Digital Transformation among SMEs: Does Gender Matter?

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated some of the challenges that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face in times of crisis, disrupting their operations, weakening their financial positions, and exposing them to a wide range of financial risks. While previous studies have viewed digital transformation as a vital source of innovation and productivity growth for economic recovery in SMEs, there has been limited focus on digital transformation in the regional context, with very little attention focused on women-led enterprises. This study aims to investigate (i) the determinants of perception of digital transformation among regional SMEs, and (ii) whether the gender of the SME owner or manager has an impact on the drivers of the digital transformation experiences of SMEs operating in regional Australia. Building upon the resource-based view, this study uses a unique dataset of 281 SMEs collected from a survey conducted within a regional area of Queensland, Australia. Employing Feasible Generalised Least Squares and Generalised Least Squares estimations, the study found that the perceptions of digital transformation can be explained by the use of social network platforms, innovation processes, workplace culture, and information and communication technologies. This study also found that there is a significant difference between female-led and male-led SMEs regarding their perceptions of digital transformation. This study offers two key policy and practical insights: (i) digital transformation of regional SMEs should be used as a fundamental tool for crisis recovery strategies, and (ii) the need for policymakers to mainstream gender into postcrisis transformative interventions and policies should be fast tracked.

Covid-19'un KOBİ'ler Üzerindeki Etkisinin Değerlendirilmesi: Ülkeler Arası Karşılaştırma

“…According to the conclusions of this study, Australia is well ahead of the rest of the world in terms of digital sales before and after COVID-19. This conclusion gives support to research that concludes that business owners adapt to emergency situations and adopt new business models in order to capitalize on marketing opportunities (Alam et al, 2022).…”

Level of e-commerce application by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro

“…For instance, Orser and Riding (2018) established that gender influences IT adoption and that women are more likely to adopt IT than men. Similarly, Alam et al (2021) found a significant difference in how female-and male-led businesses perceived digital transformation. In addition, a significant percentage of the respondents have a high level of educational attainment.…”

Strategi Bisnis UMKM Berbasis E-Commerce Pada Online Shop Adiva Shakila

“…Oleh sebab itu transformasi digital menjadi sebuah urgensi bagi para pelaku usaha mikro, kecil, dan menengah (UMKM) (Bai et al 2021). Bentuk transformasi digital yang dapat dilakukan oleh UMKM yaitu mengaplikasikan e-commerce (Alam et al 2022) yaitu melakukan proses bisnis dan pemasaran melalui media internet (Satar et al 2019). Aplikasi e-commerce pada UMKM memberikan manfaat diantaranya mengurangi biaya pemasaran dan iklan, memasuki pasar global, memberikan pelayanan yang lebih baik kepada konsumen (Sedighi dan Sirang, 2018), meningkatkan produktivitas dan efisiensi (Alzahrani, 2019).…”