Digitalization accounting information system and servitization in public sector organizations - moderating effect of recoverable slack

Huy, Pham Quang; Phuc, Vu Kien Article Digitalization accounting information system and servitization in public sector organizations - moderating effect of recoverable slack Cogent Business & Management Provided in Cooperation with: Taylor & Francis Group Suggested Citation: Huy, Pham Quang; Phuc, Vu Kien (2024) : Digitalization accounting information system and servitization in public sector organizations - moderating effect of recoverable slack, Cogent Business & Management, ISSN 2331-1975, Taylor & Francis, Abingdon, Vol. 11, Iss. 1, pp. 1-29, https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2420762 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/326648 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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If the documents have been made available under an Open Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Cogent Business & Management ISSN: 2331-1975 (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/oabm20 Digitalization accounting information system and servitization in public sector organizations - moderating effect of recoverable slack Pham Quang Huy & Vu Kien Phuc To cite this article: Pham Quang Huy & Vu Kien Phuc (2024) Digitalization accounting information system and servitization in public sector organizations - moderating effect of recoverable slack, Cogent Business & Management, 11:1, 2420762, DOI: 10.1080/23311975.2024.2420762 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2420762 © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Published online: 08 Nov 2024. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 1696 View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 1 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=oabm20 Cogent Business & ManageMent 2024, VoL. 11, no. 1, 2420762 Digitalization accounting information system and servitization in public sector organizations - moderating effect of recoverable slack Pham Quang Huy and Vu Kien Phuc school of accounting, university of economics Ho Chi Minh City (ueH), Ho Chi Minh City, Viet nam ABSTRACT The main goal of this research is to explore the relationship between digitalized accounting information system (DAIS) and servitization (SERV). Alternatively, it aims to delve into the mediating role of sustainable innovation ecosystem (SIE) in the interlink between DAIS and SERV. More importantly, it makes several attempts to deepen insight on whether the significance and effect size of the relationships between DAIS, SERV and SIE vary grounded on specific degree of recoverable slack (RS). The theoretical framework based on a questionnaire survey of PSOs is explored using structural equation modeling (SEM) and multigroup SEM for direct, indirect, and moderating effects, respectively. The result analysis highlights the strong positive relationships between the three constructs. More concretely, the findings indicate that SERV is positively impacted by DAIS. Additionally, SIE served as the mediator in this relationship. Moreover, the findings suggest that RS served as a moderator in the relationships between DAIS, SERV, and SIE. The results of this study would allow leaders and policymakers of PSOs to capitalize on DAIS to develop and implement SIE in order to attain SERV. 1. Introduction National and international governments that are dedicated to the prevention of climate change and the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals are concerned with public service (United Nations, 2022, 2023). According to Sønderskov etal. (2022), the demand for health and social services is increasing at an unprecedented rate, surpassing the capacity of a publicly funded service system to accommodate it. It is imperative to rethink public service provision through innovation, design, and technology in order to motivate change and redistribute prosperity, as well as to abandon outmoded traditional modes of hierarchical and top-down approaches (Johnston & Fenwick, 2024). Servitization (SERV) could serve as a means for the public sector organization (PSO) to accomplish environmental objectives (Peñate-Valentín etal., 2018). Despite the fact that SERV typically involves the development of innovative capabilities that could complement and improve product offerings, nevertheless, Buics and Eisingerné Balassa (2020) do not apply SERV to products; rather, they investigated methods to enhance the organizational capacity of a government agency in order to better the service it provides. The term ‘servitization’ was first introduced by Vandermerwe and Rada (1988). It refers to the expansion of market packages that include goods, services, support, self-service, and knowledge to enhance the value of the core product offering (Cenamor et al., 2017). As stated by QvistSørensen (2020), SERV promotes organizations by increasing revenue, enhancing integration into clients’ value chains, and boosting competitiveness. SERV, according to Huntingford etal. (2019) as well as Spring and Araujo (2017), is becoming an important sociotechnical factor that must be considered in a system defined by sustainability demands, intelligent decarbonization strategies, and stringent governmental oversight. © 2024 the author(s). Published by informa uK Limited, trading as taylor & Francis group CONTACT Pham Quang Huy [email protected] school of accounting, university of economics Ho Chi Minh City (ueH), Ho Chi Minh City, Viet nam https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2420762 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. the terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 1 December 2023 Revised 9 October 2024 Accepted 18 October 2024 KEYWORDS Accounting information system; digitalization; innovation ecosystem; recoverable slack; sustainable development SUBJECTS Business, Management and Accounting; Finance; Economics AC‑DIGITAl REVOlUTION IN ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE | RESEARCH ARTIClE 2 P. QUANG HUY AND V. KIEN PHUC Nevertheless, numerous SERV initiatives fail to fulfill their potential due to insufficient ecosystem alliances necessary for value creation and capture. Therefore, the significance of ecosystem relationships must be acknowledged to get digital capabilities, resources, and innovations for the purpose of SERV. A number of studies have taken various approaches in an effort to clarify what sustainable innovation is (Aka, 2019). One such approach is a process view that accounts for the interactions and transformations that take place between stakeholders and managers. According to the sustainability systems paradigm, sustainable innovation is a challenging goal to achieve on one’s own (Williams et al., 2017). As a result, working together with other relevant entities is required to continuously provide consumers with valuable offerings (Cappa et al., 2016). The consistent appearance of new ideas has prompted calls for an ever-evolving ecosystem (Costa & Matias, 2020) where different players work together to create and implement new ideas (Boyer, 2020). Concerning to this, a sustainable innovation ecosystem (SIE) has been discussed as an ecosystem where the strategic function is assumed to be played by collaborations between internal and external organizations. Within the context of SIE, these players often aim to address sustainability issues in society and the environment through their creative operations (Evans etal., 2017). The formulation and operationalization of ecosystems for SERV is a highly complicated endeavor for PSOs. PSOs must identify appropriate partners to address their competency deficiencies and compensate for their inadequacies in the SERV process. Simultaneously, PSOs must also oversee intricate ecological partnerships throughout time. As the quantity of interdependent and diverse partners within an ecosystem increases, it becomes progressively challenging to plan, adapt, synchronize, formulate regulations, and equitably transfer risks (Breslin et al., 2021; Kamalaldin et al., 2021). Consequently, although the prospects for ecosystem collaboration are substantial, in reality, most participants involved in SERV encounter difficulties or ultimately fail to realize the benefits. Remarkably, the collaboration of multiple stakeholders has led to the suggestion of both formal and informal information exchanges to facilitate coordinated actions (Oliveira-Duarte et al., 2021). Besides, because service innovations typically require much more information from the external environment (Kang & Kang, 2014) to reap the best result in service innovation performance (Jaw etal., 2010), information processing has been a quintessential part in innovation owing to its reduction in environmental uncertainty (Galbraith, 1974) and information distribution reinforcement (Daft & lengel, 1986). In this regard, accounting information have been well-acknowledged to play the supportive role of the operations in PSO as it can assist the PSOs’ leaders in making decisions. Accounting is a part of the organization that helps record these procedures with clients and other organizations, makes them possible, provides technical support for them, and links them to internal and external interfaces. Within this framework, modern organizations confront the difficult task of deciding how to incorporate new technology and digitalized operations into several areas, including accounting. From replacement to innovation in organizational processes, digitalization can handle it all (litfin & Wolfram 2010). Against this backdrop, these leaders have made decision on switching their conventional measures into advanced technological system to establish information comprising of digitalizing the accounting information. On the other hand, the role of digital technologies in this SERV setting has been the subject of recent research that has emerged in literature addressing the junction of digitalization and SERV (Cenamor etal., 2017; Coreynen et al., 2020). Building on the perspective of Nicoletti and Appolloni (2023), digitalization allows SERV to progress toward more complex services with a strong focus on the client. Taken together, digitalized accounting information system (DAIS) has the potential to open up new avenues for value creation and consumer satisfaction via the incorporation of renewable energy sources, SERV, and product customization. More importantly, the process of digitizing public service delivery has been in progress for a while (Gil-Garcia etal., 2018; Mergel etal., 2019). During the crises, PSO facilities often had to exclusively provide public services through online platforms. Therefore, numerous PSOs are examining new technical advancements to determine if they could offer solutions to organizational or social issues. During times of shortage, the management of resources becomes increasingly crucial (Jung et al., 2020; leuridan & Demil, 2022). Slack is required during environmental changes and economic downturns. Furthermore, slack provides organizations with strategic advantages by helping them discourage aggressive rivalry (Deb etal., 2017) and allowing them to take on competitive activities when needed (Carnes etal., 2019). Moreover, slack facilitates exploration and learning, giving the organization a competitive edge in new COGENT BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT 3 product/service marketplaces (Ma etal., 2020). Organizational slack refers to the surplus resources inside an organization beyond what is required to achieve a specific level of production. Succinctly put, according to Carnes etal. (2019), the organization can utilize these surplus resources to accomplish its organizational goals (Titus etal., 2022). Moreover, surplus resources are recognized to enhance the organizations’ strategic flexibility in dynamic contexts, especially in times of high uncertainty (Godoy-Bejarano et al., 2020). Importantly, recoverable slack (RS) has been considered one of the most crucial elements for the organizations’ survival and goal attainment. This has sparked a need to reconsider and shape a fresh and comprehensive understanding of the emerging ecosystem to maximize its potential and ensure sustainable development, known as SIE. An analysis that will be conducted to explore how DAIS can influence SERV through SIE and the potential of RS in these relationships stands for the primary motivations in the current manuscript and underlines opportunities for theoretical and practical values in a field that lacks an established academic background. This theoretical gap inspired this investigation, which was carried out with a particular set of research questions (RQs) as follows. RQ1. What does the influence that DAIS engender on SERV? RQ2. Does SIE engender a mediating effect on the interconnection between DAIS and SERV? RQ3. Does RS moderate the interconnections between DAIS, SERV, and SIE? In the theoretical facet, the research’s culmination would serve as a solid foundation to provide research guidance for future studies on the possible role of DAIS in SERV enhancement within the context of PSO in developing countries. This result broadens the prevailing frontiers of understanding by bridging the gaps in the literature on SERV, which has so far been a private sector-dominated body of literature. Although SERV is commonly utilized in industry, it has not been used in public services very often (Buics & Eisingerné Balassa, 2020). Adding to this, the acquired observations of the current investigation would magnify academicians’ horizons pertaining to SERV implementation from the multi-actor collaboration perspective, which has been pondered to be an infant field yet growing progressively (Wang et al., 2023). Through highlighting the mediating role of SIE in the interconnection between DAIS and SERV, the finding of this research enriched the body of literature focusing on the ecosystem for SERV development (i.e. Chen et al., 2023a; Kolagar et al., 2022; Wei et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2023a). Value creation in a changing digital operations environment relies on various stakeholders collaborating to utilize and allocate resources for their benefit and that of others (Yang et al., 2023). Digital solutions are complicated and involve integrating software, hardware, network, and service concepts that often exceed the capabilities of individual organizations (Marcon et al., 2022). As such, Kolagar et al. (2022) emphasized the importance of organizations effectively integrating with their partners and establishing new ecosystems in order to provide digital services. In this regard, SIE has developed as a system of, ongoing interactions among various stakeholders, including the economy, society, and other players, along with cooperative partnerships with other organizations. More importantly, the originality of this study lies in delving into the moderating effect of RS in the interconnections between DAIS, SERV and SIE. In doing so, these findings contribute to the ongoing debate on the role of organizational slack in the organizational context. Concretely, while several scholars argue for a positive linkage (Singh, 1986; Greve, 2007), a negative association is verified by others (Palmer & Wiseman, 1999; latham & Braun, 2009). In developing countries, slack resources enable organizations to protect themselves from uncertainty, information asymmetry, and transaction costs resulting from the inadequate institutional structures present in these economies (Mansour, 2014). According to Duan et al. (2020), RS was a structure of internal slack and hence had a similarity with the logic application to its association with innovation. In the practical facet, insightful analysis of the results would most certainly help the practitioners, as it would guide them in the right direction to detect and grab growth opportunities made possible by digital means. More specifically, as lifting the degree of understanding and recognitions of the magnitude of DAIS would enable practitioners to enhance SERV. The prominent finding also underscored that practitioners should give priority to enhancing in placing concerns on SIE formulation and operationalization as it would sturdily leverage the more holistic solution implementation to allow PSOs to reap the 4 P. QUANG HUY AND V. KIEN PHUC best success in SERV enhancement. On the other hand, the observations might supply novel insights to practitioners to give rise to targeted strategies pertaining to RS to improve and enhance DAIS as well as ameliorate degree of SERV, which could yield fruitful advantages in the long term. Moreover, policymakers and the influencers of government were encouraged to prioritize innovative features and generate the possible environment conducive to innovation implementation through enacting policies that would facilitate the digital technologies adoption as well as stimulate and incentivize SERV deployment grounded on digital technologies. last but not least, these observations could be taken as a reference for digital technology providers in seeking the effective measures to offer service which met the increasing needs of potential customers. The present work is composed as follows. The literature review is depicted in Section 2. The structural model which is dedicated to propounded interconnections in the model and hypotheses formulation is illuminated in Section 3. The methodological features are summarized in Section 4. The results which are covered with a measurement model assessment, structural model analysis and hypotheses testing and the discussion on the findings are carefully demonstrated in Section 5. The conclusion and limitations along with direction for future works are presented in the final section. 2. Literature review 2.1. Theorical basis Diffusion of innovation theory. Diffusion of innovation theory has been well-recognized as the most well-known theories for investigation on information technology application and the way in which information technology innovations enlarged in the communities (Venkatesh et al., 2003). Grounded on this theory, the diffusion is specified as the process through which the data about the innovation exchanged between numerous of people in a social system all the time. The fact that organizational design depends considerably on technology, environment and effective managerial procedure was the main point of view of contingency theory. Concretely, the organization is supposed to adapt the surrounding change and relies heavily on its structure to arrange in term of the changes. Innovation ecosystems have been deliberate collective settlements in which organization generates the interlink between their potential cross-industry product/service with well-combined and consistent networks with the digital information technologies adoption (Adner & Kapoor, 2016). These such two theories can reinforce each other particularly well when they put an accent on the fact that it is not only the modern technology which drove novel market, but high quality of service can result in generate the value maps to offer services meeting the increasing need of the customers and stakeholders. In order to provide the just high-quality service, value innovation measures and instruments ought to be taken advantage of to seek the performance demands customers and stakeholders expected. Under these circumstances, digitalization has been supposed to be how people could exploit. Stakeholder theory. Any person, group, organization, institution, or society that has a stake in the outcome of an organization’s efforts to achieve its objectives is considered a stakeholder (Freeman et al., 2010). Every step of the decision-making process today involves stakeholders, and numerous tactics have been developed and implemented to effectively involve them (Acquah et al., 2023). Building on the perspectives of Schaltegger etal. (2019), stakeholder theory is a framework for understanding corporate ethics and organizational management. Since there will be a plethora of crucial information gathered from stakeholders for organizational sustainable development accomplishments, stakeholder theory was the leading perspective in theorizing corporate sustainable development (Chan & Oppong, 2017; Jones & Wynn, 2021). Consequently, stakeholder theory has evolved into a more complex paradigm centered on associations, which include interdependencies, conflicts, and intergroup viewpoints, moving away from a static theory that primarily focused on stakeholder groups and their roles (lock & Seele, 2017). Dynamic capabilities theory. The idea of dynamic capabilities is grounded on the resource-based view of the company, as articulated by Barney (1991) and Wernerfelt (1984), which underscores the significance of resources and capabilities as essential components for a firm’s competitive advantage. Dynamic capabilities were developed to enhance the resource-based view by overcoming its limitations concerning market dynamism and organizational evolution over time (Teece etal., 1997; COGENT BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT 5 Winter, 2003). They focus on a firm’s pursuit of capability renewal, reconfiguration, and re-creation to respond to environmental changes and achieve sustainable performance (De Silva et al., 2021). Capability building is a crucial and ongoing stage of the SERV process (Kanninen et al., 2017). Digitalization, SERV, and sustainability are three changes that profoundly impact and jeopardize firms’ competitiveness (Fischer & Pflaum, 2024). To effectively manage the necessary transformation processes for integrating these trends, companies must develop a range of dynamic competencies (Fischer & Pflaum, 2024). Nonetheless, in accordance with the explanatory tradition, these theories were utilized solely as sensitive tools in a flexible manner (Klein & Myers, 1999) instead of a rigid device for theoretical exploration (Effah & Nuhu, 2017). 2.2. Conceptual respects Servitization. SERV has become a prominent strategy in recent decades as service is increasingly seen as a competitive advantage (Wang et al., 2023). Silva et al. (2018) described SERV as a new approach that allows companies to remain competitive in their field despite changes in business models. To put it different, SERV is a paradigm shift toward product-centric, integrated systems in the way that businesses operate (Rudnick et al., 2020). SERV has been considered as the process of placing integrated systems with services at the leading role of provision instead of concentrating on the outdated product/service (Vandermerwe & Rada, 1988). SERV has been illustrated as the transformation in which the organizations generated a transformation in increasingly supplying services that were coupled to their product/service in a direct manner (Baines & lightfoot, 2013) rather than offering pure stand-alone products and additional services (Visnjic etal., 2017). SERV is viewed as a strategy to enhance an enterprise’s value-adding capabilities in order to protect it from competition (Baines etal., 2009). Indeed, research has shown that SERV has a beneficial effect on a company’s performance, namely in terms of increasing sales, creating value, and improving profitability (Gomes et al., 2021). Building on the perspective of Abou-foul et al. (2021), SERV referred to a strategy in which the organizations’ business models were incessantly modified to sell capacities. To do so, the top management service orientation, proper investment, as well as mobilization of the organizational resources were considered to be in high demand to take advantage of the service-centric business model method (Abou-foul et al., 2021). Examples of services provided with the product include revenue utilization, warranties, and maintenance. Complaints regarding prolonged waiting times, the necessity of commuting to multiple public agencies for services, and substandard structural conditions of public services are prevalent, despite budgetary constraints, insufficient working conditions, limited material and human resources, and other restrictions (Alves et al., 2024). Citizens anticipate that the public sector will provide service levels and standards comparable to those typically seen in the private sector (Alves et al., 2024). PSOs aiming to adopt and provide new services face significant pressure to thoroughly comprehend the conditions and managerial strategies most effective in ensuring user acceptance of the services offered. Despite the fact that SERV typically involves the development of innovative capabilities that could complement and improve product offerings, nevertheless, Buics and Eisingerné Balassa (2020) do not apply SERV to products; rather, they investigated methods to enhance the organizational capacity of a government agency in order to better the service it provides. According to luz Martín-Peña et al. (2018) and Tronvoll et al. (2020), SERV necessitates the utilization of innovative information and communication technologies in order to gain a better comprehension of customers’ requirements and procedures, gather and share data, and enhance their products and services. Based on the perspectives of Abu Farha etal. (2023), SERV strategy is positively impacted by open innovation. Additionally, SERV cannot be achieved by a single organization (Zhang et al., 2023a). Sustainable innovation system. The intricacy of the present social landscape renders innovation a pertinent topic in tackling matters such as competitiveness, economic advancement, and the creation of public value (Demircioglu & Vivona, 2021). Innovation, as a multifaceted phenomenon, extends beyond its conventional realm in the private sector into the public sector, aiming to enhance public administration and facilitate the delivery of high-quality public services while addressing diverse social issues (Criado etal., 2021). 6 P. QUANG HUY AND V. KIEN PHUC The terminologies and notions of sustainability innovation are identified in numerous ways. Particularly, sustainable innovations can be referred to the action of a sound background generation for sustainable development and depend on the networks, local communities, and organizational sustainability (Oksanen & Hautamäki, 2015). In this regard, sustainability innovation comprised of launching product/service that upgrades the welfare with the effective implementation of endowments of resources distribution for present and future generations (Maier et al., 2020). Besides, sustainable innovation can be comprehended as the innovations were treated as the main goals of economic performance enhancement along with environmental and social performance in the short and long run by means of renewing and ameliorating product/service or technological/organizational processes (Bos-Brouwers, 2010). An ecosystem is a structured environment designed to promote innovation (da Silva et al., 2023). In this environment, participants engage with one another and are linked by the circulation of materials, individuals, finances, and information, enabling the dissemination of these elements and the continual generation of innovative product and service concepts (Arenal etal., 2020; Granstrand & Holgersson, 2020). Ecosystems provide a conducive environment for various agents, facilitating their ability to undertake initiatives and innovate, hence enhancing organization competitiveness (Bonaventura etal., 2020; Song etal., 2020). Innovation occurs through the interplay between the innovator and the external environment within innovation ecosystems (Spicka, 2023). The notion of innovation ecosystems is increasingly prominent in management and business literature (Zen et al., 2024). In the meanwhile, the innovation ecosystem has been argued to consist of a multi-layer framework in which the inter-links are performed between several organizations with the purpose of developing, sharing information and knowledge that are demanded for the novel innovation processes development (Granstrand & Holgersson, 2020). Grounded on these analyses, SIE was deliberated to be the network of combination associations of determinants and objects that set up links, both additional and alternative supporting the momentousness of the organizations and environment, offering information and understanding flows via a system of value co-creation so as to sustainability accomplishment (Costa & Matias, 2020). The main characteristics of SIE comprised of multifariousness and complicatedness, decentralization of innovation resources, dynamic co-innovation, in-depth collaboration as well as co-evolution. Technological innovation serves as the catalyst for the sustainable advancement of the innovation ecosystem (Nylund et al., 2021), while data sharing is the foundation for the establishment of the technological innovation system inside the innovation ecosystem (Yan et al., 2021). In this regard, the implementation of DAIS will play a paramount role in SIE. Digitalized accounting information system. According to Cappa etal. (2021), digitalization is the process of collecting, generating, and analyzing data with the purpose of creating value and enabling innovation. In the meanwhile, lanzolla etal. (2021) adds digital technology to the innovation process. The innovation in both products and processes can result from the expansion of human knowledge and expertise made possible by digitization. Based on the perspectives of Gradillas and Thomas (2023), digitalization is the process by which the socioeconomic environment is changed by the adoption, use, and utilization of digital artifacts. The digitalization of processes is a contemporary issue in accounting (Pargmann et al., 2023). The blockchain operates as a secure, decentralized digital ledger that records transaction details namely time, date, price, and participants (Zheng et al., 2018). Based on the perspectives of Garg and Bali (2024), blockchain is a decentralized system wherein no singular authority possesses control over the data. Blockchains incorporate transactions into a distributed shared ledger by achieving consensus on groups of transactions within blocks (Misra & Kshemkalyani, 2024). According to Kayikci and Khoshgoftaar (2024), the four primary attributes of blockchain—data integrity, security, trustworthiness, and decentralization— are designed to enhance trust and safety. In the meanwhile, artificial intelligence is asserted as one of the most promising emerging technologies globally, encompassing programs, algorithms, systems, and machines that emulate human cognitive behavior (Kopalle etal., 2022). As stated by Wang et al. (2022), the term ‘artificial intelligence’ pertains to the utilization of genuine intellect via technology. Artificial intelligence denotes the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform cognitive tasks typically associated with intelligent beings (De Vries et al., 2023). Artificial intelligence and blockchain are the two transformative technologies arising from the Fourth Industrial Revolution that have COGENT BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT 7 instigated significant changes in the sector (Kumar et al., 2023). With the increasing dependence on disruptive applications utilizing artificial intelligence and blockchain, the demand for secure and reliable solutions is becoming increasingly vital (Kuznetsov et al., 2024). The integration of AI and blockchain possesses significant potential to develop novel business models facilitated by digitalization (Kumar etal., 2023). Kumar etal. (2023) proposed a framework for artificial intelligence-blockchain integration in business comprising of collective decision-making, enhanced data security, high efficiency, decentralized intelligence. The accounting information system refers to a system which collected, recorded, stored (Romney & Steinbart, 2012) and converts data in term of financial and non-financial types into the information which could be fruitful for decision-making (Romney & Steinbart, 2015) via utilizing modern technology or uncomplicated system (Romney & Steinbart, 2012). In the current study, DAIS is identified as the deployment of modern digital technologies to acquisition, storing, analyzing and handling accounting information to convert into the fruitful information for decision-making. In the current research, DAIS involves utilizing the integration of artificial intelligence and blockchain to enhance accounting functions, hence establishing an efficient and effective accounting information system. This type of system must be rational, stringent, and deliver accurate, timely, and reliable information utilizing the most sophisticated processing techniques. Recoverable slack. Organizational slack refers to the surplus resources inside an organization beyond what is required to achieve a specific level of production (Nohria & Gulati, 1996). While Penrose (1959) highlighted the significance of slack resources in fostering the growth and success of organization, Cyert and March (1963) suggested that these resources were essential for stabilizing and adapting to ongoing environmental changes. As slack is required during environmental changes and economic downturns (Nason & Patel, 2016), a deeper comprehension of the potential utilization of these resources and their connection to external circumstances, like the recent COVID-19 pandemic. More concretely, slack provides organizations with strategic advantages by helping them discourage aggressive competition and allowing them to take competitive activities when needed. Alternatively, slack facilitates exploration and learning, giving the company a competitive edge in new product marketplaces (Ma et al., 2020). These slack resources can be utilized by the corporation to accomplish its organizational goals, as highlighted by Carnes etal. (2019) and Titus etal. (2022). There are three ways to categorize slack namely available slack, RS, and prospective slack, which relate to the ease with which slack-generating resources can be transferred. The organizational resources that are available for immediate use but have not been integrated into organizational activities yet make up the available slack. In contrast to accessible slack, RS is a pool of resources that are being distributed among productive resources. Finally, the ability of the organization to obtain naturally occurring resources is what potential slack is all about (Bourgeois & Singh, 1983). The organizations’ ability to take advantage of external resources is reflected in its potential slack measurement (Bourgeois & Singh, 1983). According to this situation, the majority of financial slack metrics are associated with the organizations’ ability to raise capital from possible shareholders or open credit lines to finance its operations. An organizations’ ability to reallocate resources or improve resource efficiency is reflected in RS assessments (Bourgeois & Singh, 1983). Financial, operational, machinery, and human resources are all examples of RS, which is similar to potential slack assessments. According to Bourgeois and Singh (1983), available slack measurements take into account organization-owned resources that can be reassigned without reorganizing present activities. Both absolute and relative financial resources have been defined as available slack in the context of research. Organizational slack may offer the requisite flexibility to respond to external market dynamics and internal operational issues, hence improving the organization’s adaptability, resilience, and performance (Bentley & Kehoe, 2020; Chen et al., 2023). ; Concurrently, organizational slack is progressively acknowledged as a catalyst for innovation (Chen et al., 2023b), as it appears to afford organizations the adaptability to pursue long-term objectives while assuring stakeholders of the availability of resources for both immediate and future initiatives (Nitin & Gulati, 1996). Although the literature has investigated the relationship between organizational slack and innovation, studies particularly addressing organizational slack and digital transformation concurrently are scarce (Depino-Besada et al., 2024). 14 P. QUANG HUY AND V. KIEN PHUC RMSEA values below 0.05 are considered good, values from 0.05 to 0.08 are deemed acceptable, values ranging from 0.08 to 0.1 are classified as marginal, and values over 0.1 are regarded as poor. As stated by Abera et al. (2024), the measurement model produced the most rational, precise, and valid model. It was mostly employed to validate construct validity using convergent and discriminant validity (Oh etal., 2022). Consequently, if evidence substantiated both convergent and discriminant validities, construct validity was affirmed (lu & Chen, 2024). Convergent validity was assessed by the average variance extracted (AVE), with values varying from 0.516 to 0.668 According to Hair etal. (2019), AVE must be a minimum of 0.5, and composite reliability (CR) should exceed AVE to establish convergent validity. The squared multiple correlations (SMC) exceeded 0.25 (Hair et al., 2019), indicating the presence of convergent validity. Reliability (internal consistency) was assessed with Cronbach’s alpha (CA) and CR. The minimum Cronbach’s alpha value was 0.829 while the maximum was 0.914. The CR varied from 0.831 to 0.916. Consequently, in accordance with Hair et al. (2019), the minimal threshold of 0.7 for both metrics was met. Table 2 displayed the psychometric features of the measuring model. The Fornell and larcker (1981) criterion was utilized to evaluate the discriminant validity of the constructs. Fornell and larcker (1981) established a criterion for evaluating discriminant validity, asserting that the square root of each construct’s AVE must surpass its correlation with any other construct. Table 3 illustratedthe study’s achievement of discriminant validity, since no constructs displayed a correlation exceeding the square root of the AVE for all latent variables. Furthermore, the heterotrait-monotrait (HTMT) test was an additional recommended method for assessing discriminant validity using IBM AMOS. The findings of the HTMT discriminant validity test were presented in Table 4. A HTMT ratio below 0.85 indicated robust evidence of discriminant validity (Henseler etal., 2015). All valueswere below the 0.85 threshold, as illustrated in the Table 4, indicating discriminant validity for each construct in the path model. 5.3. Structural model assessment The interconnections between the variables in this study, which were part of the hypothesized model, were subsequently assessed. The outcomes performed by the maximum likelihood estimation demonstrated in Figure 3 indicated that the data met the goodness-of-fit indices namely χ2/df = 1.925; TlI = 0.961; CFI = 0.964; GFI = 0.933; RMSEA = 0.037. The values of χ2/df, GFI, CFI, TlI, and RMSEA highlighted perfect fit and the hypothesized model was significant at the 0.05 level. Direct effect. For standardized regression weights, effect sizes ranging from 0.10 to 0.29 were classified as small, those from 0.30 to 0.49 as medium, and effect sizes of 0.50 or more as large (Fey et al., 2023). Upon analyzing the interrelations among the variables in the proposed model, three hypotheses were validated. Based on the path coefficients of the structural model illustrated in Table 5, DAIS has substantiated the strongest correlation with SIE (β = 0.411; p-value = 0.000), followed by SERV (β = 0.327; p-value = 0.000), inferred that H1 and H2 were supported. Besides, SIE (β = 0.287; p-value = 0.000) as posited in H3 significantly affected SERV, thus, H3 was accepted. Indirect effect. Alternatively, the mediating impact of SIE was evaluated. First, the significance of DAIS’s indirect impact on SERV through SIE was evaluated. Given that the direct effect of DAIS on SERV was also supported (β = 0.327; p-value = 0.000) and the indirect effect was significant (β = 0.118; p-value = 0.005), it was determined that SIE partially mediated the association between DAIS and SERV. Thus, H4 was accepted. Moderating effect. Based on the perspectives of Calvo-Mora et al. (2016), a multi-group study presentedseveral advantages namely it enabled researchers to determine whether parameters remained invariant across numerous groups, and it facilitated a robust assessment of a model’s validity and replicability in diverse contexts. To evaluate the moderating effect, two groups were established based on the level of RS (high versus low) using a median split. These groups were subsequently employed to examine the function of this variable as a moderator. The researchers utilized multigroup analysis to assess the measurement invariance between two groups classified as high and low in RS. To conduct a multi-group analysis, as recommended by Byrne (2009), has been utilized to assess the moderating effect of RS on the associations between DAIS, SERV, and SIE. The Chi-square (χ2) difference between constrained and unconstrained COGENT BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT 15 models was computed; if this difference was statistically significant, the unconstrained model may be employed to demonstrate the moderation impact of RS. The Chi-square (χ2) difference results (Δχ2 = −14.13, df = -3, p-value = 0.000), as presented in Table 6, offered statistically significant evidence that RS functioned as a moderator. The overview of measurement invariance results was presented in Table 6 Based on the output illustrated in Table 7, there was a significant relationship between DAIS and SIE among the low group (β = 0.331; p-value = 0.000), and this relationship was significant among high group (β = 0.522; p-value = 0.000). However, the standardized beta coefficient in the low group was reported to be less than that of the high group. In the same vein, there was a significant relationship between DAIS and SERV among low group (β = 0.265; p-value = 0.000), and this relationship was significant among the high group (β = 0.400; p-value = 0.000). However, the standardized beta coefficient in the low group was reported to be less than that of the high group. There was a significant relationship between SIE and SERV among low group (β = 0.186; p-value = 0.002), and this relationship was significant Figure 2. CFa result. 16 P. QUANG HUY AND V. KIEN PHUC among high group (β = 0.393; p-value = 0.000). However, the standardized beta coefficient in the low group was reported to be less than that of the high group. 5.4. Discussion and implication Theoretical implication. The statistical outcomes of research undergirded almost all the hypotheses of proposed model. Conforming to the anticipation of the researchers, the outcomes analysis cast light on the potential role of DAIS in enhancing the effectiveness of SERV. To the best of the understandings of researchers, this scholarly effort may be the first to provide new and significant insights into the highly distinctive effects of DAIS on SERV. The acquired findings on the substantial and positive association between DAIS and SERV in this manuscript enrich and broaden the observations on the mutual interconnection between digitalization and SERV in numerous precedent academic works (i.e. Frank et al., 2019; Gao et al., 2023; Harrmann et al., 2023; Vendrell-Herrero et al., 2017; Vilkas et al., 2022). According to luz Martín-Peña etal. (2018) and Tronvoll etal. (2020), SERV necessitated the utilization of innovative information and communication technologies in order to gain a better comprehension of customers’ requirements and procedures, gather and share data, and enhance their products and services. Similarly, smart products, digitally-enabled services, and digital services were all enhanced by digitalization (Paschou et al., 2020; Vendrell-Herrero et al., 2017). It is evident that the fostering digitalization in Table 2. Convergent validity and reliability assessment. Construct item acronyms Factor loadings range squared multiple correlation ranges aVe Cronbach’s alpha Composite reliability inference Digitalized accounting information system Dais 0.706 - 0.813 0.501 – 0.640 0.576 0.914 0.916 Retained servitization seRV top management service orientation tMso 0.732 - 0.884 0.628 - 0.728 0.668 0.856 0.858 Retained Mobilization of resources MoR 0.737 - 0.855 0.552 – 0.696 0.625 0.831 0.833 Retained Market offering Mo 0.717 - 0.817 0.479 – 0.654 0.622 0.829 0.831 Retained sustainable innovation ecosystem sie network collaboration nC 0.647 - 0.771 0.468 – 0.538 0.516 0.841 0.842 Retained Dynamism of co-innovation DCi 0.700 - 0.890 0.549 – 0.677 0.605 0.859 0.860 Retained innovation resource decentralization iRD 0.665 - 0.859 0.479 – 0.697 0.583 0.846 0.847 Retained Recoverable slack Rs 0.698 - 0.918 0.496 - 0.831 0.637 0.833 0.839 Retained Table 3. Discriminant validity using Fornell–Larcker process. Dais nC DCi iRD Mo MoR Rs tMso Dais 1 nC 0.413 1 DCi 0.196 0.486 1 iRD 0.231 0.469 0.215 1 Mo 0.265 0.144 0.046 0.076 1 MoR 0.148 0.159 0.065 0.018 0.266 1 Rs 0.145 0.135 0.060 0.096 0.230 0.135 1 tMso 0.445 0.438 0.154 0.227 0.520 0.390 0.148 1 Table 4. Discriminant validity on Heterotrait–Monotrait ratio. Dais nC DCi iRD Mo MoR Rs tMso Dais nC 0.362 DCi 0.171 0.418 iRD 0.208 0.402 0.202 Mo 0.235 0.120 0.036 0.058 MoR 0.130 0.130 0.054 0.010 0.227 Rs 0.137 0.133 0.076 0.095 0.192 0.113 tMso 0.401 0.377 0.135 0.188 0.442 0.325 0.132 COGENT BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT 17 accounting work in can gain service quality within PSOs. The prospective influence of contemporary digital technologies, including blockchain and artificial intelligence, on SERV has been examined in numerous prior research (i.e. Abou-Foul et al., 2023; Balistri et al., 2020; Nicoletti and Appolloni, 2023). The findings of this study have augmented the potential function of blockchain and artificial intelligence in bolstering accounting information systems to enhance SERV. In other words, the more effective the DAIS can be reached, the better the organization can be furnished to set up a complicated service providing for the accomplishment of SERV. Figure 3. structural model. Table 5. Results summary of hypotheses acceptance. Hypothesis no Hypothesized path standardized path coefficient s.e C.R p-value status H1 Dais→sie 0.411 0.033 9.333 0.000 supported H2 Dais→seRV 0.327 0.041 7.230 0.000 supported H3 sie→seRV 0.287 0.066 5.320 0.000 supported Table 6. Results summary of measurement invariance. Model Chi-square df p-value tLi CFi gFi RMsea unconstrained model 1215.358 792 0.000 0.954 0.958 0.897 0.028 Constrained model 1229.488 795 0.000 0.953 0.957 0.896 0.028 Differences −14.13 −3 0.000 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.000 Table 7. Results summary of the moderating role of Rs. Hypothesis no Hypothesized path Low Rs (n = 313) High Rs (n = 380) Difference between parameters (High Rs - Low Rs) standardized beta coefficient se CR p-value standardized beta coefficient se CR p-value standardized beta coefficient p-value H5A DAIS→SIE 0.331 0.043 6.099 0.000 0.522 0.052 7.366 0.000 0.191 0.000 H5B DAIS→SERV 0.265 0.052 4.927 0.000 0.400 0.070 5.184 0.000 0.135 0.000 H5C SIE→SERV 0.186 0.074 3.062 0.002 0.393 0.116 4.190 0.000 0.207 −0.002 18 P. QUANG HUY AND V. KIEN PHUC Pertaining to the mediating effect of SIE, this research highlights that PSOs can enhance SERV when SIE is extremely significant, rather than solely focusing on doing DAIS. The SIE serves as a catalyst for growth, creating a conducive atmosphere for ideas to develop and thrive. In this ecosystem, organizationscan access a robust network of resources, expertise, and collaborative opportunities, and thus, cultivating a culture of innovation and ongoing enhancement. Technological innovation serves as the catalyst for the sustainable advancement of the innovation ecosystem (Nylund et al., 2021), while data sharing is the foundation for the establishment of the technological innovation system inside the innovation ecosystem (Yan et al., 2021). A SIE facilitates the efficient and effective exchange of useful information generated from DAIS within an organization and between actors in the ecosystem. In doing so, SIE offers the required support as well as prospective chances for the formation of strategies and structures for the development of novel opportunities for SERV. In doing so, the obtained findings of this research also enriched the body of literature focusing on the ecosystem for SERV development (i.e. Chen etal., 2023a; Kolagar etal., 2022; Wei etal., 2020; Zhang etal., 2023a). Simultaneously, the finding of this study places an emphasis on the direct association between DAIS and SIE. As digitalization can result in a thorough effect on organizations, upstream and downstream operations, networks as well as ecosystems, DAIS can act as a driving force in managing the interrelations and structures embedded in an ecosystem. This interconnection can be elucidated by the fact that digital technologies would facilitate the PSO to select, design and offer high-quality service to meet the increasing need of customers and stakeholders and thus assisted the PSO to survive and develop in its innovation ecosystem in a sustainable manner. Besides, the RS was authenticated to generate a moderating impact all the three constructs proposed in the hypothesized model in a positive manner. To the best of the understandings of researchers, this scholarly effort may be the first to provide new and significant insights into the highly distinctive effects of RS in the interconnection between DAIS, SERV and SIE. These obtained findings widened the extant literature on the moderating role of organizational slack (i.e. Alessandri etal., 2018; Dang etal., 2019). In this respect, RS is acknowledged as an organizational advantage. This is because RS buffered the entity from environmental uncertainty and offers additional resources to implement scientific research and experimentation (Tan & Peng, 2003). To put it different, it performs as a leverage to boost the process of digitalization and SIE to become efficient and effective for SERV achievement. Practical implication. More nuanced understandings in this work may generate several practical implications for practitioners, policymakers as well as software developers. Firstly, it is imperative that PSOs meticulously carry out the strategic procedures necessary to participate in a SIE by actively engaging with government programs and forming deep collaborations with other ecosystem participants. PSO leaders are suggested to prioritize organization-level enablers, including cultural transformation, business model innovation, and capacities development initiatives, to establish the groundwork for ecosystem formulation and operationalization. The necessity of differentiating collaboration strategies throughout various stages of ecosystem formulation and operationalization should be emphasized. Aside from placing much more focus on DAIS, PSO leaders should be digitally concerned with all aspects of their organization, from the mindset of their employees to their internal processes and the experience of their stakeholders, with the goal of constantly innovating. Importantly, human factors have been considered to play a significant role in determining how well an organization can digitize, rather than focusing solely on accounting principles, PSO accounting staff should undergo appropriate training and mentoring to learn how to use contemporary technology. Additionally, PSO leaders should work together, utilizing all digital capabilities, to administer and oversee the PSO in pursuit of a shared vision. Furthermore, PSO leaders should focus on being receptive to new ideas, imaginative, and creative, and they should strive to improve their skills through training and ongoing education. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to foster an organizational culture that values innovation and is open to new initiatives. This will help ensure stable organizational operations by improving predictions of organizational outcomes and reducing the impact of unexpected changes. Secondly, given that achieving a considerable potential for SERV and guaranteeing organizational success both necessitate an efficient and effective digitalization strategies, it is imperative that the heads of PSOs should set up an organizational structure that works with their approach and look into many improved methods of dealing with the convergence of operations and technology in order to generate SERVs using digital technologies. Thirdly, organizational slack might COGENT BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT 19 be perceived as present surplus costs yet potential resources for future utilization. All leaders in PSOs should advocate for organizational slack and digitalization, as these elements are essential for enhancing SERV. Nonetheless, overseeing organizational slack also poses difficulties for PSO leaders. The leaders in PSOs are urged to identify various forms of organizational slack and utilize them effectively, especially in turbulent contexts such as crises and post-crisis situations. They ought to use greater caution while utilizing organizational slack in technological diversification. The digitalization and SERV processes inside PSOs have been greatly aided by the roles played by policymakers and governmental influencers. With the help of the government, PSOs would have the means and power to face the digitization and SERV head-on. These would be achieved if the government implemented the right laws and provided financial incentives for each stage of the digitalization and SERV of PSOs. Additionally, by offering appropriate training and instruction to public servants, the government might support PSOs in obtaining their DAIS and SERV. Thirdly, the government could support PSOs by creating and implementing a collaborative ecosystem, which would allow PSOs to form their network and work with other actors. This would be necessary to ensure that many economic sectors’ scientific and technological progress is in sync and to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of synergistic effects. Admittedly, an ecosystem like SIE would pave the way for the PSO to form deep partnerships with other groups, which in turn would spur in-depth collaboration for co-value creation in a sustainable manner. At length, digitalization also gives rise to a new chance for hardware and software developers or retailers in offering service geared towards the advanced information technology or services set up to support potential customers in revamping their operations (Ulaga & Reinartz, 2011). As such, the advanced information technology and service provided should be focused on developing service offerings in relevant to data quality enhancement, cyber security issues handling, integrated resolutions, or hybrid services in the context of digitalization transition. 6. Conclusion In the globalized and quickly digitalizing world, governments are under pressure to develop innovative strategies to fulfill their populations’ requirements with equal or greater efficiency than in the past. Accordingly, SERV could serve as a means for the public sector to accomplish environmental objectives (Peñate-Valentín etal., 2018). Notably, the role of digital technologies in this SERV setting has been the subject of recent research that has emerged in literature addressing the junction of digitalization and SERV (Cenamor etal., 2017; Coreynen etal., 2020). Unfortunately, digital solutions are complicated and involve integrating software, hardware, network, and service concepts that often exceed the capabilities of individual organizations (Marcon et al., 2022). With respect to this, Kolagar et al. (2022) emphasized the importance of organizations effectively integrating with their partners and establishing new ecosystems in order to provide digital services. Nonetheless, the in-depth collaboration of multiple stakeholders has led to the suggestion of both formal and informal information exchanges to facilitate coordinated actions (Oliveira-Duarte etal., 2021). Against this backdrop, DAIS has the potential to open up new avenues for value creation and consumer satisfaction via the incorporation of renewable energy sources, SERV, and product customization. Taking these arguments into consideration, the main goal of this research is to explore the interconnection between DAIS and SERV. Alternatively, it aims to delve into the mediating role of SIE in the interlink between DAIS and SERV. More importantly, it makes several attempts to deepen insight on whether the significance and effect size of the interconnection between DAIS, SERV, and SIE vary based on a specific degree of RS. The findings in this research would enable PSOs’ leaders and policymakers to leverage DAIS and SIE to improve and enhance SERV. It is also recommended to recognize that the current research is subject to several inherent limitations. Accordingly, the first limitation lied in the data collection, which was performed in PSOs in an emerging economy, which would cause a limitation in the extrapolation of outputs to a country or even an international degree. Since all of the samples originated in Vietnam, more cross-regional research is required to corroborate the results before they can be used generally. In order to obtain more in-depth knowledge, extra data from developed markets may be gathered due to the disparities in economic growth, digital technology progress, human resource capabilities, and legal frameworks that exist between developed and developing nations. Scholars are advised to conduct comparison studies between 20 P. QUANG HUY AND V. KIEN PHUC emerging and developed nations in order to achieve more fruitful results. The second bottleneck, caused by convenience and snowball sampling procedures and a relatively small sample size, could impact the study’s generalizability. Therefore, additional research using a sizable sample size obtained through systematic sampling techniques may be able to generalize these findings. Thirdly, the self-report method is mostly used for the statistical data in this study. As such, this research will accordingly turn out to be an avenue for the following scholars and practitioners to make huge contributions to the further development of unexplored research questions through collecting data from many departments in the PSOs rather than narrowing accounting staff only and conducting analysis using both secondary data and primary data. Fourthly, the model of this research delineates that SIE mediates the effect of DAIS on SERV. Nevertheless, with reference to this complicated association, other mediators might exist, which can raise a demand for more research focusing on this issue. In order to portray a much more holistic picture of the scenario, it is advised that additional constructs be added to the model for further study. Fifthly, the current work places emphasis mainly on RS, while there are three types of organizational slack based on the recommendations of Bourgeois and Singh (1983). Hence, further study ought to explore the impact of other types of organizational slack as well as wield numerous indicators to evaluate organizational slack to enrich the related research observations. Sixthly, this study examines solely two digital technologies namely artificial intelligence and blockchain, in relation to DAIS and the potential of digital technologies for SERV. Consequently, forthcoming research should broaden the examination of the possibilities of more digital technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. last but not least, pertaining to the study design, this study was cross-sectional, and it would be likely that the points of view held by respondents would not remain the same over the years. Thus, undertaking a longitudinal study will allow academicians and practitioners to circumvent this common method bias matter. Ethical approval Ethical approval for this study was approved by Ethics Committee of University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City. Informed consent statement Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Consent statement for publication The participants have consented to the submission of the research to the journal. Consent statement for participation Written informed consent was obtained from the individual participants. Authors’ contributions statement Conceptualization, P.Q.H.; methodology, P.Q.H; software, P.Q.H. and V.K.P.; validation, P.Q.H. and V.K.P.; formal analysis, P.Q.H. and V.K.P.; investigation, P.Q.H. and V.K.P.; writing—original draft preparation, P.Q.H.; writing—review and editing, P.Q.H.; offering final approval of the version to publish, P.Q.H. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. Disclosure statement No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). Funding This research was funded by the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) in Vietnam; Đại học Kinh tế Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh COGENT BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT 21 About the authors Pham Quang Huy is an Associate Professor with more than eighteen years of working experience as Advanced lecturer in Accounting at the UEH School of Accounting. In addition to authoring numerous chapters for the books, he has written numerous papers in many reputed journals and presented talks at conferences both domestically and internationally. Mr Pham has extensive knowledge and is an expert in public sector governance, private sector accountancy, and corporate social responsibility also. Artificial Intelligence, Big data, Cybersecurity, Business model innovation, Green economy, Innovation ecosystem, Sustainable development fields are some of Pham’s passions recently. He has been awarded the Young Scientific Talent in Vietnam issued by the Ministry of Education and Training together with Typical Young Teachers in Ho Chi Minh City for six consecutive years (i.e., from 2012 to 2017) as well as obtaining the Certified Public Accountant from the Ministry of Finance. Huy is a formidable force at work, inspiring others to put in the effort necessary to achieve with his upbeat outlook and boundless enthusiasm. Vu Kien Phuc is currently a lecturer in the Faculty of Accounting of University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH), Vinh long Campus, Vietnam. Her research interests are mainly concentrated around accounting and management in the private as well as public sector. She also completed several articles as well as studies for international conferences. Moreover, her concerns are also related to publishing in various book chapters of reputed publishing houses. 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