Assessing the digital maturity of micro and small enterprises: a focus on an emerging market

Abstract

Digital transformation is challenging the competitiveness of micro and small enterprises (MSEs), especially in emerging markets where factors that inhibit the growth of these businesses traditionally prevail. This paper aimed to assess the digital maturity of MSEs, using the Brazilian context as a study model. A validated digital transformation framework was applied to 346 companies for data collection and subsequent statistical treatment. Almost 60% of the Brazilian MSEs are at primary levels of digital maturity, with 19.1% being unconscious about the digitization process. Digital maturity was shown to be statistically correlated with innovations (p = 0.000) and business revenue (p = 0.009), suggesting that these factors are facilitators in the MSEs digitization. This paper pointed to the urgency of efforts on the part of companies and policy makers in Brazil to implement actions that can foster behaviors, capabilities, and enablers to digital transformation. These findings can allow in-depth discussions and aligned strategies among emerging economies to point out best practices for companies inserted in markets with similar characteristics and challenges.