In the fourth industrial revolution, technological advancement and digital transformation are inevitable, which impact individuals, organizations, and governments tremendously and extensively. The current ongoing pandemic covid -19 has been a catalyst that accelerates the pace and scale of embracing digitalization, which leads to a dramatic shift in the business environment. Artificial Intelligence (AI) attracts increasing attention based on the business opportunities and values that can be created from both internal and external aspects alike. Grounding on the digital context, AI as an enabler from the external perspective; AI as a core resource from the internal perspective, the research attempts to identify 1) AI's implication on international entrepreneurs' possibilities to explore business opportunities;2) AI's significance for international entrepreneurs to enhance performance and generate value alike in the international market.  The research conducts qualitative research based on six case studies to examine and explore the aforementioned research area.  The research supports the theoretical framework that AI as an enabler provides international entrepreneurs with conducive conditions to testify and experiment with new business initiatives, which positively impacts spurring innovation and opening a new wide window of business opportunity across borders. In parallel, the research is consistent with the theories that AI is one of the valuable resources from the resource-based view, making contributions to SMEs’ enhanced performance, which paves the way for international entrepreneurs to stay in the business competition. In addition, the study proposes a combination of entrepreneurs' heuristic approaches in making strategic decisions with the assistance of AI in uncertain circumstances is crucial in conducting business in the digital environment. The research highlights the integration of innovation resources from external and internal aspects alike to stimulate and catalyse the growth of international entrepreneurship in the digital industry in the established markets. The research accentuates pandemic Covid-19 causes the changes in the digital environment, which affects international entrepreneurial activities. The article concludes with the above-mentioned circumstances' implications on international entrepreneurship, proposing a theoretical framework and providing an agenda for future research in the area.

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This study departed from a research basis being somewhat lacking in the context of green building certification and especially the two-folded problem, regarding the characteristics of the network of business relationships and how an energy supply company should exploit opportunities in this network context and its relationships. As such, the purpose of this study is to investigate and analyse the network context and its business relationship characteristics, as well as to present recommendations of how an energy supply company can engage green building certification and cope with the business relationships in order to exploit business opportunities. Based on previous research regarding the real estate industry, energy service industry and the construction industry, a well-founded literature base could be extended further by applying theoretical concepts related to business relationship elements and strategy-making. The nature of green building certification and to fulfil the purpose of the study, called for a qualitative research strategy performed through a multiple-case study design. This led to the investigation of four certification projects, subject to certifications in the systems of EU GreenBuilding and Miljöbyggnad, where the most important actors, relationships and project contents constitute the empirical data. The findings of this thesis suggest that the relationships are characterized as having a short-term focus and an avoidance to become interdependent. In this manner elements such as commitment and adaptation are shown as rather shallow, where actions of commitment are not typically short-term sacrifices for a long-term mutual benefit and adaptations mostly occur with respect to specific projects. The adaptive behaviour is also more or less explained as a standardized procedure, avoiding relationship specific investments. Trust is an important element mostly in order to reflect the competence of the counterpart, where previous successful projects indicate the skill and knowledge. Despite the characteristics of the relationships, the benefits of long-term, high involvement, cooperative relationships were highlighted as good aspects to consider in this context. These characteristics, along with outspoken market demands, acted as the basis for the development of recommendations for an energy supply company in terms of a step-wise action framework. In this sense, the first acknowledgement of the framework is that the current position related to green building certification projects of an energy supply company is rather unestablished, with only one exception found. This implies a strategic approach in terms of understanding how to develop and maintain their business relationships, with respect to the previously mentioned characteristics. Through a successful utilization of the action framework (with respect to certain barriers to overcome), this thesis emphasizes a wide range of opportunities such as to have a proactive approach, maintain interactions between projects, to develop the knowledge, to offer a holistic approach and to utilize long-term cooperative relational benefits. The analysis and framework is highly suitable when applied by an energy supply company, but the authors also argue for the findings to be of relevance also for other practitioners in the context of green building certification. In addition, the authors believe that the orientation of this thesis might be a trigger for future similar research approaches, applied in different contexts.

Studiens övergripande syfte är att öka förståelse och förutsättningarna för att studera affärsmöjligheter. Studien har bedrivits induktivt och utgår ifrån 48 stycken intervjuer med verksamhetsspecifika beslutsfattare inom upphandlingsprocessen. Beslutsfattarna är spridda över 11 svenska branscher. Resultatet visar på en stor variation med avseende på upphandlingsmängd för respondentverksamheterna, där en högsta upphandlingsmängd var 110 heltidsanställda konsulter per år och en minsta mängd var 0. Median mängden för de verksamheter som ingick i urvalsgruppen var 3 heltidsanställda konsulter per år. Vidare identifierades 10 stycken konkurrensprioriteringar för urvalsgruppen. 3 konkurrensprioriteringar var exklusiva för den grupp som tillämpade en centraliserad upphandlingsmodell och 3 var exklusiva för den grupp som tillämpade en decentraliserad upphandlingsmodell. Korrelationer mellan leverantörspreferenser med avseende på mängden aktivt bidragande leverantörer och upphandlingsmängder identifierades även. Studien har bidragit med en holistisk bilateral modell som beskriver affärsutbytet mellanen konsultverksamhet och en upphandlande verksamhet. Modellen underlättar vidare studier på så sätt att bakomliggande mekanismer för affärsmöjligheter blir lättare att studera rent systematiskt. Modellen som konstruerats kan användas som ramverk för att bedöma alternativa affärsutbyten. Genom att jämföra relativa värden och preferenser kan olika situationer bedömas för att avgöra vilket alternativ som innebär störst sannolikhet för god affärsmöjlighet. / The primary objective of the study is to increase the knowledge and conditions for studying business opportunities. The study has been conducted inductively and utilizes 48 interviews with firm specific decision-makers within the procurement process. The decision-makers are active in 11 swedish industries. The results show great variation with regards to the procurement volumes for the participating firms, where the largest volume is 110 full-time-equivalent consults per year and smallest is 0. The median value for the sample firms where 3 full-time-equivalent consults per year. 10 factors for driving competition where also identified for the sample group. 3 factors where exclusive to the firms that utilized a centralized procurement model and 3 factors where exclusive to the firms that utilized a decentralized procurement model. Correlations beteen preferences with regards to the amount of active suppliers and procurement volumes were also identified. This study has developed an holistic bilateral model, from the findings, that describes the business trade between a consultancy firm and a procuring firm.

Nos tempos atuais, percebe-se que a questão ambiental está presente na preocupação de todos os empresários de sucesso. E não poderia ser diferente para os bancos que, na sua importante missão de financiar os novos empreendimentos ambientalmente corretos, também buscam o lucro e a manutenção da parceria com o sucesso empresarial, além de preservarem a empatia social. Por isso, a variável ambiental passou a ser considerada um item de extrema importância na avaliação do risco de crédito das propostas de financiamento. Nota-se que os bancos não se limitam apenas a cumprir a lei vigente. Exigem muito mais para deferir novos investimentos, pois sabem que a correta adequação ambiental dos novos empreendimentos representa um fator decisivo para o sucesso da empresa e à sua permanência num mercado cada vez mais competitivo e exigente. Assim, pode-se concluir que essa oportuna mudança de comportamento do homem, em relação ao meio ambiente, mesmo chegando somente depois da ocorrência de vários desastres ambientais, ainda se revela promissora; isso porque é capaz de reverter o quadro apocalíptico, desenhado num passado recente, para buscar um novo horizonte de esperanças e de convivência pacífica e responsável do homem com a natureza. A essa nova e providente consciência do homem, é que as empresas e também os bancos estão buscando harmonizar suas ações, vislumbrando, também nelas, boas oportunidades de lucros. / Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-05-19T19:18:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Joao Andreola.pdf: 1395022 bytes, checksum: aea2c352bf39dd59e4dbff1a0ce1ae11 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-19T19:18:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Joao Andreola.pdf: 1395022 bytes, checksum: aea2c352bf39dd59e4dbff1a0ce1ae11 (MD5) / Nowadays, it can be noticed that the environmental issue is present in the preoccupation of all the entrepreneurs of success. And this could not be different for the banks which, in its important mission of funding new environmentally correct ventures, are also seeking profit and the maintenance of the partnership with business success, besides preserving social empathy. Therefore, the environmental variable came to be seen as an item of extreme importance in the assessment of credit risk in financing proposals. It can be seen that the banks do not limit themselves to complying only with the applicable law. They require much more to grant new investments, because they know that the correct environmental suitability of the new ventures represents a decisive factor for the companys success and its permanence in a market which I always increasingly competitive and demanding. Thus, it can be concluded that this timely change of mans behavior towards to the environment, even if it came after the occurrence of several environmental disasters, can still be seen as promising because it is capable of reversing the apocalyptic framework designed in the recent past, and seek a new horizon of hope and peaceful and responsible coexistence of man with nature. To this new and provident conscience of man, is that companies and also the banks are seeking to harmonize their actions, also foreseeing good opportunity for profits in them.

Nos tempos atuais, percebe-se que a questão ambiental está presente na preocupação de todos os empresários de sucesso. E não poderia ser diferente para os bancos que, na sua importante missão de financiar os novos empreendimentos ambientalmente corretos, também buscam o lucro e a manutenção da parceria com o sucesso empresarial, além de preservarem a empatia social. Por isso, a variável ambiental passou a ser considerada um item de extrema importância na avaliação do risco de crédito das propostas de financiamento. Nota-se que os bancos não se limitam apenas a cumprir a lei vigente. Exigem muito mais para deferir novos investimentos, pois sabem que a correta adequação ambiental dos novos empreendimentos representa um fator decisivo para o sucesso da empresa e à sua permanência num mercado cada vez mais competitivo e exigente. Assim, pode-se concluir que essa oportuna mudança de comportamento do homem, em relação ao meio ambiente, mesmo chegando somente depois da ocorrência de vários desastres ambientais, ainda se revela promissora; isso porque é capaz de reverter o quadro apocalíptico, desenhado num passado recente, para buscar um novo horizonte de esperanças e de convivência pacífica e responsável do homem com a natureza. A essa nova e providente consciência do homem, é que as empresas e também os bancos estão buscando harmonizar suas ações, vislumbrando, também nelas, boas oportunidades de lucros. / Nowadays, it can be noticed that the environmental issue is present in the preoccupation of all the entrepreneurs of success. And this could not be different for the banks which, in its important mission of funding new environmentally correct ventures, are also seeking profit and the maintenance of the partnership with business success, besides preserving social empathy. Therefore, the environmental variable came to be seen as an item of extreme importance in the assessment of credit risk in financing proposals. It can be seen that the banks do not limit themselves to complying only with the applicable law. They require much more to grant new investments, because they know that the correct environmental suitability of the new ventures represents a decisive factor for the companys success and its permanence in a market which I always increasingly competitive and demanding. Thus, it can be concluded that this timely change of mans behavior towards to the environment, even if it came after the occurrence of several environmental disasters, can still be seen as promising because it is capable of reversing the apocalyptic framework designed in the recent past, and seek a new horizon of hope and peaceful and responsible coexistence of man with nature. To this new and provident conscience of man, is that companies and also the banks are seeking to harmonize their actions, also foreseeing good opportunity for profits in them.