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Since it was proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto (2008) at the end of 2008, Bitcoin, as an alternative to conventional currencies, has quickly gained wide attention from the media, investors and scholars. This attention is attributed to its transparency, simplicity, increasing popularity, decentralized peer-to-peer system and self-regulation. There is a growing interest in studying the general dynamics of Bitcoin market. For instance, diversification was measured (Brière et al., 2015; Bouri et al., 2017; Urquhart & Zhang, 2019; Chaim & Laurini, 2018; Lahmiri et al., 2018), statistical properties and market efficiency were examined (Bariviera et al., 2017; Carbone et al., 2004; Martinez et al., 2018; McCarthy, 2009; Symitsi & Chalvatzis, 2018), liquidity and microstructure were explored (Koutmos, 2018; Dyhrberg et al., 2018; Donier & Bonart, 2015), speculative bubble and risk were investigated (Osterrieder & Lorenz, 2017; Bouoiyour et al., 2015; Klein et al., 2018), regulation was studied (Dwyer, 2015; Tasca & Liu, 2018; Katsiampa, 2017) whilst optimal trading was scrutinized (Ajaz & Kumar, 2018; Li & Tourin, 2016; Yi et al., 2018).

The high pace of strategic and organisational changes in the current financial services sector is not only caused by the fundamental transformation in the institutional and competitive environment but also by the rapid expansion of technological innovations (Menshikova et al., 2017). The restructuring of the modern labour market and traditional human resources qualification requirements is to a large extent impacted by Industry 4.0 (Smirnova et al., 2019) that is directly connected with a transformation of knowledge sharing processes, data processing and integration and value orientation, which the companies consider essential for their success (Blštáková et al., 2020). Customer centricity, personalisation, mobility and agile corporate culture are becoming key factors to ensure an innovative pace of development in the digital environment (Ajupov et al., 2019). In this regard, the demand for highly educated specialists directly involved in customer service in banking and insurance institutions has been increasing especially as a lack of a qualified workforce is among the most important drivers for Industry 4.0 (Stentoft & Rajkumar, 2020).

The interaction of two phenomena is observed in well-developed countries, i.e. the growing importance of the service sector (transition to the service economy or the post-industrial society) and the increasing importance of knowledge, manifested in the creation of innovations (knowledge-based economy). We live in an era when the skills of acquiring and processing information as well as creating innovations remain the key factor responsible for the market success of businesses. As indicated by Škare and Tomić (2014), the market position of enterprises, their further development and prosperity largely depend on their opening towards innovations (Burns & Stalker, 1961; Weerawardena & Mavondo, 2011; Baily et al., 2006; Sandvik et al., 2014). The very idea of innovation was actually born in industry, however, the transition of the economic system to the one where services play a dominant or at least an equal role, resulted in the phenomenon of innovation spreading in the service sector as well (Schumpeter, 1934; Swann, 2009; Hjalager, 2010).

Since December 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has spread rapidly on a global scale (WHO, 2021), strongly affecting organizations from all sectors of activity. Employees, in particular (ILO, 2020), have been forced to quickly alter their work behaviors and manner of working, being obliged to abandon commuting to the workplace and resort to large-scale remote working (Nemțeanu et al., 2021a). The pandemic has made its strongest imprint on the sector of services (Fernandes, 2020), for whom teleworking has become ‘the new normal’ (Belzunegui-Eraso & Erro-Garcés, 2020; Nemțeanu & Dabija, 2021). This new context has dramatically altered task performance – employee productivity having been strongly affected due to the time needed to adapt to the new reality and working conditions (Belzunegui-Eraso & Erro-Garcés, 2020).

Business activities’ significance in economies worldwide underscores the importance of studying companies’ operations to determine their managers’ ability to adapt to changes arising from globalization. Business organizations and management aspects, however, include such a wide range of factors needing analysis that these variables must first be defined and the most relevant factors selected. This study sought to deepen the existing knowledge about managers’ preferences regarding the use of communication to generate employee participation in strategic business management processes. This topic is of particular interest in the Canary Islands, which is a complex area from an economic perspective due to its geographical fragmentation and distance from the main production centres that stimulate trade. These islands also depend significantly on external supplies of essential goods and have limited industrial and agricultural sectors but a quite dominant service sector.