Considering the worldwide evolutionary stage of Industry 4.0, this study wants to fill in a lack of information and decision-making, trying to answer a question about the level of preparation of Romanian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) regarding the implementation of the new technology. The main purpose of this article is to identify the opinions and perceptions of SME managers in Romania on the drivers and barriers of implementing Industry 4.0 technology for business development. The research method used in the study was analyzed by sampling using the questionnaire as a data collection tool. It includes closed questions, measured with a nominal and orderly scale. 176 managers provided complete and useful answers to this research. The collected data were analyzed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) package using frequency tables, contingency tables, and main component analysis. Major contributions from research have highlighted the fact that Romania is in a full transition process from industry 2.0 to industry 4.0. There was also a high level of knowledge of the new Industry 4.0 technology, and a desire to implement it in the Romanian SMEs, as well as the low level of resources needed to implement it.

The purpose of this research study is to examine and explain whether there is a positive or negative linear relationship between sustainability reporting, inadequate management of economic, social, and governance (ESG) factors, and corporate performance and sustainable growth. The financial and market performances of companies are both analyzed in this study. Sustainable growth at the company level is introduced as a dimension that depends on sustainability reporting and the management of ESG factors. In order to achieve the main objective of the paper, the methodology here focuses on the construction of multifactorial linear regressions, in which the dependent variables are measurements of financial and market performance and assess corporate sustainable growth. The independent variables of these regressions are the sustainability metrics and the control variables included in the models. Most of the existing literature focuses on the causality between sustainability performance and financial performance. While most impact studies on financial performance are restricted to sustainability performance, this study refers to the degree of risk associated with the inadequate management of economic, social, and governance factors. This work examines the effects of ESG risk management, not only on performance, but also on corporate sustainable growth. It is one of the few studies that addresses the problem of the involvement of companies in controversial events and the way in which such events impact the sustainability and sustainable growth of the company.

The role of new technologies in tourism is changing rapidly, leading to the development of customer relationships through the use of virtual reality in the marketing of tourist destinations. In addition to focusing on the influence of travel intentions that has prevailed in practice so far, the use of VR is expected to have an impact on the travel experience on the spot. This exploratory research study was conducted with 824 respondents to identify the role of virtual reality in choosing a tourist destination, as well as the expectations of potential customers that could rekindle the tourism industry for a post-pandemic world. The results pointed out that highly used virtual reality applications for destination marketing aim to create a certain image for a tourist destination and to communicate this to the outside world in a consistent and coordinated manner. The findings also reinforce the importance of developing future scenarios for virtual reality as a decisive factor for strategic planning in the tourism sector.

In the past few decades, business performance has been approached from a multidimensional perspective, because a pro-active corporate sustainability reporting system for assessing the financial performance of an organization should at least address impacts at the organization and community levels, as well as the resulting associated social impacts. The purpose of this research was to identify the accessibility of corporate sustainability reporting instruments for Romanian managers and their role in increasing the financial performance of organizations. This study concludes that corporate social reporting indicators can be integrated into the reporting of the financial performance of a company and can transform sustainability into tangible value for all interested parties. In addition, the empirical results contribute to the understanding of corporate social responsibility practices; although being non-financial, these seem to be financially meaningful at a certain level after other financial factors are controlled for.

Big data analytics can add value and provide a new perspective by improving predictive analysis and modeling practices. This research is centered on supply-chain management and how big data analytics can help Romanian supply-chain companies assess their experience, strategies, and professional capabilities in successfully implementing big data analytics, as well as assessing the tools needed to achieve these goals, including the results of implementation and performance achievement based on them. The research method used in the quantitative study was a sampling survey, using a questionnaire as a data collection tool. It included closed questions, measured with nominal and ordinal scales. A total of 205 managers provided complete and useful answers for this research. The collected data were analyzed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) package using frequency tables, contingency tables, and main component analysis. The major contributions of this research highlight the fact that companies are concerned with identifying new statistical methods, tools, and approaches, such as cloud computing and security technologies, that need to be rigorously explored.

In today’s business environment, corporate governance and financial transparency have an impact on the performance of firms. These changes are important for understanding the widespread accessibility of relevant and reliable information regarding an entity’s financial and nonfinancial aspects. The purpose of this study was to show how the environmental, social, and governance disclosure performance of companies has gained a reputation of having a fundamental role in financial transparency and how it varies by stakeholder orientation and economic sector. In this regard, we developed a new model based on stakeholders’ perceptions to analyze the impact of environmental, social, and governance disclosure on financial transparency using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and select the economic sector that ensures transparency in sustainable and financial reporting. This model was applied over the 2008–2018 period to 143 companies from eight countries in the most representative economic sectors: finance, energy, and telecommunication services. Our results portray that environmental, social, and governance reporting are a company’s means of communication with stakeholders, as part of their accountability and stewardship obligations, and at the same time, they are a tool for achieving transparency regarding the financial performance of a firm. Furthermore, our findings also showed whether environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures act as a vector of financial communication for enterprises, and this relationship will also be evident in their role in financial transparency.