Strategic Outlook in Business and Finance Innovation: Multidimensional Policies for Emerging Economies

Innovation means innovation. It enables companies to grow and compete with other companies. However, innovation studies also increase the welfare level of the countries. One of the most important topics in innovation studies is research and development (R&D). R&D enables companies to identify their current problems and lay the groundwork for new products and services. In this way, it contributes to the profit of the companies. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of innovation on the share value of the company. In the study, the data are collected from Turkey during the period 1991–2019. However, the study was tested by Engle–Granger Cointegration analysis. As a result, it has been determined that there is a long-term relationship between R&D expenditures and the company’s share value. In this context, companies need to focus on R&D expenditures to increase their share values. For this issue, they need to increase their liquidity. In addition, the R&D departments in the company need to be increased. Companies need to prepare a separate budget for R&D studies.

Modern cities are divided into some essential dimensions, according to the definitions of smart cities. Smart cities follow innovation-oriented development standards. A smart city combines multiple aspects, which encourage the birth and blossoming of start-ups. The analysis of smart cities according to subjective variables puts in evidence their potential growth, as well as strengths and weaknesses. On the basis of the Eurostat (2015) survey, the present chapter creates a DP₂ index that singles out the most attractive cities for business activities.

No carbon gas is released into the atmosphere in electricity production with wind energy. Therefore, this type of energy is significantly environmentally friendly. On the other hand, thanks to wind energy investments, a country can produce its own energy. This reduces the country’s foreign dependency on energy. Due to these positive aspects, increasing wind energy investments is very important for both the social and economic development of the country. The aim of this study is to define the most appropriate government support to improve wind energy investments. In this context, four different criteria are defined in this regard by making a detailed literature review. In the analysis process, fuzzy AHP methodology is considered. Within this framework, the comparative evaluations of three different experts are obtained. The findings indicate that providing loans with low-interest rate is the most appropriate government support for the wind energy investors. Additionally, it is also defined that tax deduction is another important issue for this purpose. However, it is also identified that appropriate location supply and purchase guarantee of the product produced have lower importance in comparison with the others. It is strongly recommended that governments should provide loans to the wind energy investors. This strategy can minimize the problem of high initial cost so that it can be much easier to attract the attention of the investors.

In this study, it is examined how to improve the effectiveness of bitcoin market. In this framework, firstly, a wide literature review is made, and different factors that may be effective in this regard are identified. Afterward, an analysis is performed with Hurst method to determine which of these factors are more important. The study of cryptocurrency volatility is important in terms of financial instruments for hedging traditional assets, as well as in terms of pricing. The above results would be particularly useful in terms of portfolio management and risk management. This study discusses various financial issues related to cryptocurrencies, as well as some problems associated with the problems of their forecasting. To solve the problems of forecasting, the authors have not only studied, but also improved the forecasting method based on the machine learning algorithm in the MATLAB system using the tree model. Most of the analysis in the document relies heavily on studies by authors studying this issue. They can help make more informed decisions regarding financial investments and avoid the risks of using cryptocurrencies. The results may also assist regulators in creating a favorable legal environment for the functioning of the cryptocurrency market.

The relationship between overqualified labor and productivity is questioned in this study. By overqualified labor, it is meant that the labor has more capabilities (education) than the qualifications required by the task. In some cases, like this case, the qualifications of the employees and the qualifications required by the job may not match, and their reflection on productivity may be positive or negative. In the studies conducted in developing countries, such as this study, which reveal the negative relationship of overqualified and low-skilled employees with productivity, unlike the situation in developed countries, has been tried to be explained in this research based on relative deprivation and person–work cohesion. Literature review method is used within the frames of given theories.

Analyzing the external environment, catching the opportunities that it offers, and detecting knowledge to innovate have become important antecedents of competitive, agile, and sustainable organizations that satisfy all their stakeholders including their employees. These characteristics are related to the absorptive capacity, that is, the ability of companies to value, assimilate, and utilize new external knowledge. The authors argue that at the individual level, these companies could influence the work engagement in their white-collar employees. Work engagement can be understood as the employees’ psychological connection with their work, an aspect that has gained special relevance in the knowledge-based economies of the twenty-first century. Thus, the aim of this study is to observe if the absorptive capacity of companies influences work engagement in white-collar employees. The Absorptive Capacity Scale (Flatten, Engelen, Zahra, & Brettel, 2011) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2003) were administered through an online platform. Our findings from 203 white-collar employees in Turkish companies confirmed our assumption regarding the positive effect of absorptive capacity on employees’ work engagement. The results and implications are discussed.

Many studies have proven that innovation performance is an important factor that increases corporate’s performance. In this context, companies need to be successful in innovation management, and they need to innovate. The technological turbulence that may occur in the sector where the companies are located will affect the innovation performance negatively if the companies fail to manage innovation. As a result of factors such as increasing competitive pressure with globalization, the elimination of time and space obstacles of technology, expanding purchasing alternatives, and increasing awareness levels, the newest products bring the highest revenues. These developments have led to a dramatic increase in the importance of developing new products as a competitive weapon, making product innovation an important element of the organizational strategy. Therefore, innovation strategies to be implemented and dynamic skills that are owned are needed to be managed correctly by companies. In this study, innovation management, technological turbulence, innovation strategies, and dynamic capabilities are examined.

This study analyzes the trends and patterns of strategic and innovative macroeconomic variables during recession or slowdown periods of 10 countries – Brazil, the United States, UK, Germany, France, China, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea for the period 1980–2018, which includes major recessions like the 1982 debt crisis, 1991 economic crisis, 1997 Asian Financial crisis, and 2008 Sub-prime crisis. This study devised two models – Logistic Regression and a Range-based Custom-Made Recession-cum-Economy State indicator, based on Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) model parameters. Results for the logistic regression model show that most of the marginal effect values are positive for variables linked with globalization indicating that increase in adverse impact on such variables increases the probability of recession. The custom-made statistical index provides an individual country-wise range, along with a global range for the weighted total of the variables, the weights for which are derived from the DOLS model, which has a 59.66% accuracy in estimating the condition of an economy. The recent worldwide experience indicates that probability of recessions has decreased, and slowdowns have increased over a period. This is evident from the Cumulative Trend of Economic State analysis that indicates that the recession probabilities of countries have decreased 1990 and that of slowdown have become highly volatile.

The European states, which started the industrial revolution by making use of mechanical power, provided their agricultural development by producing new technology tools that will increase the production in the agricultural sector. The Ottoman Empire made many attempts to increase agricultural sector in the nineteenth century and implemented policies to increase production. In this direction, primitive agricultural tools were changed, and many encouraging steps were taken to adopt and spread modern technology in the country. As a result of the policies made, since the second half of the nineteenth century, the use of modern technology has increased in the provinces such as İzmir, Edirne and Adana and then in Konya and Ankara, since the railways reached the interior. Increasing accessibility to international markets with the development of commercial agriculture and railway construction are also important factors that encourage the use of machinery. When the use of machinery increased in the twentieth century, many machine companies opened dealers in the country and attempted to reach the inner parts of the country. With the increase in the use of modern agricultural technology, agricultural production has increased and provided significant benefits to the labor problem, especially in regions where commercial agriculture has developed. The effect of modern technology on the increase in production can be seen in the agricultural numbers in 1909–1914. When the agricultural census is taken into consideration, although the production areas did not increase, the production amount increased. However, the contribution of modern agricultural technology to production was still somewhat limited. The reason for this is that due to the high prices of agricultural machinery, small farm owners cannot supply these machines.

This study seeks to investigate whether firms’ capital structure decisions are congruent with the assumptions underpinning the traditional trade-off theory and the pecking order theory in Ghana. Using a sample of listed firms, the dynamic system generalized method of moments (GMM) technique is applied on a balanced panel data spanning 2008–2016. The findings reveal that the financing decisions of Ghanaian firms adhere to the pecking order theory, given the established relationship between leverage and profitability, firm age, as well as firm size. The study also shows that tax does not matter for corporate leverage, departing from the tax proposition of the traditional trade-off theory. However, the negative effect of growth opportunities and risk on debt corroborates the trade-off theory. Consequently, it is postulated that the trade-off theory and the pecking order theory are not discordant in predicting firms’ capital structure decisions in Ghana.

In this study, it is examined how to use long-term memory models for predicting the dynamics of cryptocurrencies. In this framework, all the most suitable models provide an adequate error at the level of a 5% confidence interval. The authors believe that the IGARCH and GJRGARCH models provide the best results in terms of modeling the volatility of the most popular cryptocurrencies. The IGARCH model is similar to the standard GARCH model with the addition of only the conditional volatility process with infinite memory. Due to the growing demand and interest in cryptocurrencies and crypto assets in general, the authors believe that they should be considered as a new segment of the financial market. There are many more questions about whether cryptocurrencies should be classified as currencies or as a commodity. Our analysis suggests that cryptocurrencies are financial assets. Most operations with them are carried out for investment purposes: either as long-term investments in new technologies, or in order to obtain short-term profits.

This study aims to shed light on driving factors of research and development (R&D) investments by considering financial statement-based characteristics, audit quality, and Schumpeterian variables. This study distinguishes between capitalized R&D investments and expensed R&D investments by taking different accounting treatments into account. Based on a sample of listed manufacturing firms on Borsa Istanbul over 2013–2018, this study concludes that (i) competition (size) decreases (increases) R&D investments, (ii) big4 auditors pay more attention to the proper accounting treatment of R&D investments, (iii) internal financing does not affect R&D investments, and (iv) liquidity (leverage and marketing expenditures) plays a positive (negative) role in only capitalized R&D investments.

This study aims to identify the role of top management team (TMT) in the internalization process and vital characteristics for successful internationalization. The literature analysis presents the evolution of TMT concept, its relatedness to internalization conditioned by resource dependency theory and institutional theory and current studies on TMT characteristics linked to internationalization. Conducted research also let us to identify which abilities, skills, or knowledge TMTs are missing, aiming to achieve better international performance. The study contributes to current small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) internationalization studies by providing insights, a deeper analysis of such phenomena and future research directions. Consequently, the study provides directions for SMEs, seeking to improve their performance of international activities. The practical implications of the study’s results are related to the selection and recruitment of new TMT members or recommendations for training. The evaluation of candidate’s experience, personal qualities, and communication skills are important in hiring process of managers. It might require the improvement in selection process by including business case simulation, trial day, or references from previous employers. TMT members’ capabilities should be regularly evaluated by peers and if necessary specialized training should be provided on time.

Recent developments in technology and research have brought new innovations into the finance sector. Applying mathematics and computer science into finance has developed a multidisciplinary financial engineering field, where new quantitative and complex financial products are supplied to investors. In this chapter, we describe financial technologies as high-frequency trade; investment vehicles as mutual, exchange-traded, and hedge funds in the finance sector with figures of past 10 years and their impact in international trade volume. Financial derivatives are innovative products where investor may mitigate risk on their domestic and international transactions. The author also discusses cryptocurrencies as an important tool in innovation.

In this information era, innovation is among the most important factors for an organization to increase its performance. In this chapter, it is explored how to improve the business innovation in organizations effectively by using suitable management strategies in an emerging economy selected as Turkey. Among many strategies set and implemented for the ease of innovation, in this chapter, it is revealed that some have more direct and efficient effects. Among these strategies and practices there exist, strategic and innovative human resource management, goal setting for innovation, supporting employee creativity, empowering employees for innovation, developing effective organizational communication, leading for innovation, building an innovative organizational culture and establishing teams for innovation. These practices are derived from the selected Borsa Istanbul (BIST) Companies in Turkey. Strategies of five companies which are indexed in BIST30 and BIST Sustainability Index, and additionally, which are all candidates of innovation leader in their sector, were taken as examples reflecting the innovative atmosphere in Turkey.

Today’s business environment has the nature that challenges the decision-making processes of businesses with its many different factors including technological developments and changing consumer structures. Previous research focused on specific contexts of the business environment regarding marketing and innovation issues, however, an integrative approach can be helpful for understanding and taking actions. This study aims to present a comprehensive framework which employs sensemaking from management literature as an approach to evaluate the market environment. Following a conceptual approach for the methodology, a framework consisting of three stages: discovery, sensemaking, and prediction is included in the study. Proposed framework identifies the stages for the sensemaking of consumers and can guide marketing decision-makers for competitiveness in the digital world.

In this study, it is aimed to correctly weigh the criteria for the selection of qualified manager in a healthcare facility and to make the right selection among candidates with an objective method. In this study, in which the health manager selection was carried out with fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and MULTIMOORA methods, 8 candidates were evaluated according to 12 personnel selection criteria. Comparative matrices of qualified health manager selection criteria were presented to the expert opinion and analyzed with the fuzzy AHP method. According to the analysis result, among the 12 criteria; The “Crisis Management Skill” criterion is in the first place with 12.5% weight; The “Social Responsibility Awareness” criterion was found to be in the last place with 3.2% weight. The MULTIMOORA method was applied by analyzing the interview scores and criterion weightings of the candidates evaluated by the jury. According to the results of MULTIMOORA, Candidate 1 first place and Candidate 6 ranked last.

This study investigates the causal relationship between financial innovation (FI) as proxied by the bank credits to private sector, as percentage of GDP and economic growth in case of Azerbaijan using annual data covering the period from 1992 to 2018. For this purpose, the Toda–Yamamoto causality test with the framework of vector autoregressive (VAR) model is utilized to test causal relationship between the variables. The estimation results reveal that there is bidirectional causal relationship between FI and economic growth. The findings of the study suggest the researchers and policy makers to understand the role of FI in economic growth for macroeconomic stability and sustainable development purposes in Azerbaijan and other developing oil-rich countries.

Technology, which cannot be considered as a separate existence from society, has become one of the basic research subjects of social sciences. Changes in the new communication technologies have an impact on every area of individual life causing radical changes. Along with globalization, this change and transformation of technological developments change the fields of work as well as individual life. Today, every business must keep up with the competitive environment, which is an indispensable part of globalization. In this context, the strategies aimed at the change and transformation required by sectoral arguments should be activated. The concept of customer satisfaction has become the most important element of today’s conditions. Therefore, the enterprises have to use digital media in the most effective way to create new customer profiles and increase existing customer loyalty by placing their customer-focused work at the top. The study aims to offer improvement suggestions to increase customer satisfaction in terms of usability of the Hepsiburada mobile application. A persona has been created for selecting users for the usability test. A questionnaire has been conducted for this persona, and those who meet the operational criteria are included in the study. In the study, a user-based usability test was performed with 10 users. At the end of the study, usability problems related to the use of the Hepsiburada application were determined, and solutions were offered.