Digitalisation plays a crucial role in enhancing the competitiveness of the global supply chain, primarily by improving trade openness and efficiency. The current study examined the impact of digital transformation on supply chains by analysing key digital and logistical factors over three Eastern European countries: Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania. Using multifactorial linear regression on data collected from 2013 to 2022, the present research paper evaluated and highlights the influence of broadband penetration, ICT graduates, and transport infrastructure over trade openness. The findings revealed a differentiated impact between the three analysed countries, such as a significant enhancement provided by broadband in Poland and Romania, ICT graduates having a low influence in Bulgaria, and air and rail transport not exhibiting a strong relationship with trade openness in all three countries. These results highlight the need for stronger policies that integrate the adoption of digital technologies, workforce development, and investment in infrastructure to enhance supply chain efficiency. Nevertheless, the present study contributes to the on-growing research trends over digitalisation’s role in trade and supply chain management while providing valuable insights for policymakers and business leaders in the current digital economy.

In the present research paper, we argue that digital transformation and students’ behavioural trends are intertwined through the increasing integration of digital technology tools into both academic and personal communication contexts. We construct our argument through a rigorous methodological approach employing quantitative and qualitative analyses, including ANOVA, Kruskal–Wallis, chi-squared, and multiple regression models, to assess the main predictors of digital communication satisfaction and engagement. Hence, we emphasise distinctly the diverse roles of digital communication platforms as relating to the expression of students’ engagement and adaptability, beyond mere technological adoption. While investigating the role of behavioural economics in modelling students’ engagement with digital technologies, we examine the impact of digitalisation on students’ communication patterns, both in terms of personal and academic purposes. To measure student engagement, we employ a mixed-methods approach by carrying out a pilot study (N = 167). The findings underline the role of digital transformation in enhancing students’ access to learning, communication, and collaboration tools, while they also align with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education). Our intention is to develop a more comprehensive model that integrates behavioural insights with technology acceptance theories, while another further direction could be exploring longitudinal data to assess the long-term impacts of digital tools on student engagement and learning outcomes.

The current research paper explores the significant power of using the digital technologies in the business environment for enhancing teams’ performance and motivation in work relations. Lately, as hybrid and remote, full-time or part-time work models have been gaining more popularity, the important role of digital technologies in facilitating communicational processes, coordinating actions, and teams’ engagement has been highlighted by scientific literature. Hence, the present study aims to investigate if the digital environment contributed to higher levels of team motivation and improved teams’ efficiency in task solving. Using a mix between quantitative and qualitative research methods, the current research gathers valuable insights from the business environment and the usage of digital technologies not only for economic business purposes, but for building stronger working teams through leadership development. The findings suggest that effective implementation of digital technologies in teams’ management and collaboration enhances members’ productivity, while fostering a sense of deeper connection among team members, contributing at the same time to increased engagement and better outcomes.. Analyzing the current state of knowledge in the field and acknowledging the research limitations, the current paper aims to provide an overall view on how the relationships between team motivation – team performance – leadership development – digital transformation can help to optimize team dynamics and overall efficiency. Nevertheless, the study does highlight the importance in the current digitalized business environment of technological integration alongside human-centric management approaches for enhancing teams’ performance and for motivating teams’ members simultaneously.

In the present days, the business environment faces one important wave in its development, therefore due to the wave of rapid technological advancements, the digital era that is currently reshaping behaviour, habits, and trends, stands as a testament to the necessity of innovation and adaptation of the latest digital technologies. At first glance, the benefits of digitalization are well recognized, such as: increasing connectivity as a catalyst for communication and collaboration while increasing access to information. Hence, both businesses and individuals find themselves empowered by the great benefits of the digital era, presented as a world in which the barriers determined by time and space are no longer an issue, being transcended by the implantation of the latest digital technologies. Therefore, it is necessary to inspect the corelations between the two important indexes provided by the European database, such as DESI and EIBIS, in order to identify how the score of DESI can influence directly, or not, the business environment’s investment in digital technologies, both on single technologies and multiple technologies, taking into account the usage of the emergent digital technologies, such as: BigData, AI and Clouds. The correlations will provide a better understanding of the role of digitalization in developing the economic environment of a state, or at a bigger image, of the European Union’s business environment.

As it was expected, the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside the social impact and the economic disruptions, has also intensified the already existing regional disparities, highlighting, once more, the urgent need for innovative recovery strategies, in the current environment of glocalization. Therefore, the present study aims to explore the role of digitalization and European Union financial support schemes and programs, while identifying their joint contribution in reducing the economic and social inequalities across administrative and development regions, particularly in Romania. Digital technologies have always played a significant role in maintaining business procedures and operations, enabling new business practices, such as remote work and digital business models, and in the expanded accessibility of essential services. At the same time, EU’s structural and cohesion funds have provided vital financial resources for businesses and governments for supporting and improving their digital infrastructure, entrepreneurship culture and environment, and for enhancing more social inclusion initiatives. Through analyzing the available data, the present research paper examines the synergy between the digital transformation efforts and the EU-funded programs that aimed to foster the balance between regional development. The study also highlights the best practices, key challenges, and lessons learned from successfully implementing the projects that combined technological development with strategic financial investment.