Dynamics of digital change – measuring the digital transformation and its impacts on the innovation activities of SMEs
Abstract
Purpose
Digital transformation has gained particular interest among academics and policymakers in recent years. However, the empirical quantification of digital transformation stages and their impact on innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remains understudied. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of digital transformation stages on a differentiated measurement of innovation performance in SMEs.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors propose a simplified one-dimensional digital maturity path to estimate the stages of digital transformation in SMEs. The authors validate their approach with a cluster analysis and perform an ordered logistic regression to estimate the impact of digital transformation stages on SMEs' innovation performance.
Findings
The authors' results show that digital transformation in general has a positive impact on SMEs' innovation performance. More precisely, the authors find that the early stage of digital transformation has a detrimental effect on innovation performance, while significant and positive effects can be expected from the experimental stage onward. Furthermore, the advanced stage of digital transformation significantly increases the probability of producing radical innovations.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the ongoing discussion about the relationship between digital transformation and innovation in SMEs by presenting an approach to quantify digital transformation stages in SMEs. Additionally, this study provides new insights into the specific dynamics of the relationship between different stages of digital transformation and their impact on a differentiated measurement of innovation performance, including technological, non-technological and radical innovation.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) in the project KONTIKAT (13N14351).
Since submission of this article, the following author(s) have updated their affiliation(s): Sohaib S. Hassan is at the School of Business, Social and Decision Sciences, Constructor University, Bremen, Germany.
Disclaimer: No conflicts of interest.
Citation
Escoz Barragan, K., Hassan, S.S., Meisner, K. and Bzhalava, L. (2024), "Dynamics of digital change – measuring the digital transformation and its impacts on the innovation activities of SMEs", European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-05-2023-0432
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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