive among young generation. Her high-level commitment to business education was also demonstrated through her active participation in special international projects. Being a responsible leader of BASBF for the European international association PRIME Networking gave her the opportunity to support high quality international project developments to enhance European dimension in teaching and learning not only at BASBF but on a wide professional higher education scale. She is also an active Board Member of the Baltic Management Development Association (BMDA).

About the Contributors

Gani Asllani holds MA and PhD in Finance from the University of Pristina, Kosovo. He is regular Professor at University ‘Haxhi Zeka’, Peja within the Law Faculty. He teaches public finance, taxation and competition rights. During his 20 years of experience, he has contributed to the creation of the tax system in Kosovo, making tax analysis and expertise, participating in several working groups at international level (IMF, OECD and Robert Shuman Center for Advance Studies).

Dzintra Atstāja is a Professor at the Department of Management at BA School of Business and Finance (Latvia), a Scientific Expert in Economics and Management Sciences of the Latvian Council of Science. She specialises in economics and design of sustainability; green entrepreneurship, business control systems and management and business sustainability; corporate social responsibility; civil defense and work safety. She has more than 25 years of experience in business consulting.

Ieva Auzina is a Security Management Team Lead at Atea Global Services in Riga, Latvia. She holds a Master’s degree in Cybersecurity Management as well as CompTIA security certification. Her work involves leading five highly experienced security professionals whose main goal is to ensure security and compliance services across Nordic countries. She has overall six years of experience in cybersecurity, including various security tools and solution implementation in complex business environments.

Lochan Chavan is currently working as an Assistant Professor at Smt. Kamala Mehta V.W.A. College of Commerce, Versova, Mumbai, India and holds a Master’s degree in Commerce and is also a Law Graduate. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Business Management from Chitkara University, Punjab, India. She has contributed four years in teaching.

Shkelqesa Citaku works as a Legal Advisor at EU Institution in Kosovo. In addition, she worked as Lecturer at the University of Prizren. She holds MA and PhD in Financial Law at the University of Pristina, Law Faculty. The expertise and analyses she performed in the field of financial law were a great accomplishment for her academic and professional development.

Mirela Cristea is a Professor at the University of Craiova (Romania), Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Department of Finance, Banking and Economic Analysis and Center for Economic, Banking and Financial Research (CEBAFI). Her main research directions and teaching activities are insurance and private pension funds, banking administration and interdisciplinary research in economics. She is also a PhD Coordinator within the Doctoral School of Economics at the University of Craiova by obtaining the PhD habil. in Economics. She obtained the scientific title of PhD in Economics at the University of Craiova and graduated the Post-Doctoral School in Economics and Applied Sciences in Economics at the Romanian Academy from Bucharest on the subject of private pension system in Romania. She received two awards from the Faculties on Economics Association from Romania in 2007 and 2013 for two books on life insurance and pension system subjects. In addition, she is a reviewer and member of the scientific and organisational committees for numerous journals and conferences.

Arnaud Denis is a Consultant in Industrial (ICS/OT) Cybersecurity at Accenture in Riga, Latvia. He holds a Master’s degree in Cybersecurity Management. His work involves helping customers identify and deploy security solutions in varied fields like energy, consumable goods and others. He has prior experience in the global marketing of electrical control systems and their associated software and services.

Biruta Dzerve is Assistant Professor of the Economics and Finance Department at BA School of Business and Finance since 2000. Her previous experience includes work in tax administration. In recent years, her scientific studies relate to the impact of the development of information technologies on the process of higher education studies. She is also the author and co-author of a number of scientific publications and a member of international scientific conferences. She has been the director of the finance programmes for many years and has been responsible for the BA study process. For the last few years, she has been performing the duties of Vice-Rector of Studies and researching the positive and negative effects of information technology on the study process.

Simon Grima is the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy, Associate Professor and the Head of the Department of Insurance and Risk Management which he set up in 2015 and started and coordinates the MA and MSc Insurance and Risk Management degrees together with the BCom in Insurance at the University of Malta. He is also a Professor at the University of Latvia, Faculty of Business, Management and Economics and a Visiting Professor at UNICATT Milan. He served as the President of the Malta Association of Risk Management and President of the Malta Association of Compliance Officers between 2013 and 2015 and between 2016 and 2018, respectively. Moreover, he is the Chairman of the Scientific Education Committee of the Public Risk Management Organization and the Federation of European Risk Managers. His research focus is on governance, regulations and internal controls and has over 30 years of experience varied between financial services, academia and public entities. He has acted as Co-chair and is a member of the scientific programme committee on some international conferences and is a chief editor, editor and review editor of some journals and book series. He has been awarded outstanding reviewer for Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance in the 2017 and 2022 Emerald Literati Awards. Moreover, he acts as an Independent Director for Financial Services Firms, sits on Risk, Compliance, Procurement, Investment and Audit Committees and carries out duties as a Compliance Officer, Internal Auditor and Risk Manager.

Camelia-Daniela Hategan is Professor PhD habil. of Accounting at Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara, Accounting and Auditing Department. The author’s areas of research interest include financial accounting, international financial reporting standards, financial audit, entrepreneurship in the accounting profession and corporate social responsibility. She is a member of a Professional Accounting Association, the Chamber of Financial Auditors of Romania. She has published and presented numerous papers in this field in scientific journals indexed on Web of Science or other relevant databases and conference proceedings. She has reviewed many articles for relevant journals, for example, Sage Open, Economic Research, International Journal of Emerging Markets, Sustainability, Education, Journal of Risk and Financial Management, International Journal of Financial Studies and conferences, for example, International Business Information Management Association.

Gunta Innuse is Assistant Professor of the Economics and Finance Department at BA School of Business and Finance, Certified accountant and member of the Association of Accountants of the Republic of Latvia. In parallel with academic work in higher education, she provides accountants’ professional services to businesses and the public sector. Her recent activities include (1) participation in international activities as the head of development and mobility project department; (2) regular lectures at partner’s universities; and (3) inter-university student project management. She is co-authoring a number of scientific publications on accounting and tax issues, and actively presenting the results of their studies at international conferences during last years.

Narayanage Jayantha Dewasiri is a Professor attached to the Department of Accountancy and Finance, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. Further, he currently serves as the Brand Ambassador at Emerald Publishing, UK, and the Secretary of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing. He is a pioneer in applying triangulation research approaches in the management discipline. He is currently serving as the Co-Editors-in-Chief of the South Asian Journal of Marketing published by Emerald Publishing, Managing Editor of the Asian Journal of Finance and South Asian Journal of Tourism and Hospitality published by the Faculty of Management Studies, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.

Priya Jindal is currently working as an Associate Professor at Chitkara Business School, Chitkara University, Punjab, India and holds a Master’s degree in commerce and economics. She earned her Doctorate in Management. She has contributed more than 15 years in teaching. She supervised four PhD research scholars and two MPhil candidates. There are numerous research papers to her credit in leading journals; among them seven research papers have been published in Scopus Indexed Journal. Her areas of research include banking, finance and insurance. She has filed more than 21 patents and one copyright. She is the Editor of two books under IGI publications and one book indexed in Scopus.

Marta Kadłubek is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Logistics at the Faculty of Management, the Częstochowa University of Technology in Poland. She completed her studies with honours at the Czestochowa University of Technology, PhD in Management, Master’s in Economics and Enterprise Management (in Polish language), Master’s in Management (in English language) and Master’s in Enterprise on International Market (in English language), respectively. The scientific fields of her interest are logistics management, supply chain management, transportation enterprises, logistics service providers and logistics customer service. She has 20 years of teaching and research experience in higher education. She is an author of over 200 scientific publications including books, book chapters, journal papers and proceedings presented at international conferences. She is a member of scientific and review boards of several journals and conferences and a member of numerous research and scientific societies.

Arvinder Kaur is working as an Assistant Professor at the University School of Business, Chandigarh University, in the field of Finance since 2016. She has done her Master’s in Finance and Control with distinction and graduation in Commerce. She is currently pursuing PhD from Chandigarh University. She has seven years of academic experience and expertise in teaching specialised subjects like taxation, financial accounting, corporate accounting and GST. She has presented (in national and international conferences) nine research papers and published in various renowned journals and also published five book chapters. She attended 16 faculty development programmes and workshops in her tenure. Her area of interest is Fintech.

Pawan Kumar has 16 years of experience in teaching. He obtained his highest degree from Kurukshetra University in India and worked in educational institutions. At present, he is working as an Associate Professor in Finance at the University School of Business Chandigarh University Mohali, India. He has presented more than 30 papers at various national and international conferences and published more than 25 research papers in various reputed journals. He also has two patents in his credit. He has published three books on the Indian financial system, economics and insurance fundamentals and principles. Moreover, he supervises five PhD scholars.

Jekaterina Kuzmina is Dr Sc. Administr. – assisting Professor at BA School of Business and Finance. She holds a PhD in Business Administration. She is a Scientific Expert in Economics and Management Sciences at the Latvian Council of Science and an investment analyst at an asset management company. Her research interests are related to financial management and sustainability concepts’ integration into financial decision-making, risk management, asset management and sustainability. She has been involved in several research projects as a project leader or member of project teams. She has been working with qualitative methods such as case studies and document analysis and with various quantitative methods including modelling in Matlab.

Dimitrios Maditinos holds a degree with specialisation in Business Administration and Informatics from Lund University, Sweden, and a PhD in Finance and Financial Modelling from Greenwich University, London, UK. Currently, he is a Professor in Business Administration and Informatics at International Hellenic University. His research interests are in financial modelling, performance measurement, investors behaviour, e-business and e-commerce, applications and internet use, digital business, management information systems, SCM and business digitalisation, with three books, more than 60 published papers in international scientific journals and more than 90 papers presented in international conferences. Moreover, he serves as a Scientific board member in many International Scientific Journals. His appears in Scopus with 31 published papers, 839 citations and h-index of 13, while in Google Scholar he appears with 3,100 references, h-index 23 and i10-index 37 (31 October 2022).

Maria Moraru is an Associate Professor at the West University of Timisoara, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Department of Accounting and Audit. She published her doctoral thesis titled Accounting Management of Public Treasury in 2005 and has been teaching and guiding students through their learning curriculum through accounting in public institutions, private companies, financial bank institutions and non-governmental organisations. She is an active scholar who has published several scientific papers in co-authorship with other university department colleagues. In recently published papers, her focus has been on the economic deficiencies in Romania when compared to other European countries and the necessary actions to be taken.

Vithyalani Muthusamy is a Lecturer in Banking and Insurance in the Department of Accountancy and Finance, Faculty of Management Studies, at the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, since 2016. She obtained her first degree, BSc, in Banking and Insurance (Special) with First Class Division from the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka in 2015. She also won the gold medal for the highest final grade point average and the best performance in the Bachelor of Science in Banking and Insurance Special Degree Examination. She holds a Master of Science in Applied Finance from the University of Sri Jayawardenepura. She completed TKT-CLIL with band III in 2021. Her research interest areas are mainly general insurance and banking. Her major teaching areas are banking and insurance.

Graţiela Georgiana Noja is the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara, Romania, in charge of academic and student affairs, and Full Professor, PhD habil., at the same faculty, Department of Marketing and International Economic Relations. She is also a PhD Coordinator within the Doctoral School of Economics and Business Administration. She completed her studies with the highest honours at the West University of Timisoara, a PhD habil. in Economics, PhD in Economics, a Master’s in Management and European integration and BA in International Economic Relations. She was the Manager of the Erasmus+ Project ‘Coordinated higher education institutions responses to digitalisation’ (2019-1-RO01-KA203-063214) implemented during 2019–2021 and developed several national and international projects throughout the years. She has around 30 publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection and a couple dozen of other publications in relevant international journals/books/collective volumes. Also, she is an active member of the International Strategic Management Association and has a wide membership in various educational organisations, research networks, scientific and review committees of top-tier journals, and international conferences. Her main research and teaching activities are developed within the framework of Economics and International Business area, with a keen focus on European economic integration, international migration, digital transformation and sustainable economic development.

Diego Norena-Chavez holds a postdoctoral degree in management from the University of Piraeus, Greece. He earned his Doctorate in Business Administration with honors from the Paris School of Business, France, and a Doctorate in Strategic Business Administration (Magna Cum Laude) from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from the Ramon Llull University-ESADE Business School, Spain, and another Master’s degree from Adolfo Ibáñez University, Chile. Furthermore, Dr. Norena-Chavez has a Master’s in Applied Statistics for Data Science with R software from Nebrija University, Spain. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a specialization in human resources at the University of Lima, Peru. Additionally, he has an Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States. He has also graduated from the Senior Management Program at INCAE Business School, Costa Rica, and is a Reserve Officer of the Peruvian Army. Dr. Norena-Chavez has pursued specialized studies at various institutions, including OAS (Organization of American States), China Europe International Business School, University of Seville, MIT, University of Szczecin, National Defense University, U.S. Special Operations Command South. He has also completed the Aerospace and Cyberspace Strategic Management Program at the Peruvian Air War College and the Strategic Leadership and Crisis Management Course offered by the Peruvian Naval War College and the William J-Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies. Dr. Norena-Chavez has served as a visiting professor at the Universidad San Buena Ventura, Universidad Externado, Peruvian Army War College, Peruvian Air War College. He is currently the CEO of Dinor General Services S.A.C. He is also a member of editorial boards and acts as a referee for several journals. Additionally, he holds the position of Director of the Doctorate in Administration at the University of Lima, Peru. He has previously held teaching positions in doctorate and master’s degree programs at CENTRUM PUCP Business School and has been recognized as one of the top part-time professors.

Ercan Özen received his BSc in Public Finance (1994), MSc in Business-Accounting (1997), and PhD in Business Finance (2008) from the University of Afyon Kocatepe. Now he is Associate Professor of Finance in Department of Banking and Finance, School of Applied Sciences, University of Uşak, Turkey. His current research interests include different aspects of finance. He has (co-)authored five book chapters and more than 40 papers. He has participated in more than 30 conferences and is member of International Programme Committee of three conferences and workshops. He is Chair of International Applied Social Sciences Congress. He is also a certificated accountant, member of Aegean Finance Association and member of TEMA (Turkey Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Resources Foundation).

Peterson K. Ozili, PhD, is an Economist in the Economic Policy Office of the Central Bank of Nigeria. He works extensively in policymaking and is actively involved in academic research. He has experience in economic policy, financial inclusion, financial stability, financial innovation, banking regulation and supervision. His areas of specialisation are: financial economics, international development, accounting, development finance, the economics of financial markets, banking and financial reporting. He has published extensively in many accounting and finance journals such as the British Accounting Review, Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, International Journal of Managerial Finance and European Journal of Finance.

Sandra Ozolina is Assistant Professor and the Head of Foreign Language Department, teaching German for Specific Purposes and has been working for BA School of Business and Finance since 1993 and also has developed long-term cooperation with Goethe Institute. She is a member of German Teachers’ Association and member of Deutsche Auslandsgesellschaft. She has participated in scientific conferences and is the co-author of the glossary Banking Operations, Bank Settlements (in German language). For the last few years, she has been researching the training process of German universities and the impact of IT on the study process, analysing the opinions of students and lecturers as well as conducting surveys of BA students about the role and impact of IT in the training process of foreign languages and other study courses.

K. M. Rajeewa Chanaka Lankanatha is a graduate of the Department of Accountancy and Finance, Faculty of Management Studies, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. He got trained for his second-class lower division degree, BSc in Banking and Insurance, from the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. He has completed DCM, DABF and DBIRM in the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka (IBSL) and he is also an Associate and Fellow member of the IBSL. Currently, he works as an Executive Officer – Enterprise Risk Management under the risk and compliance department in a reputed finance company in Sri Lanka. His research areas of interest are risk management in both the insurance and banking sector.

Kristian Pultz Schlosser is Lean Six Sigma and strategic consultant who has won multiple awards for his work and research. He has practical experience in leadership working in leading global enterprises, such as SEB Group, Genpact and Airbnb, across multiple countries. He is focussing on people-centred and large-scale data-driven transformations, implementation of new technologies and sustainability advocacy. He is currently a portfolio business owner, spanning from executive education, consultancy and investments. He is a student at RISEBA Doctoral Programme. His PhD topic is focussed on strategic leadership and its impact on delivering financial and social value in large and medium-sized enterprises.

Kiran Sood is a Professor at Chitkara Business School, Chitkara University, Punjab, India. She received her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Commerce from Panjabi University in 2002 and 2004, respectively. She earned her Master of Philosophy degree in 2008 and Doctor of Philosophy in Commerce with a concentration on Product Portfolio Performance of General Insurance Companies in 2017 from Panjabi University, Patiala, India. Before joining Chitkara University in July 2019, she had served four organisations with a total experience of 18 years. She has published various articles in various journals and presented papers at various international conferences. She serves as an Editor of the refereed journal, particularly the International Journal of BioSciences and Technology, International Journal of Research Culture Society and The Journal of Corporate Governance, Insurance, and Risk Management 2021. Her research mainly focusses on regulations, marketing and finance in insurance, insurance management, economics and management of innovation in insurance. She has edited more than 10 books with various international publishers such as Emerald, CRC, Taylors & Francis, AAP, WILEY Scrivener, IET, Rivers Publishers and IEEE.

Aivars Spilbergs is the Head of the Economics and Finance Department at BA School of Business and Finance. His previous experience includes working in economics and finance research (1976–1995 in the University of Latvia) and professional work in the banking sector (1995–2016 as the Head of Risk Management Department in SEB Bank). His recent activities include (1) Project Manager of a scientific project of BA School of Business and Finance; (2) participation in scientific projects of LSC and others; and (3) Council Member in global lending conference (2015–2018). He is the author of a number of scientific articles and presentations of research results on conferences during last years.

Astride Stonane is Assistant Professor of Foreign Language Department, teaching English for Specific Purposes to the students of Finance department and Business Process management students since 1998. She is responsible for updating study programme materials. She has participated in Erasmus+ mobility projects, and this has provided the opportunity to notice and compare the problems lecturers have in teaching business English abroad, like in Germany, Portugal and Denmark. The acquired knowledge has been compiled and selected in the form of study materials for the students of different language knowledge. At present, she has started researching the ways on how to organise effective work in the conditions of COVID-19 understanding the importance of IT technologies used in the process of teaching business issues to students. In parallel to her work with students, she has participated in scientific conferences organised by BA and is a co-author of several scientific publications. She is the co-author of the glossary Banking Operations, Bank Settlements.

Eleftherios Thalassinos, PhD (UIC, Chicago, USA, 1983), DHC Degrees in Economics (Danubius University of Galati, Romania, 2013; University of Craiova, Romania, 2015; and Rostov State University of Economics, Russia, 2018), MBA (De-Paul U Chicago, USA, 1979) and BA (U of Athens, Greece, 1976), a Jean Monnet Chair Professor experienced in European Economic Integration and International Finance. He is Editor-in-Chief of ERSJ, IJEBA, Editor of IJFIRM and Chair of ICABE. His professional experience includes quantitative analysis, technical and financial analysis, banking, business consulting, project evaluations, international business, international finance and maritime economics. He has a long track of publications in several journals, collective volumes and chapter books. Among them a publication as a chapter book in the World Scientific Handbook in Financial Economics Series, Vol. 5, is dedicated to the memory of Late Milton Miller, Nobel prize winner in Economics in 1990. Parallel to the academic career, he has performed as Bank Director for 12 years, Ministerial Advisor for 6 years, Public Servant for 4 years and Independent Consultant for a long time.

Georgiana Ioana Tircovnicu is a highly motivated and goal-driven financial analyst while being a PhD student at Doctoral School of Economics Sciences and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara, Romania, in the field of Accounting and Auditing Department. Her topic of Doctoral thesis is Enterprise Risk Management Challenges in Assessment and Reporting. Now, she has completed the first year of Doctoral studies, the period in which she taught Ethics and Accounting of credit institutions to students from years 1 and 3 at the faculty. She is a German speaker who just participated in an Erasmus Plus programme in Lithuania this summer.

Nazli Tyfekçi is a Faculty of Philology at the University of Gjakova ‘Fehmi Agani’, where she has been a faculty member since 2006. She is the Head of the English Language Department in the same faculty. She has obtained her PhD at St. Kiril and Methodius University in Northern Macedonia and her Master’s and undergraduate studies at Pristina University in Kosovo. Her research interests lie in the area of language methodology in general and metacognition as a reading methodology in specific as well as bilingualism in multicultural environments ranging from theory to design and implementation. She has collaborated actively with researchers in several other disciplines of social sciences, particularly business administration, where her research interest spam was over English language importance in the business environment. Recently she is researching teaching with documentary movies and has published a guide for university professors on the same topic. She is Co-Editor-in-Chief in International Scientific Journal Prizren Social Science Journal, which has been indexed by important research criteria. For more since 2016, she is the Executive Director of NGO ‘Association of Scientists and Intellectuals in Kosovo’. She has served on plenty of conference and workshop programme committees. In addition, she was Visiting Lecturer at John Von Neumann University in Hungary and Ondokuz Mayis University in Samsun Turkey. She lives with her husband, and their two children, in Prizren, the cultural capital city of Kosovo.

Emil Velinov is Assistant Professor at SKODA AUTO University, Department of Marketing and Management in Mlada Boleslav, the Czech Republic, adjunct Associate Professor at RISEBA University of Applied Sciences in Riga, Latvia, member of the Academy of International Business community, member of the European Academy of International Business community, an active reviewer in the Journal for Eastern European Management Studies and European Journal of International Management and Management Consultant hired by SUEZ Belgium. His research topics are international business, top management teams, virtual learning in international business and diversity management.

Tatjana Volkova is a Professor of Strategic Management and Innovation Management and a leading researcher at BA School of Business and Finance in Riga, Latvia. Her research findings have been published in several peer-reviewed books and journals nationally and internationally and presented at numerous international conferences. She is also a member of the Editorial Committee of Scientific Journals (e.g. Editor and Reviewer of Journal of Business Management, SBS Journal of Applied Business Research and Banks and Banks System Journal) and has participated in numerous international research projects.

Serap Vurur has 18 years of experience in teaching. At present, she is working as an Associate Professor in Finance at the Faculty of Bolvadin Applied Sciences, University of Afyon Kocatepe, Turkey. She has presented more than 25 papers at various national and international conferences and published more than 20 research papers in various reputed journals. She has published five books with the titles financial system, economics and cost stickiness.

Foreword

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The book innovatively enhances several advanced researches performed to provide accurate solutions to the on-going challenges faced worldwide that have brought digital transformation, cyber security and risk management into a fierce debate and at the core of comprehensive resilience strategies.

The current ongoing challenges faced at the global level have brought digital transformation, cyber security and risk management into a fierce debate both scientists and public discourse rendering global the keen need for strategic resilience through new innovative measures and coordinated risk management approaches. The current COVID-19 pandemic has an outburst on the global economy, making digitalisation even more relevant and a key milestone to overcome these challenges and enhance sustainable economic development. Digitalisation notably shapes the world economy, impacting individuals, businesses, industries, labour markets, education systems and governments. On the one hand, digital transformations and technological progress are transforming the skills needed by individuals to actively engage in the world of online work in a modern economy and, especially, post-pandemic crisis. On the other hand, digital technologies have become an important enabler for innovation, thus bringing value added for companies and broad industries, along with numerous opportunities and capabilities for growth and increased performance. However, these are also associated with risks and deterring factors that must be managed wisely to ensure an effective digital environment, strategic resilience and sustainability.

Digitisation of economic and management processes allows for new value delivery and higher efficiency in implementing their strategic goals. However, it involves the need to reconfigure, reconstruct or build new business models. This is due to the inclusion of digital technologies in the existing rules of functioning among partners involved in the flow of resources and their readiness for digital transformation. Maximising the benefits of digitising processes can be achieved when data and information from multiple sources within cyber security are analysed and shared. In this way, it is possible to increase the transparency of flows, reduce costs from a global perspective and reduce uncertainty and risks arising both within the processes and in their environment. Such solutions may also counteract the negative effects of crises caused by unforeseen circumstances like the COVID-19 pandemic.

A significant challenge, in practical, organisational and scientific terms, is to understand the opportunities and threats resulting from digital transformation, to identify optimal strategies for the development of business entities in new economic and management conditions, taking care to adopt collateral and proper management of new risks and to attempt to set further directions of their evolution.

For this reason, it is important to present a book like this, in which very important issues are addressed in this contemporary social and technological context.

Addressing this challenge to the readers – in this book, the authors of the chapters indicate the latest theoretical and practical achievements in the above-mentioned scientific areas. The proposal book is a synthetic look at the complex digital transformation processes of the modern world both in terms of the underlying causes and the vast effects of the transformations and digitisation of social and economic life.

The book covers important topics such as ESG integration as a risk management tool for the financial decision-making process, multimedia sustained benefits for financial services and unveiling the potential of blockchain technology in the domain of research. Education is another important section of this book including the potential of the Romanian market in the adoption of blockchain technology, strategic leadership attributes for adopting digital technology, adapting information security policy, the liquidity position of the banking sector during the COVID-19 pandemic of western Balkan countries, the impact of COVID-19 on the stock market in BRIC countries, fiscal deficit, shift in paradigm and the financial education under the influence of digital transformation.

Moreover, it leaps into technologies including the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data analytics and blockchain, and the book also shows how enterprises can take advantage of them and ultimately beat the competition.

This book is an invaluable resource for postgraduate and undergraduate students of digital business, innovation and transformation. Showing how to initiate digital transformation across an organisation will prepare business owners, directors and management of small- and medium-sized businesses to take strategic advantage of new and emerging technologies to stay ahead of their competition.

Kiran Sood

Chitkara Business School, Chitkara University, Punjab, India

Acknowledgement

We, the editors of this book, wish to thank Prof. Kiran Sood of Chitkara Business School, Chitkara University for the help in compiling this book.