Digitalization is reshaping SMEs’ competitiveness; however, research shows that the performance effects of digitalization processes are far from clear. Digital technologies create value through capability-building and strategic orchestration processes, and this editorial introduces the eight papers included in the special issue which adopt a mechanism-oriented view of the digitalization-performance connection. The contributions included in this special issue integrate different theoretical lenses and methodological approaches to explain heterogeneous outcomes resulting from digitalization processes. The papers highlight operational mechanisms (e.g., digital technology integration and innovation routines) and strategic mechanisms (e.g., digital strategy development, managerial and contextual factors) that shape financial, innovation, sustainability-oriented, and strategic-related performance dimensions. The special issue reinforces the view that digitalization is a complex organizational process. The editorial concludes by identifying promising directions for future research on digital capability complementarities, and digital transformation risks.
The acquisition of digital knowledge is recognized as a key enabler of a firm’s digitalization, and these capabilities contribute to achieving its overall performance. Knowledge-intensive business services play a complementary role in supporting this strategy. Understanding how these processes are implemented in developing economies and across firms of varying sizes is especially relevant. This article provides empirical evidence on the relationship between the acquisition of digital knowledge, digitalization, and firm performance in Peru’s service firms. Based on the Ordinary Least Squares regression applied to data from 2,834 Peruvian service firms from National Enterprises Survey in 2019, the study identifies differentiated effects by firm size. Findings show that the combination of training in digital tools and digitalization strategies significantly enhances sales, particularly in micro firms, and productivity, mainly for large firms. In addition, SMEs face greater challenges in converting digitalization into sales and productivity, due to lower digital maturity and limited strategic emphasis. The study also highlights the distinct contributions of KIBS, especially in microenterprises. In a developing country context, where digital strategies are still emerging, these findings help distinguish their effects on sales and productivity and identify opportunities for both business management and policy design to foster digital strategies.
Digital technologies have revolutionized how firms operate and compete; however, their integration in business processes also amplifies the exposure to cybersecurity threats which might compromise the firm’s data integrity and market continuity. Cybersecurity practices have therefore become a priority to secure business operations in the new digitally-led market landscape. This study evaluates the cybersecurity maturity level in Costa Rican firms, distinguishing between SMEs and large firms, aiming to identify shared patterns and challenges faced by these firms in improving their cybersecurity practices. Furthermore, we explore whether adoption of cybersecurity practices is explained by factors related to firm size and the adoption of a formal digital strategy. The results of the cluster analysis on a sample of 66 Costa Rican firms suggest that firms show different levels of cybersecurity maturity, with the most advanced firms consistently excelling at cybersecurity engagement, awareness, and vulnerability management. Also, results reveal that firm size and the presence of a formal digital strategy are strongly associated with cybersecurity maturity: larger firms with a digital strategy tend to be ‘cybersecurity leaders’, whereas most sampled smaller firms do not have a formal digital strategy and tend to fall into the ‘cybersecurity laggards’ group, which indicates their greater vulnerability to cyber risks. The identified discrepancies unveil firms’ necessity for strategically integrating security considerations into all their processes, and adopt structured, adaptive improvement approaches to mitigate cyber-threats effectively.
Innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) increasingly depends on collaborative approaches that integrate internal capabilities with external knowledge sources. In emerging economies, resource constraints and uneven digitalization often push firms to leverage vertical strategic collaborations and internal research and development (R&D) teams as mechanisms for enhancing product innovation. This study examines whether and how vertical collaborations with suppliers and customers, as well as the presence of an internal R&D team, influence product innovation outcomes in Latin American SMEs. Using survey data from 477 SMEs in five countries and applying multilevel logit regression, the results show that supplier collaborations are positively and significantly associated with product innovation, while customer collaborations are not statistically significant. The presence of an R&D team has a strong positive effect but negatively moderates the relationship between supplier collaboration and product innovation, indicating a substitution effect. These findings highlight the importance of supplier partnerships for SMEs lacking internal R&D capabilities and the strategic role of R&D teams in shaping collaboration outcomes. The study offers theoretical and practical insights for managers and policymakers seeking to enhance innovation capacity in resource-constrained contexts.
This paper presents a bibliometric study of the research on digital transformation in family business based on a dataset of 196 peer-reviewed articles extracted from Web of Science which aims to map the existing research on this topic. We integrate several different bibliometric methods to provide more comprehensive picture of the field. The study outlines trends in scientific production, providing information about most productive authors, institutions, countries, and journals. We show that the research interest in this topic has increased significantly during the last five years, and existing literature examines a great variety of research topics and employs diverse theoretical perspectives. The co-citation analysis of cited references describes the intellectual foundations of the research on digital transformation in family business, while the bibliographic coupling analysis of articles shed light on emerging research trends in this field. Based on co-occurrence analysis of author keywords, the main research topics in the field are outlined and their evolution during the last five years is discussed. A conceptual framework of the main thematic focuses and theoretical pillars in the research on digital transformation in family business is presented that can inform both academic research and practical applications. The paper highlights several directions for future research.
