Activities undertaken by Polish manufacturing companies to reduce air emissions

Technological changes that come with industrial revolution have largely affected businesses, as well as society. With the current technological shift and Fourth Industrial Revolution, many questions arise regarding the impacts and effects on current ways businesses operate. This study presents a retrospective analysis and overview of previous industrial revolutions. The aim of the retrospective analysis is to identify common characteristics that may lead to lessons learned for the forthcoming Fourth Industrial Revolution and thus complement the current debate on technological change. All previous industrial revolutions have led to change in business environments and new challenges for managers and owners. The findings show that all previous revolutions have led to increase in the number of service jobs created. The key approach of successful countries during the times of industrial revolution has included education as the source of new skills and knowledge necessary for adaption. Countries that were able to produce high skilled people could not only invent, but also adapt to new technologies sooner than others. Similarly, these approaches included introduction of new managerial practices in order to be able to utilize new technologies and new skilled workers effectively. The research article processes secondary data together with literature review on this topic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a catalyst for changing the technological order of human development and has accelerated the formation of new forms of organization and business. The change of technological orders causes uneven development of scientific and technological progress, as a result of which the existing technologies deepen, which become dominant and can be superimposed on the existing technological way of life. The purpose of the study is to substantiate changes in technology orders and to analyze the process of digitization as a new trend in the internationalization of technology transfer based on data on the dynamics of business meetings at brokerage events recorded in the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN). The use of EEN IT platform tools and general scientific methods such as analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, and historical analysis has confirmed the differences between the fifth and sixth technological orders and demonstrated the search for new ways of development for small businesses. The study formulated a general strategy for the digitization process and recommendations for the internationalization of technology transfer using Enterprise Europe Network tools in a pandemic, which include intensifying business activities using cyberspace, changing existing forms of organization, and innovation for small businesses. This strategy became the basis for the formation of a new methodological paradigm for managing the process of internationalization of technology transfer, taking into account the peculiarities of the domestic economy in a pandemic.

This study examines the dynamics of internationalization and globalization efforts of Spanish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The study aims to assess the number of Spanish SMEs engaged into international trade and benefits and risks (e.g., associated with the COVID-19 pandemic) such a process can bring. Empirical analysis of data from the Spanish Ministry of Industry provides an overview of the percentage of SMEs engaging in international activities, i.e., exporting their products and services. The results capture the critical differences between exporters and those companies that target only domestic customers and confirm that the number of newly established SMEs is growing. However, the number of exporters is decreasing or range at the same level. Only 5.48% of Spanish SMEs actively participate in international activities, and very few are involved in real internationalization. The results confirm the existence of economic growth for exporting companies that significantly impact regional and international efficiency, especially those who previously worked on research and market performance. The larger the exporting company, the higher its revenue. In addition, exporters are far more significant and considerably more productive than those companies that choose not to engage in exports.

Acknowledgment
This study is funded by Nebrija University.