Background: Digital infrastructure and penetration in Indonesia continue to develop, and digital marketing trends continue to emerge, bringing new opportunities. In addition, development has also targeted business operations; thus, digital tools have emerged in the form of web-based applications and portable devices to encourage the creation of an integrated business ecosystem and facilitate access to control in the business.Purpose: This study aims to identify parameters that have been digitized, measure the digitalization index of micro and small enterprises (MSEs), and identify problems in using digital technology.Design/methodology/approach: This research uses descriptive analysis, index calculation, and the interval formula to divide MSEs into five levels according to the index value.Finding/result: The results showed that 15 out of 17 parameters were digitized. Most MSEs are at level 4, namely experienced, meaning that they already understand digitalization well and the main processes in their business operations have tactically implemented digitalization. The results also show that MSEs still need help adopting digitalization in business operations.Conclusion: MSE actors face challenges in digitalization, such as mastering digital tools, cost constraints, and signal interference. Government support is crucial, including socialization programs and workshops, providing free software, and improving internet infrastructure.Originality/value (state of the art): The increasing digitization of business operations requires an in-depth examination of its impact, particularly within the micro and small business sectors. Consequently, this study seeks to ascertain the prevalence of website and application utilization among MSEs. Keywords: business process digitalization, digital adoption, digitalization index, MSE clustering, MSE
Background: In 2021, the PERUMDA Tirta Pakuan Bogor initiated a digital transformation program with the primary objective of improving operational efficiency and enhancing customer service. However, after four years of implementation, the transformation has yet to show significant impact, as evidenced by increasing annual expenditures and the company’s continued failure to achieve targeted water supply continuity.Purpose: This study aims to identify the key factors influencing the implementation of digital transformation at PERUMDA Tirta Pakuan and formulate strategic recommendations to strengthen this implementation. By understanding these driving factors, organizations can enhance their operational performance and service delivery.Design/methodology/approach: This research employed a non-probability sampling method, gathering valid responses from 200 employees and 4 expert informants. Structural equation modeling–partial least squares (SEM-PLS) was used to test hypotheses and evaluate the complex relationships among variables. In addition, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was applied to develop a prioritized strategy to support digital transformation initiatives.Findings/Results: The findings reveal that organizational culture, resources, and technology have a positive and significant influence on the implementation of digital transformation. Furthermore, among the indirect effects tested, only organizational culture significantly influences digital transformation implementation through the mediating variable of digital transformation acceptance attitude. The strategic analysis using AHP indicates that resources are the top priority factor in supporting digital transformation. Consequently, the most recommended strategy is the optimization of the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, as it is considered capable of enhancing productivity, efficiency, service quality, and overall performance growth.Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of organizational culture and resources in enabling successful digital transformation, with culture playing a mediating role in shaping attitudes toward change. The strategic prioritization of SCADA system optimization is essential to maximize the benefits of digital initiatives.Originality/value (State of the art): This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on public sector digital transformation by offering empirical insights into the interrelationships among organizational culture, resources, technology, and transformation success. It also provides strategic recommendations using a hybrid SEM-PLS and AHP approach, offering practical value to public utilities aiming to modernize their operations Keywords: digital transformation, organizational culture, technology, public utilities, SCADA system
Background: The financing industry in Indonesia is currently grappling with a significant trust deficit, largely driven by the proliferation of illegal online lending practices that have damaged public perception of legitimate financing institutions.Purpose: This study aims to evaluate how the Trust Equation Model (TEM)—comprising Credibility, Reliability, Intimacy, and Self-Orientation—can enhance the sales effectiveness of marketing teams in financing companies and identify trust-based strategic priorities for implementation.Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative approach was employed using Structural Equation Modelling Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) to examine the causal relationships among trust dimensions and sales performance, complemented by the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to rank strategic initiatives based on expert judgment from industry professionals.Findings/Results: SEM-PLS results demonstrate that reliability (β = 0.406) and intimacy (β = 0.197) exert the most substantial influence on sales team effectiveness, followed by self-orientation and credibility. AHP analysis highlights that "Marketing Training on Customer Trust and Product Transparency" holds the highest strategic priority (weight = 0.38), followed by emotional engagement and personalized communication.Conclusion: The TEM provides a robust framework for improving sales effectiveness through trust-building capabilities. Behavioral attributes such as consistency, empathy, and customer centricity are essential for rebuilding customer relationships and driving performance in the financing sector.Originality/value (State of the art): This study contributes novel insights by integrating behavioral modelling (SEM-PLS) with strategic decision-making tools (AHP), bridging the theoretical constructs of trust with actionable sales strategies tailored to the financial services industry, a domain that remains underexplored in the existing literature. Keywords: analytical hierarchy process, customer trust, sales effectiveness, sem-pls, trust equation model
Background: The Indonesian perfume industry is experiencing a massive transformation, shifting from digital market dominance characterized by e-commerce algorithms to intense physical competition. This transition is highly evident in national-scale events such as Scent of Indonesia (SOI), where brands are forced to translate digital hype into tangible offline competitive maneuvers.Purpose: This study aims to analyze the strategic positioning, signaling mechanisms, and competitive dynamics of local perfume brands at SOI Vol. 5.Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative comparative case study was employed, utilizing theoretical sampling to select four strategically distinct brands representing maximum variation and polar types: J, S, BD, and K. It integrates Porter’s Strategic Positioning, Kirmani and Rao’s Signaling Theory, and Chen’s Competitive Dynamics frameworks to evaluate how brands navigate crowded physical markets. Data were collected through participatory observation and in-depth interviews, followed by Deductive Thematic Analysis using NVivo 12 Plus.Findings/Results: First, brands evade the "stuck-in-the-middle" trap via extreme strategic discipline: cost leadership (J), premium differentiation (S), niche specialist (BD), and broad differentiation (K). Second, they deploy costly signals (bonding costs, scarcity, and reputation leveraging) to mitigate information asymmetry. Third, incumbents deploy asymmetric non-price defenses (product education, experience technology) instead of destructive price wars against low-cost disruptors.Conclusion: Strategic coherence drives competitive advantages. Managerially, practitioners must design uncompromised, brand-specific strategies, whether executing pure cost leadership (like J), premium isolation (S), artificial scarcity (BD), or reputation-leveraging (K). Brands must abandon strategic ambiguity and prioritize structural defense over reactive price retaliation.Originality/value (State of the art): This study offers a novel integrated model of competitive advantage tailored for real-time physical market arenas, challenging the prevailing argument that business model flexibility is universally beneficial for SMEs. Keywords: competitive dynamics, local perfume industry, positioning strategy, scent of Indonesia, signaling theory
Background: MSMEs founded by students continue to grow throughout Indonesia, reflecting the increasing relevance of entrepreneurship in higher education. Despite their potential, many of these businesses struggle to survive due to limited experience and unstable business strategies. Gen Z entrepreneurs also face challenges in balancing academic responsibilities with the demands of running a business. These conditions make it important to examine how individual self-efficacy, leadership, motivation, and campus support shape their business performance.Purpose: This study analyzes how entrepreneurial self-efficacy, campus environment, entrepreneurial leadership, entrepreneurial innovative behavior, and entrepreneurial motivation interact to shape the business performance of Generation Z entrepreneurs within a university-based ecosystem.Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a quantitative approach by surveying 150 active entrepreneurial students. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with a second-order model, which allows detailed analysis of the direct effects and mediating roles between the constructs.Findings/Results: The findings show that entrepreneurial self-efficacy and campus environment improve business performance directly and indirectly through entrepreneurial motivation. Motivation serves as a bridge that connects self-confidence and institutional support to better outcomes. Meanwhile, entrepreneurial leadership, although mediated by innovative behavior, does not improve performance, and innovative behavior itself does not provide a significant contribution.Conclusion: Student business performance is primarily shaped by self-efficacy, campus support, and motivation. Leadership and innovation, although conceptually important, do not exert a large influence at this stage, meaning that these dimensions will only have an impact if they are strengthened through broader entrepreneurial experience.Originality/value (State of the art): This study introduces a new perspective by examining five interconnected constructs in a comprehensive model of Generation Z student entrepreneurship. The evidence highlights motivation as a key link between personal ability and the institutional environment and suggests that leadership-driven innovation is not yet a driver of performance at this early stage. Keywords: business performance, campus environment, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial leadership, gen Z
