This book presents a selection of the best papers from the 20th International Conference on Business Excellence, Driving Competitive Advantage through AI and Digital Ecosystems (ICBE 2026), held in Bucharest, Romania, from 26 to 28 March 2026. The conference was organized under the auspices of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania, by the Faculty of Business Administration through its UNESCO Department for Business Administration, in partnership with the Faculty of Agrifood and Environmental Economics and the Faculty of International Business and Economics, and in collaboration with the Society of Business Excellence.

The book explores the development and application of smart solutions for a sustainable future, bringing together research findings, emerging concepts, and interdisciplinary perspectives. It provides valuable insights into addressing contemporary global challenges and highlights innovative approaches that support sustainable economic and societal development.

Highlights innovative approaches that address pressing global and societal challenges Showcases interdisciplinary research contributing to sustainable and resilient development Presents smart solutions and research insights for advancing a sustainable future

Autorentext

Mihail Busu is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Business Administration in Foreign Languages, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania. His research focuses on statistics and econometrics, economic modelling, circular economy, competition policy, decisional processes, financial risks and risk management. He has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals including Mathematics, Symmetry, Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Amfiteatru Economic, Energies and Processes. In addition, he serves as a reviewer for the international journals Management & Marketing, Challenges for the Knowledge Society, Amfiteatru Economic, Mathematics, Economies, Energies, and Journal of Risk and Financial Management. He received the Georgescu Roegen Award for outstanding scientific research in 2019 and has been a member of the Romanian Actuarial Society since 2015.

Inhalt

Artificial intelligence digitalization and business expectations in Romania: evidence from a national company survey.- Forecasting Natural Gas Consumption by The Georgian Householders.- AI-Enabled Business Intelligence as a Decision Support Capability: Evidence from an Enterprise Analytics Platform.-The post-Industry 4.0 Innovations and Disruptions in Energy Markets.- Mapping data types methods and platforms in social media data analytics: Integrating literature insights and multi-sector.- Beyond the Touchline: Leadership Lessons from Elite Football for Educational Excellence.- Integrating Organizational Culture into Sustainable Development Strategies.- Meaning of work and well-being at work: A bibliometric analysis of trends gaps and future directions.- Corporate social responsibility in SMEs: mapping adoption trajectories and thematic evolution through bibliometric analysis.- . Human capital analytics and leadership decision making in complex organizations.- The impact of modern organic and integral cultivation systems as innovative technological approaches on the yield, quality and economic profitability of tomato hybrids.- Industrial firm performance under financial risk: panel data evidence on the role of corporate governance and ESG committees.- Comparative Analysis of Cost of Capital Estimation in Emerging Markets: Evidence from Georgia, Armenia, Brazil, and India.- A comprehensive analysis of research on organizational culture in Romania.- Instance-Level Explainability for Low-Code Enterprise Decision Support: Enabling Transparent and Accountable AI.- Macroeconomic Determinants and Dynamic Adjustments in Finland's Informal Economy: Evidence from an ARDL Approach.- The impact of digitalization on SMEs competitiveness across EU: an empirical post-pandemic analysis based on DESI indicators.- Post-2021 Performance Shifts in the Middle Corridor: A Port-Level Comparative Analysis of Growth and Containerization.- Reimagining urban future together: from participation activities to value co-creation in smart cities.- The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Business. Key Sectors Review.- Necessity of a systemic management approach to increase the quality andsustainability of the creative industries in Bulgaria.- Emotional Determinants of Personal Brand Perception.- The Authenticity Effect: Emotional Semiotics and Educational Identity Design.- Hybrid financial markets regime forecasting framework integrating unsupervised and supervised machine learning with explainable AI.- Applying Artificial Intelligence and Human Influence Index for Predicting Cultural Heritage Risk in Wine-Growing Areas along the Danube River (Serbia).- Clustering and Recommender Systems Technologies in Mobile Banking: ALiterature Review and Challenges for Customization Strategies.- Toward Sustainable Tourism Development in Mountain Destinations: Evidence from the Mountain Region of Georgia.- Hybrid Probabilistic and Machine Learning CLV Models for SaaS: Incremental Predictive Validity and Managerial Decision Value.- Nonlinear modeling of wheat yield in Georgia: Evidence from kernel ridge regression.- Development And Application Of The Digital Maturity Index In Commercial Banks.- A Typology of Autonomy in Gig Work: Integrating Perceived, Structural, and Negotiated Autonomy within Self-Determination Theory.- AI Applications of Loyalty Programs to improve Customer Experience in the Pharmaceutical Services.- Discursive construction of cultural competence in EU Digital Education Policy: a critical discourse analysis.- Analysis of factors influencing women's participation in agribusiness.- Not by Money Alone: Shifting from ROI to VOI in Measuring Knowledge Management Performance.- Macroeconomic shocks and competitive business advantage: The role of artificial intelligence adoption in European economies.- Corporate culture and employee motivation: evidence from the banking sector in an emerging economy.- Smarter Emotionally, Happier Professionally: A Pilot Study Investigating the Link Between Emotional Intelligence and Career Satisfaction.- Regional Development Patterns in the Republic of Moldova: A Cybernetic Analysis Based on Principal Component Analysis and Fuzzy Clustering.- Analysis of the Key Factors Affecting the Productivity of Wheat in Georgia.- Integrating Generative AI into Simulation-based Learning.- Market and Governance Reform Trajectories in Former Soviet States: Lesson Learned and Policy Implications.- MIS Education in the AI Era: Mapping APQC Processes to DigComp 2.2 Competences.- Analysis and prediction of precipitation in smart agriculture by utilizing multiple ML models.- The human touch in digitalized business: Generation Z's perceptions of authenticity in AI-driven marketing.- Technological Innovations in Agriculture as a Contribution to an Environmentally Sustainable Agro-Sector in the Republic of Serbia.- Productivity and Input Intensity in Transition Agri-Food Supply Chains: Evidence from Serbia and Romania.- Cognitive costs of information processing: An empirical critique of the rational agent model.- Double Materiality as a Paradigm Shift in Sustainability Reporting: A Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis.- Do AI and Digital Technologies Curb Greenwashing in ESG Reporting.- Reputational Risk in Digital Financial Services: A Consumer Trust Perspective.- Institutional Facebook Communication in European Port Authorities: A Comparative Study of Constana, Piraeus, and Rotterdam (20152026).- First or best? How institutional pathways shape the corporate governance mechanisms related to independence and risk effects of board's gender diversity.- Salience-Driven Inflation Perceptions and The Need for Reference Budgets: Evidence from Bulgarian Households Six Months Before Euro Adoption.…