Sustainable Digital Transformation for SMEs: A Comprehensive Framework for Informed Decision-Making (original) (raw)
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Sustainable digital transformation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs): A review on performance
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Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are responsible for 90% of all business and 50% of employment globally, mostly female jobs. Therefore, measuring SMEs' performance under the digital transformation (DT) through methods that encompass sustainability represents an essential tool for reducing poverty and gender inequality (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals). We aimed to describe and analyze the state-of-art performance evaluations of digital transformation in SMEs, mainly focusing on performance measurement. Also, we aimed to determine whether the tools encompass the three pillars of sustainability (environmental, social, and economic). Through a systematic literature review (SLR), a search on Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus resulted in the acceptance of 74 peer-reviewed papers published until December 2021. Additionally, a bibliometrics investigation was executed. Although there was no time restriction, the oldest paper was published in 2016, indicating that DT is a new research topic with increasing interest. Italy, China, and Finland are the countries that have the most published on the theme. Based on the results, a conceptual framework is proposed. Also, two future research directions are presented and discussed, one for theoretical and another for practical research. Among the theoretical development, it is essential to work on a widely accepted SME definition. Among the practical research, nine directions are identified-e.g., applying big data, sectorial and regional prioritization, cross-temporal investigations etc. Researchers can follow the presented avenues and roads to guide their researchers toward the most relevant topics with the most urgent necessity of investigation.
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Sustainability through digital transformation is essential for contemporary businesses. Embracing sustainability, micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) can gain a competitive advantage, attracting customers and investors who share these values. Moreover, incorporating sustainable practices empowers MSMEs to drive innovation, reduce costs, and enhance their reputation. This study aims to identify how owners or senior managers of MSMEs can initiate a sustainable digital transformation project. A systematic literature review was carried out, including 59 publications from 2019 to 2023. As a result, this research identifies the first steps owners of MSMEs can take to begin the transition by identifying critical organizational capabilities necessary for successful transformation, explores the technologies that can support MSMEs in their sustainability goals, and emphasizes the significance of stakeholders in achieving a successful digital transformation journey. Firstly, owners or senior managers should change the organizational culture to support decisions and strategies focus on sustainability. Secondly, the leading role of stakeholders is in the innovation process that allows businesses to be more competitive locally and globally. Finally, big data is the technology that can provide the most significant benefit to MSMEs because it will enable analyzing data of all kinds and contributes disruptively to decision-making.
Influencing Factors of Digital Transformation in SMEs – Literature Review
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Digital transformation refers to the process of redefining the way enterprises do business using digital technology. It changes existing organizational processes within and between organizations. The transformation affects all organizations, but poses a particular challenge for small and medium-sized enterprises. To begin a digital transformation process, enterprises must first be aware of the factors influencing the transformation, so they can further develop their digital maturity roadmap and continue the digital transformation process. In this paper, we aim to identify the most important internal and external factors that guide the digital transformation process and the dominant theories behind them. The findings suggest that organizational factors, together with technology and environment, may provide a comprehensive view of digital transformation. The results also showed that data and its quality are increasingly attracting attention in professional circles and data science com...
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International Journal of Information Systems and Project Management, 2021
Digital transformation (DT) refers to the changes in ways of working and business offering caused by adoption of digital technologies in an organization. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are struggling with this transformation because of their limited resources and know-how. Thus, SMEs need practical grassroots-level help for DT that allows the companies to analyze where they stand in digitalization, and how they should proceed. This article discusses how SMEs can be supported in their DT by utilizing the DT model consisting of four consecutive phases for supporting companies’ systematic development of digitalization. The article focuses on the first phase of the DT model, positioning, where company’s digitalization status is analyzed in detail, and development ideas are identified. The positioning phase was conducted for 19 SMEs in Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland. The results indicate that the used process and tools were suitable to support SMEs for analyzing their digitali...
Adopting Sustainability and Digital Transformation in Business in Romania
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This study investigates the many facets of sustainability and digital transformation in business in the context of the fair transition, which will generate multiple challenges and opportunities for companies in various industries. In such a context, a solution to increase resilience and adapt to the fair transition can be identified in the lessons learned by companies due to the application of sustainability and digitization and by understanding the various elements underlying these dimensions. Thus, in order to identify the various elements of this complex framework in practice, based on a semi-structured narrative review of the literature and quantitative analysis, exploring aspects such as the reasons and catalyst factors of the adoption of sustainability and digitalization in companies, the interpenetration of the two concepts in the practice of companies (in production, innovation, customer relationship, logistics, etc.), as well as the associated opportunities and challenges. The research bridges a gap in the academic literature, highlighting the relationships between the digital transformation of business and the adoption of sustainability in companies as a conducive basis for responding to the challenges of the just transition. The analysis details the dimensions of sustainability and digital transition in business in an exploratory model made using structural equations through SmartPLS software applied based on a quantitative study to which 154 professionals, executives, and managers, responded, from local and multinational companies, in different fields of activity. The results obtained after processing 128 valid answers out of the initial 154 are relevant both for the theoretical understanding of the challenges and the practical benefits associated with the digital transformation of business in the context of the development of sustainability strategies. Future lines of investigation are also highlighted.
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