Determinants of digital transformation among Vietnamese SMEs: Utilizing World Bank Enterprise Survey

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Thailand’s food manufacturing sector face increasing pressure to embrace digital transformation. This study explores the critical factors influencing digital transformation in SMEs, focusing on digital organizational culture, knowledge acquisition, and organizational readiness. Drawing upon the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework, we investigate the relationships between digital organizational culture, knowledge acquisition, organizational readiness, and digital transformation. Data were collected from 198 food manufacturing SMEs using purposive sampling and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Our findings underscore the pivotal role of digital organizational culture and knowledge acquisition in facilitating digital transformation within Thai SMEs. We also reveal that organizational readiness acts as a full mediator, significantly impacting the success of digital transformation initiatives. Practically, this study highlights the importance of fostering a robust digital organizational culture through collaborative efforts and advocating for knowledge exchange from external sources. Additionally, it emphasizes the need for SMEs to allocate resources and prioritize readiness for change to ensure seamless digital transformation. Theoretically, our research contributes to a deeper understanding of the digital transformation journey within the context of SMEs in the food manufacturing industry. By aligning with the TOE framework, we provide valuable insights tailored to SMEs, offering guidance for navigating the complexities of digital transformation in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape.

Digital transformation in SMEs: Understanding its determinants and size heterogeneity

Research often illustrates the importance of digital transformation for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly during external disruptions. However, little attention has been devoted to how SMEs’ digital transformation occurs. Employing a micro-foundations perspective, this study investigates the effect of managers’ digital literacy (MDL) on SMEs’ digital transformation. We test a moderated mediation model using survey data from 158 SMEs operating in the United Arab Emirates. Our findings suggest that MDL impacts digital transformation through the usage of digital technologies. Moreover, the relationship between MDL and the usage of digital technologies is further moderated by managerial attributes (i.e., gender, education, and age). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Adopting digital marketing approaches has emerged as a key factor in Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) competitive advantage and business success. The Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework is used in this study to evaluate the variables affecting SMEs' digital transformation. The degree and efficacy of digital marketing adoption are influenced by organizational competencies, technological preparedness, and external market dynamics. Results show that SMEs that use new digital technologies, like automation and AI-driven analytics, see an increase in customer engagement and market share. By showing that SMEs may achieve sustainable business growth and competitive advantage by aligning their plans with organizational adaptability, technical advancements, and favorable environmental conditions, the study emphasizes the significance of a balanced approach across all TOE aspects. The findings give SMEs a road map for utilizing digital marketing to improve long-term success and business performance. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of AI's capabilities, presenting a strategic roadmap for integrating these technologies into digital marketing ecosystem to achieve sustainable growth in the digital age. Using a random sampling technique, 450 respondents were selected from the 500 SMEs in the study area. Of the completed questionnaires, almost 90% were recovered and deemed valuable for the data analysis. The results of the study indicated that significant portion of SMEs (52%) generated between 2 and 4 million Naira in revenue after implementing AI-driven digital marketing, which is more than they did in the year before digital marketing automation was put into place.

Purpose Digital transformation (DT) is widely acknowledged as a pivotal factor for business growth and competitiveness across various sectors. Nevertheless, its adoption among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remains a considerable challenge, often constrained by a lack of resources and technical expertise. This study seeks to address this gap by examining the key drivers, barriers, and enablers influencing DT adoption in SMEs within the food manufacturing (FM) sector, an industry characterised by stringent regulatory requirements and limited resources. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review was conducted, covering publications from 2000 to 2025. The review synthesised the findings using six theoretical frameworks: technology–organisation–environment, resource-based view, dynamic capabilities, institutional theory, sociotechnical systems theory, and diffusion of innovation. Findings The review identified that the adoption of DT in food manufacturing SMEs (FM-SMEs) is primarily driven by the need to enhance operational efficiency, ensure regulatory compliance, and meet consumer demands for transparency and sustainability. However, its adoption has been hindered by financial constraints, regulatory complexity, and limited digital expertise. Practical strategies to address these challenges include adopting modular technologies, enhancing workforce capabilities, and implementing supportive policy measures. Originality/value Unlike prior cross-sector reviews, this study provides a sector-specific roadmap for DT in FM-SMEs. It offers actionable recommendations for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers and identifies future research priorities, such as the development of tailored evaluation models and the promotion of multi-stakeholder collaboration.

PurposeIn the digital era, the competitiveness of an enterprise is highly dependent on the success of its digital transformation. The effectiveness of such transformation, in turn, relies heavily on the organization's strategic vision and resource fitness. Accordingly, the authors aim to explore the impact of strategic vision on digitalization (SVD) on the digital transformation of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), drawing on the perspective of resource orchestration theory.Design/methodology/approachBased on first-hand interview data from 347 Chinese SMEs, the research model was tested empirically by both Structural Equation Modeling and Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA).FindingsThe study results supported that the positive effect of SVD on digital transformation, and the mediating effect of resource orchestration (resource structuring, resource bundling and resource leveraging) accounts for the relationship between SVD and digital transformation. Further, the fsQCA showed that neither SVD nor resource orchestration alone constitutes a necessary condition for high digital transformation in SMEs, and that SVD and resource orchestration elements constitute three configuration paths that drive SMEs to achieve high-level digital transformation.Originality/valueTo the authors knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to theorize and empirically examine how SVD affects SMEs digital transformation. In addition, the authors have highlighted the importance of resource orchestration in forging a link between SVD and digital transformation. The research contributes to the resource orchestration theory and digitalization literature and provides guidelines on how SMEs can realize digital transformation.

Digital transformation has become a strategic imperative for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), especially in emerging economies like Indonesia. While much attention has been placed on technology adoption, the internal organizational factors—particularly leadership and culture—remain insufficiently examined, despite their critical role in shaping digital readiness and sustainability. This study aims to systematically investigate how transformational leadership and organizational culture interact to influence digital transformation in Indonesian SMEs. It also explores how dynamic capabilities and contextual conditions contribute to digital maturity and resilience. A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted based on 48 peer-reviewed articles published between 2018 and 2023 in Scopus Q1/Q2 journals. The articles were selected using keyword combinations related to “digital transformation,” “leadership,” “organizational culture,” “dynamic capability,” “TOE Framework,” “SMEs,” and “Indonesia.” Thematic content analysis was used to extract and synthesize core themes. Four dominant themes emerged: (1) transformational leadership enables digital vision, motivation, and adaptive change; (2) adaptive organizational cultures support innovation and reduce resistance; (3) dynamic capabilities—sensing, seizing, transforming—act as strategic mechanisms; and (4) the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework provides a useful structure for assessing digital readiness. These factors are interdependent and collectively shape the success of SME digital transformation. The study integrates multiple theoretical perspectives—Transformational Leadership Theory, Organizational Culture Theory, Dynamic Capabilities Theory, and the TOE framework—into a comprehensive model of SME digital transformation. It offers practical guidance for leaders and policymakers to design more holistic and context-sensitive digital strategies that extend beyond mere technology adoption

Digital transformation has become a strategic imperative for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), especially in emerging economies like Indonesia. While much attention has been placed on technology adoption, the internal organizational factors—particularly leadership and culture—remain insufficiently examined, despite their critical role in shaping digital readiness and sustainability. This study aims to systematically investigate how transformational leadership and organizational culture interact to influence digital transformation in Indonesian SMEs. It also explores how dynamic capabilities and contextual conditions contribute to digital maturity and resilience. A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted based on 48 peer-reviewed articles published between 2018 and 2023 in Scopus Q1/Q2 journals. The articles were selected using keyword combinations related to “digital transformation,” “leadership,” “organizational culture,” “dynamic capability,” “TOE Framework,” “SMEs,” and “Indonesia.” Thematic content analysis was used to extract and synthesize core themes. Four dominant themes emerged: (1) transformational leadership enables digital vision, motivation, and adaptive change; (2) adaptive organizational cultures support innovation and reduce resistance; (3) dynamic capabilities—sensing, seizing, transforming—act as strategic mechanisms; and (4) the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework provides a useful structure for assessing digital readiness. These factors are interdependent and collectively shape the success of SME digital transformation. The study integrates multiple theoretical perspectives—Transformational Leadership Theory, Organizational Culture Theory, Dynamic Capabilities Theory, and the TOE framework—into a comprehensive model of SME digital transformation. It offers practical guidance for leaders and policymakers to design more holistic and context-sensitive digital strategies that extend beyond mere technology adoption.

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to evaluate the essential role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on SMEs' performance by exploring the mediating role of corporate image (CI), corporate reputation (CR) and customer loyalty (CL) between CSR and firm performance (FP) in the context of an emerging country.Design/methodology/approachBased on an extended literature review on CSR, CI, CR and CL studies, the authors evaluate the impact of these four constructs on SMEs' performance in an emerging market. The paper follows a quantitative approach. The study sample was composed of 482 responses covering top executives, managers and experts. The Smart PLS SEM version 3.3.2 was used to analyse the data of the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of Vietnam in the year 2020–2021.FindingsThe authors' findings reveal significant and positive relationships amongst CSR, FP, CSR and CI, CSR and CR, CSR and CL, and most importantly, the findings add value to the current knowledge by exploring the mediating effect of CI, CR and CL between CSR and FP.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was conducted in Vietnam. As a result, the findings of the study might not be applicable for other countries, if the economic and environmental settings are different from that of Vietnam. Therefore, future research should consider for other countries, other regions. Second, due to the purpose and priority of the study, CI, CR, and CL was employed as mediators amongst the relationship between CSR and FP. Thus, future research should consider other mediators or moderators in such a relationship to see how CSR generates outcomes in the new associations.Practical implicationsThe study regarding the role of CSR in enhancing the performance of SMEs can motivate firm's chief executive officers (CEOs) to be proactive in getting involved and practising CSR in a consistent manner. Second, the above discussion draws a very important implication for the executive level, the management level of the enterprise, which enterprises should balance the interests of business, customers, other stakeholders, the environment and society in order to optimise CSR outcomes for improving competitiveness and developing sustainably. This implication is particularly important to the survival and development of SMEs in a challenging emerging economy.Social implicationsThe study widens the literature regarding relationship between CSR and SMEs' performance. Besides, the study supports stakeholder theory that explains why CSR positively affects firm's performance. The significant mediating roles of CI, CR and CL were positively confirmed in the study. Although previous studies determined that such roles are strategic source of competitive advantages of enterprises, however, how CSR involved in enhancing the roles has not been deeply explored and integrated. Third, the findings of the study support the resource-based view (RBV) and resource-based perspective that explains why firm should engage in CSR activities, and CI, CR and CL can enhance firm's performance by providing strategic source of competitive advantages that facilitate business to improve its performance in sustainable direction.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, the current literature on CSR and FP shows that, to date, there has been little empirical research on the mediating mechanism of CI, CR and CL in the link between CSR and FP for SMEs. The findings of the study may have great implications for entrepreneurs and top management with respect to the strategic perspectives to drive the businesses and to improve firm's performance in a sustainable direction in the context of emerging markets. In addition, the finding might be of great interest to – and motivate – SMEs' managers to engage with CSR actions where such businesses were or are situated during and after the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. By that understanding, the Government might allow for innovative and groundbreaking policies or the reformation of old policies to leverage businesses to promote their strengths towards sustainable development in the new economic settings. The findings of the study may be a significant contribution to SMEs in Vietnam and in other emerging economies.

Current research lacks in-depth insights into the digital transformation management of supply chain (SC) processes in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from an intrafirm level perspective. Therefore, the aim of this article is to investigate how SMEs strategically and organizationally manage the digital transformation of SC processes to ascertain the reasons for the low penetration of digitally transformed SC processes. To address the challenges arising from digital transformation, we conduct a multiple case study with 15 highly knowledgeable stakeholders from seven companies within the German manufacturing industry using semistructured interviews. Our findings are varied and indicate that explicitly formulated digital SC strategies are absent in SMEs, but companies use three different approaches to digitally transform their SC processes. Accordingly, the article reveals how these approaches are organizationally implemented and explains the barriers impeding further digital SC process transformation in SMEs, such as insufficient attention by upper management, uncoordinated initiatives due to uncertainty, and inadequate operational capabilities. In addition, the article confirms the link between the creation of transparency and organizational structure. Consequently, this article is one of the first to enhance the knowledge of digital process transformation by examining the existing core transformation principles of SMEs, developing a bottom-up implementation model, holistically analyzing barriers, and necessary prerequisites to the digital transformation of SC processes, providing in-depth managerial implications, and laying the foundation for further research endeavors.

Objective: The objective of this study is to deeply investigate the effect of Digital Transformation and the 3C business model on export competitiveness. This study highlights the mediating role of Competitive Advantage, underscoring that Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) leverage digital technologies in the relationship. These factors empower SMEs to build and sustain the importance of SMEs in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by contributing significantly to economic growth and social inclusion, thereby driving inclusive development in emerging economies. Theoretical Framework: The Resource-Based View (RBV) theory is an approach that emphasizes the importance of an organization's internal resources as the key to achieving competitive advantage. Method: Analysis Method used Structural Path Analysis (SEM-PLS) to examine direct relationships, moderating, and mediating roles between variables. Data collection was carried out through surveying 190 food SMEs owners in Indonesia, which are spread across Five Major Production Areas. Results and Discussion: The results reveal that Digital Transformation has a significant effect on Export Effectiveness. The findings also indicate that digital transformation has a direct influence on export competitiveness, but also has an indirect impact through increased competitive advantage. The model enables adaptive strategies that are crucial for international expansion in Export Competitiveness. Research Implications: The findings guide SMEs to adopt the model of digital technologies and the 3C Business Model to improve export readiness, as well as provide evidence-based recommendations for policymakers and the government in designing policies that support the global integration of Export Competitiveness SMEs. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating the combination of digital transformation and the 3C Business Model on export competitiveness of SMEs. By integrating digital transformation and the 3C business model into a single empirical framework in the context of SMEs in emerging countries.

PurposeThis study aims to understand the intellectual structure related to the success of digital transformation among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and develop a conceptual framework for the successful digital transformation of SMEs.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs bibliometric analysis for mapping the landscape of research on the digital transformation of SMEs. We use co-citation analysis to identify the root of emerging concepts in older literature and co-occurrence analysis to identify relevant topics discussed in the primary literature. Finally, based on the results of our bibliometric analysis, we constructed the structured framework for the digital transformation of SMEs.FindingsThis study found that dynamic capability, resource-based view (RBV) and technology acceptance model (TAM) are the main theories used to investigate digital transformation among SMEs. Those main theories were then operationalized into the various strategies needed for digital transformation among SMEs. Based on those findings, we have proposed a conceptual digital transformation framework for SMEs.Originality/valueWe propose a structured SME digital transformation framework based on the leading theory proposed by the most cited articles and significant research findings from the primary literature. Information systems, entrepreneurship and SME researchers could use conceptual frameworks for further investigation.

In the era of the digital economy, digital transformation (DT) has become a new approach for firms to gain competitive advantages in a context of intense and dynamic market competition. Companies in almost all industries have undergone or are currently undergoing DT. Due to limited resources and capabilities, the digitalization process of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is relatively slow, so it is critical to ascertain the key factors and paths that affect the success of DT for SMEs to optimize the allocation of resources. However, there is very little research on the DT of SMEs. In response to this literature gap, the purpose of this study is to discover the key factors of the DT in SMEs and explore their interaction mechanisms. From a holistic perspective, this study has identified six key factors from three dimensions of technology, organization, and environment, and based on the resource-based view and resource-dependence theory, constructed an action mechanism model. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data collected from 180 SMEs in China. The results show that technological and environmental factors have a positive impact on organizational capabilities, and then promote the success of DT of SMEs. Organizational capabilities play an intermediary role in the influence of technological and environmental factors on DT. In addition, employee skills positively moderate the relationship between organizational capabilities and the success of DT. This study contributes to the conceptual framework and management implications in the DT field. Our study provides practitioners with profound insights into the enterprise’s DT and suggests that enterprises attach importance to the improvement of organizational capabilities, and use strategy and talents as important resources to promote the success of enterprise DT.

Digital transformation offers incredible opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, the lack of resources is a major constraint for SMEs’ digital transformation, which requires entrepreneurs to play a role in seizing opportunities. Building upon the status theory, this study explored how two types of entrepreneur status, namely, socioeconomic and political statuses, can differently affect SMEs’ digital transformation in China. The regression analysis of a national survey of 4566 Chinese SMEs suggests that entrepreneurs’ socioeconomic status has a positive effect, whereas their political status has a U-shaped effect on SMEs’ digital transformation. We also find that the effect of entrepreneurs’ socioeconomic status is more positive for new ventures, whereas the U-shaped effect of entrepreneurs’ political status is more profound for firms with stronger resource endowments. These findings in the context of emerging economies shed light on drivers of SMEs’ digital transformation from the multiple status perspective.

It has been widely accepted that Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) make significant contributions to economic growth, creation of employment and innovation (e.g. Storey & Greene, 2010), in both developed and emerging economies. The social-economic environment in emerging economies in which SMEs operate differs significantly from that in developed economies in terms of institutional framework (Hussain, Farooq, & Akhtar, 2012), norms, resources and infrastructures (Hitt, Dacin, Levitas, Arregle, & Borza, 2000). Hence, SMEs in emerging economies possess unique characteristics in various ways such as the obstacles they face and access to finance. For example, in Asia-Pacific countries, SMEs have poor access to bank credit, 11.6% of GDP and 18.7% to total bank lending, given the established bank-centred financial system in such countries (Asian Development Bank [ADB], 2014). Indeed, the access to and the costs of finance for SMEs have been recognised as one of the most important determinants of small business start-up, survival and success (Mach & Wolken, 2012). The aim of this chapter is to document the important roles played by SMEs in emerging economies, their unique characteristics and how financial development in emerging economies influences SME finance, in terms of financing patterns, financial constraints and corporate innovation. The evidence provided in this chapter is mainly derived from existing literature and the information collected from World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES). The remainder of this chapter is organised as follows. Section 2 provides background information on emerging economies and documents the key features of SMEs in emerging economies, especially the key obstacles which constrain the development and growth of SMEs. It also reviews relevant literature on the important roles played by SMEs in emerging economies. Section 3 focuses on SMEs finance in emerging countries in terms of the key financing patterns, financial market development and the importance of financing SMEs in emerging economies. Section 4 concludes and provides implications for policy makers and future research.