=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-3223/paper6
|storemode=property
|title=On the Importance of Digital Transformation for SME – Results from a Survey among German SME
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3223/paper6.pdf
|volume=Vol-3223
|authors=Jan Vitera,Fenja Hörcher,Leon Griesch Katharina Goltz,Josephine Rößler,Jannis Meyer,Kurt Sandkuhl
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/bir/ViteraHGGRMS22
}}
==On the Importance of Digital Transformation for SME – Results from a Survey among German SME==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3223/paper6.pdf
On the Importance of Digital Transformation for SME – Results
from a Survey among German SME
Jan Vitera1, Fenja Hörcher1, Leon Griesch², Katharina Goltz², Josephine Rößler², Jannis
Meyer2 and Kurt Sandkuhl²
1
University of Greifswald, Robert-Blum-Straße 13, 17489 Greifswald
2
University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Str. 22, 18059 Rostock, Germany
Abstract
Digitalization and digital transformation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) is a
topic that has been attracting a lot of scientific research in computer science and business
information systems. However, based on experience from work with German SME the
conjecture emerged that the perspective of decision makers and employees in SME might put
other topics equally high or even higher on the priority list as digitalization. Thus, a study was
conducted aiming at exploring the importance of digitalization for SME and investigating the
existence of other relevant topics from an SME perspective. As part of a study, SMEs from
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were surveyed about their support needs as well as critical topics
for the future. The data comes almost exclusively (91%) from people with decision-making
authority in the companies (e.g., management, executives). More than half of the enterprises
belong to the micro enterprises (54%), about one third (36%) to the small and 10% to the
medium-sized enterprises. Overall, 60% of SMEs belong to one of the three economic sectors:
Services, Construction and Crafts, Hospitality and Tourism.
Keywords
digitalization, digital transformation, SME, supported future needs
1. Introduction
Digitalization and digital transformation in small and medium-sized enterprises is a topic that has
been attracting a lot of scientific research in computer science and business information systems during
the last years (see Section 2 for more details). One reason for this substantial interest might be caused
by the fact that in most countries, SME account the vast majority of all businesses. Germany can be
taken as typical example: 99,5% of businesses, not counting forestry, farming or fishing businesses, in
Germany were SMEs in 2018 [6]. The SMEs in Germany made up 54% of the total revenue of all
businesses and are an important factor for the national economy. Another reason probably is the
substantial effect expected from digitalization: Digitalization influences the SMEs both in their business
models as well as the market, in which the businesses operate.
However, based on our experience from work with German SME on topics related to digitalization,
we developed the conjecture that the perspective of decision makers and employees in SME might put
other topics equally high or even higher on the priority list as digitalization. Thus, our research question
(RQ1) for this paper is: From the perspective of SME, what topics are perceived as decisive for the
future of an enterprise? With the research question, we also seek to investigate two sub-questions:
(RQ1.1) Were the topics of digitalization and digital transformation overrated in research and should
be complemented by other areas; and (RQ1.2) Are the other areas perceived important by SMEs of
relevance for business information systems research?
Our research method includes literature work and a survey. We start in Section 2 from the topic of
digitalization and digital transformation by defining basic terminology, investigating the state-of-the-
art as visible in the literature, and summarizing the situation. In the survey (Sections 3 to 5) we collected
BIR 2022: 21st International Conference on Perspectives in Business Informatics Research, September 20-23, 2022, Rostock, MV
EMAIL fenja.hoercher@uni-greifswald.de (F. Hörcher); jan.vitera@uni-greifswald.de (J. Vitera); leon.griesch@uni-rostock.de (L. Griesch);
katharina.goltz@uni-rostock.de (K. Goltz); josephine.roessler@uni-rostock.de (J. Rößler); jannis.meyer@uni-rostock.de (J. Meyer);
kurt.sandkuhl@uni-rostock.de (K. Sandkuhl)
ORCID: 0000-0001-8742-7776 (F. Hörcher); 0000-0002-1946-2016 (L. Griesch); 0000-0002-7431-8412 (K. Sandkuhl)
© 2020 Copyright for this paper by its authors.
Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
CEUR Workshop Proceedings (CEUR-WS.org)
56
empirical data on the future of businesses in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV). We would like to
contribute to a better understanding of what actually concerns micro, small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) in the state when it comes to their future. The study and the experiences are based
on interviews of a total of 205 surveyed SMEs in the period from September to October 2021, which
took place online and anonymously. As a survey tool, we use the ZMV Monitor1, which provides each
company with an overview of the support services offered by supported actors tailored to its needs.
In Section 6, we revisit our research questions and draw conclusions.
2. Digitalization and Digital Transformation in SME
2.1. Terminology
Digitization, digitalization and digital transformation are terms frequently discussed in research and
industry without a clear differentiation of their meaning. Digitization basically refers to transforming
analog representations into computer-readable (digital) representations. In an enterprise context,
digitization often is a precondition for optimizing processes and making operations more efficient and
includes, for example, replacing printed forms or documents by digital ones. Digitalization can be
described as a general term for activities transforming information, processes, products or services into
a form that can be handled, supported or processed by information and communication technology [38].
Examples for such activities are the optimization of work and business processes (including automation
of internal workflows), electronic data exchange with customers and suppliers; introduction of
electronic commerce or support websites for products, customer communication and sales channels via
social media, etc. [38]. Digital transformation is concerned with the changes digitalization and digital
technologies can bring about in a company’s business model [11], including the transformation of
existing products or services into digital variants that offer advantages over tangible products [10]. The
focus here is on the disruptive potential of digital technologies and the resulting substantial change in
markets and social and economic consequences [13].
Digitization and digitalization have to be considered as well researched topics. The focus in current
research is more on digital transformation, i.e. when emerging changes in customer needs, competitive
constellations, potentials for new service offerings or new partner structures affect both the value
offering (i.e. the products or services) and the value creation processes (i.e. manufacturing or service
delivery) of a company [14]. Berman and Bell [3] proposed to distinguish between transformation of
the value proposition and the value creation when analyzing and planning digital transformation.
2.2. Literature review
A systematic literature analysis is carried out to review the existing work. The following section
describes the exact procedure of the literature analysis and presents the results.
2.2.1. Method and search term
For the literature review the approach of Kitchenham [17] is used. Kitchenham says that before a
systematic review is undertaken it must be ensured whether it is necessary at all. In particular, already
existing reviews should be identified and evaluated. This reflects an aim of this paper. For the literature
analysis the following steps are taken from Kitchenham's approach: (1) Formulation of research
questions, (2) Selection of resources to be searched, (3) Definition of search terms, (4) Definition of
selection criteria, (5) Checking the relevance of the results, (6) Analysis of the results found to be
relevant. The research questions are already defined in chapter one Introduction (1). In the next step the
resources to be searched are selected (2). Besides Scopus (www.scopus.com), Web of Science
(www.webofknowledge.com) and EBSCOhost (search.ebscohost.com) the database AIS eLibrary
1
The ZMV Monitor is an online survey tool by asking companies about their needed needs and recommending tailored support services from
the region. More information about the monitor can be found here: https://zmv.psychologie.uni-greifswald.de/zmv-monitor/
57
(https://aisel.aisnet.org) is searched. The following search strings are used (3), which refer to the title,
abstract or keywords:
• digi* AND "literature review" AND (sme OR "Small and Medium Enterprise")
• Digitalisierung AND Literaturanalyse AND (KMU OR "kleine und mittlere Unter-
nehmen")
As described by Kitchenham [17] different terms and synonyms are used for the search. Synonyms
used for "literature review" are literature analysis, systematic review and structured review. Selection
criteria for the results are defined (4). Since the current state of research is of particular interest, all
publications before 2016 will be excluded. Furthermore, the search will be limited to German and
English language contributions. Based on these criteria a first number of contributions can be identified.
For a preliminary evaluation the title and the abstract are read to decide on relevance.
2.2.2. Results of the literature review
Table 1 gives an overview of the results found with the help of the search terms as well as those
subsequently found to be relevant. Especially with EBSCOhost a large number of contributions must
be declared as irrelevant. The reason for this is that the database also lists so-called "news" that have
no scientific background. In addition, EBSCOhost and Web of Science also provide articles that are
already included in the Scopus results set. The abstract is read of those articles that cannot be sorted out
at first sight. With the help of the abstract it can be recognized whether the articles explicitly refer to
SMEs and whether a literature analysis is carried out. If both points are not evident, the contribution is
found to be irrelevant and thus sorted out. Thus, 18 out of initially 70 found contributions can be
considered relevant.
Table 1. Results of the literature analysis
Database No. of search results Relevant papers
Scopus 15 10
Web of Science 7 2
EBSCOhost 45 4
AISeL 3 2
Total 70 18
The 18 relevant papers focus on different topics that are repeated in different contributions. Based
on these recurring topics, the areas shown in Table 2 were identified. The main focus of research in
connection with digitalization of SMEs is mainly on Industry 4.0 and readiness/maturity models. Due
to access restrictions, 4 of the 18 papers found to be relevant cannot be read and analyzed in full. As a
result, only the results of the available 14 papers are comprehensively examined.
Table 2. Topics of the articles
Topics Articles found
Industry 4.0 [5] [9]* [25] [26] [29] [31]
Readiness/ Maturity [25] [26] [31] [34] [37]
2
Servitization [24] [30]
Big Data [28]* [29]
Marketing/ Social Media [4]* [15]*
IT-Governance [19]
Other Topics [27] [32] [35] [36]
2
“Servitization is the innovation of an organization’s capabilities and processes to shift from selling products to selling integrated products
and services that deliver value in use.” [20]
² Articles that were not available in full text are marked with an *.
58
2.3. Summary
The topic of digitalization is important for both consumers and businesses, as well as their employees
[18]. Technology has been made available not only for businesses but also their customers, which
affected their expectations and demands towards products and services [8, 12]. For satisfying those
expectations and demands, businesses have to face the challenge of digitalization in terms of their
organization itself but in addition also of their business processes [21]. New products and services and
the supporting processes as well as the manufacturing processes are necessary. Every step on the
industrial value chain has been affected by digitalization [33].
As the processes are changing, organizational roles are changing accordingly. Traditional roles are
enhanced with digital orientation or even new roles with a digital focus are created [16]. These new
roles challenge existing hierarchies inside businesses and open up space for digital natives entering the
labor market. Even the individual workplace is influenced by digital technologies, resulting in increased
demanded skills of the employee and more flexible work in terms of place and time [22]. In conclusion,
digitalization affects every aspect of a business. This task is even harder for SMEs as they usually have
limited resources [21]. Digitalization became an issue for not only the most state of art businesses but
also businesses in every branch as it has become a competitive factor [2]. In a 2016 study it was found
that 58% of the questioned businesses, which work in fields like IT, Health Care, manufacturing,
agriculture and public administration, are expecting major disruptions in their branch caused by
digitalization [16]. The topic is so crucial, that successful digitalization can decide if a business will
continue to be sustainable and profitable [20].
But digitalization can be a challenge for businesses of every size, as new additional digital
capabilities have to be created and associated with the existing business structure, processes, people
and culture towards the common business goals [16]. Additional knowledge is needed in order to be
able to participate in digitalization, less digital mature businesses often rely on external knowledge
whereas more digital mature businesses have a culture, which preserves existing internal knowledge
and encourages learning amongst the employees [16]. Businesses on different levels of digital maturity
still face the same difficulties [16]. Digital strategies differ in between the industries and depending on
the circumstances, but the culture of digital mature businesses shares similar characteristics as being
experimental, prepared to take risks, investing in their own talent and they value soft skills in their
leaders [16].
Potential benefits of digitalization range from increased sales and productivity, new products or
services, agility and flexibility [22, 23]. Business software like ERP-systems allow for a more holistic
support and planning of business processes, increased precision in the production can be increased by
the usage of CAD or CAM-software or even interconnected businesses could synchronize their supply
chains and decrease both duration and logistic costs. Digitalization leads to increasing interconnection
of supporting and value adding processes, resulting in a holistic value network [33]. Especially for
SMEs offers digitalization the possibility for growth as new business opportunities and a demand for
new products and services open up. Costs can also be decreased by digitalization, as for example
potential customers can be directly addressed in social media and the efficiency of this marketing
method can be measured and analyzed using specialized software resulting in the possibility of better
and faster optimization [20]. Therefore, participating in digitalization is attractive for SMEs as well as
larger enterprises.
3. Methodology for the Survey
Before we present the results of the survey ZMV-Monitor, we want to point out three thoughts about
the context of the survey and the way we present the results.
1) We present the results in a condensed form and only differentiate them according to location, size
or industry of the companies if such differences turned out to be significant in our analyses or if we
assume that this approach is worth reading regardless of statistical anomalies.
2) Many of the findings relate to how frequently certain future topics or support needs occur. At
some points, we change the way we look at the results: Sometimes we look at the proportion of SMEs,
sometimes at the proportion of future topics. In the first case, for example, the question is how many of
59
our SMEs surveyed named the digitization of processes as a future topic. In the second case, it is about
the question of how many of the digitization-related future topics are covered by the digitization of
processes. By combining the two approaches, we consider the fact that the companies each named a
different number of future topics.
3) The relative frequencies that we report in many places may suggest supposed differences in the
importance of certain future topics. We would therefore like to raise awareness in advance that
frequency is not an equivalent for relevance. Here is an example: In our survey, 46% of SMEs named
finding skilled workers as a future topic. The figure for finding a successor is 11%. If we compare these
two figures, we might conclude that company succession is less important than the issue of finding
skilled workers. However, if we consider that companies are constantly looking for skilled workers,
irrespective of a general shortage on the labor market, and that successors only have to be sought in
isolated cases over the lifetime of a company, the values are placed in a more appropriate context and
can be better interpreted.
The structure of the future areas as well as the future topics originate from a previous qualitative
guideline-based interview study (see the ZMV white paper from January 2022), in which we talked to
a total of 121 SMEs in 2020 and 2021. In the context of the interview results, the future topics mentioned
should be additionally validated with an additional quantitative online survey. The survey period was
conducted from September to October 2021 in the form of an online survey. The results are as described
in more detail on the following pages.
Figure 1: Locations of respondent companies in countryside or urban regions
Figure 2: Number of companies interviewed per industry
Four major future areas were identified from the interviews (see Figure 3), which were to be
analyzed in more detail using this quantitative study to find out whether the topics mentioned represent
support needs for SMEs. The future topics are discussed in more detail in the following chapter.
4. Topics of the future for SMES
We define future topics as projects whose implementation or management is particularly
relevant from the company's point of view for whether they will (still) be successful in the future.
They are then considered at two levels, one general and one specific. On a general level, we
60
distinguish between four categories or four areas with which a future topic can be related. This
rough classification is divided into digitization & technologies, people, structures & processes, and
products & services. The specific level refers to differentiations within the four areas. Here, the
individual future topics of the respective area are considered. An overview of the future areas and
topics is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Overview of the four future areas and the associated future topics
Figure 4 shows for each area how many of the SMEs have at least one future topic identified
as relevant for them. At least means that it is not possible to tell from this if companies indicated
several future topics within the same area. For most SMEs, the future topics are related to
digitization & technologies (66%) and people (62%), followed by topics from the areas of
structures & processes (55%) and products & services (41%). If these results are subdivided once
again according to the size of the company, it becomes clear that future topics relating to people
are distributed relatively evenly. Otherwise, the results point to two trends. The larger the
company, the more likely it is to have a future topic in the areas of digitization & technologies and
structures & processes. The trend is roughly the opposite for the Products & Services area, where
small companies are most likely to have a future topic.
Figure 4: Number of SMEs with at least one future topic in the respective future areas
In the following paragraphs, we go into detail on the four areas and show the frequencies of the
associated future topics, which should give a clear impression of what the companies are dealing
with. The order is based on the descending frequency of the areas already shown. When
61
interpreting the frequencies, it helps to know that the SMEs were able to select several of the future
topics we specified.
4.1. Digitization & Technology ‐ and reasons against
The companies identified a total of 312 future topics in this area. The topics address various
aspects and differ greatly in some cases in how frequently they occur. An overview of the
distribution of future topics in the area of digitization & technologies is shown in Figure 5. For
49% of SMEs, the digitization of processes is one of their future topics in this area. In comparison,
10% of SMEs are concerned with artificial intelligence. The introduction of new hardware,
software or other technologies is one of the most important.
Figure 5: Number of SMEs with a future topic in the respective category in the future area of
digitization and technologies
The digitalization of the business model and products or services - both of which are generally
regarded as progressive alongside artificial intelligence - play a role for 30% and 19% respectively.
Digitization of the business model and of products or services - both projects that, along with
artificial intelligence, are generally regarded as progressive - are a future topic for 13% and 28%
of SMEs respectively.
Looking at the companies in the three largest sectors of our study, which together represent
60% of the sample, the following picture emerges. 74% of the service companies and 67% of the
companies in the construction & crafts sector have at least one digital future topic. In hospitality
& tourism, this applies to 48% of the SMEs surveyed.
If a company indicated that it did not have a future topic in the area of digitalization & technologies,
we asked for the reasons. 47 SMEs (23% of respondents) answered this question. While there were
no differences in the explanation of already being digitized to the greatest possible extent, two
reasons were given predominantly by SMEs in rural areas: The prioritization of other topics over
digital or technological ones and the general insignificance of these topics for the company. A
large proportion of these are companies from the hospitality & tourism sector (38% of SMEs that
cited one of the two reasons). Other industries appear only sporadically.
4.2. People
This is the area in which the highest number of future topics were indicated, 430 in total. The
value is not exclusively attributable to the situations in the SMEs, but also to the high number of
topics that were available for selection here. An overview of the topics and the respective number
of SMEs for which they are relevant is presented in Figure 6. The most frequently cited topic was
finding skilled workers (46% of SMEs), and the least frequently cited topic was business
succession (11% of SMEs). If the four topics of finding skilled workers (46%), retaining skilled
workers (33%), finding trainees (24%) and retaining trainees (17%) are grouped together under
the bracket of meeting current and future personnel needs, this bracket encompasses more than
half (57%) of all human-related future topics. Our data indicate that the skilled labor topic is
similarly important across all industries. It was mentioned most frequently by companies in the
62
health & social care sector (58% of SMEs; equivalent to 7 out of 12 SMEs in the sample). In the
three largest sectors of our study - services, construction & crafts and hospitality & tourism - it
affects around 50% of SMEs in each case.
The remaining future topics relate to human resources development projects such as employee
training (30%), improving management skills (26%) or other soft topics (22%) such as corporate
culture, making working hours and location more flexible or reconciling work and family life.
Figure 6: Number of SMEs with a future topic in the respective category in the future area People
4.3. Structures & Processes
This area comprises three future topics, which differ significantly in their frequencies. The
change in processes and working methods was mentioned most frequently by 49% of SMEs. Of
these companies, 64% in turn also stated in the area of digitalization & technologies that they
would digitalize their processes. We cannot distinguish whether SMEs in this area refer to
processes other than digital processes, or whether this is a repeated indication of the same future
topic. In addition to process changes, work on the company also includes changes to their
organizational structure for 23% of SMEs. 15% are dedicated to their cooperative relationships
with suppliers or customers.
4.4. Products & Services
The three future topics of marketing products/services, changing existing products/services and
developing new products/services occur equally in about 25% of all SMEs. The companies in all
three categories are disproportionately from rural areas and tend to be micro-enterprises rather than
small or medium-sized ones. The difference in size is particularly evident when it comes to
marketing. For 36% of the micro-enterprises this is a future topic. The figure for small and
medium-sized enterprises is 20% each.
5. Future topics in which SMEs need help
For each future topic, respondents were asked to what extent support was needed or already
being used. SMEs provided information for 984 of the 1166 future topics mentioned. Figure 7
shows for each of the four areas the proportion of topics for which support is desired, for which
support is not needed and for which support is already being used. The picture is similar for the
areas of digitization & technologies, people and products & services. In each case, around 60% of
the topics are assessed as requiring support, around 25% are handled independently by the SMEs
and around 15% are already receiving support. For the area of structures & processes, the ratio of
desired to undesired support deviates from the values for the other areas at 45% to 39%.
If we switch the perspective to the proportion of SMEs with support needs, 78% of the
companies name at least one future topic in which they would like support. For the three largest
sectors in our study - services, construction & crafts and hospitality & tourism - the figures are
75%, 82% and 81% respectively. A comparison of company size shows that 89% of medium-sized
companies have at least one need for support. This is the highest value, followed by
63
microenterprises with 79% and small enterprises with 74%.
Figure 7: Proportion of future topics in the four future areas for which companies are already taking
advantage of support, would need support, or do not need support.
In the following, we look at the ten future topics most frequently cited by SMEs as needing
support. The ranking starts with finding skilled workers, where 31% of SMEs would like support,
and ends with developing new products/services, where the figure is 12% of SMEs. Of this top 10,
five come from the area of people, three from the area of digitalization & technologies, and two
belong to the area of products & services.
For the ten future topics, we analysed whether size, location (rural vs. urban) or industry (only
services, construction & crafts and hospitality & tourism considered) play a role in the frequency
with which a company requires support. Insofar as we were able to identify differences, these are
listed in bullet points for the respective topic. For the term support needs we use the abbreviation
SN.
1) Finding skilled workers (31% of SMEs): More SMEs in rural areas (61%); 42% of SMEs
in the hospitality & tourism sector with SN; 36% of service companies with SN; 33% of
SMEs in the construction & crafts sector with SN.
2) Digitize processes (26% of SMEs): More urban SMEs (59%); 41% of SMEs in the
construction & crafts sector with SN; 32% of service companies with SN; hardly any SN
among SMEs in the hospitality & tourism sector (9%)
3) Market products/services (19% of SMEs): More likely to be SMEs in rural areas (62%);
25% of microenterprises with SN, small enterprises 12%, medium-sized enterprises 11%
4) Qualify/train employees (17% of SMEs): tendency the larger the company, the more likely
a future topic and the more likely an MC (smallest: 13%, small: 20%, medium: 26%); 23%
each of SMEs from the construction & crafts and hospitality & tourism sectors with MCs;
15% of service companies with MCs
5) Improve leadership quality (17% of SMEs): More likely to be SMEs in rural areas (61%);
23% of SMEs in the construction & crafts sector with an AE; 19% of SMEs in the
hospitality & tourism sector with an AE; 15% of service companies with an AE; trend: the
larger the company, the more likely it is to be a future topic and the more likely it is to have
an AE (smallest: 13%, small: 18%, medium: 26%)
6) Retaining skilled workers (17% of SMEs): 9% of SMEs from the service sector with SN;
20% of SMEs from the construction & crafts sector with SN; 32% from the hospitality &
tourism sector with SN
7) Digitize products/services (16% of SMEs): 25% of service companies with SN; 16% of
SMEs from the hospitality & tourism sector with SN; 15% of SMEs from the construction
& crafts sector with SN.
8) Introduce new hardware or software (16% of SMEs): [no differences worth reporting].
9) Finding trainees (14% of SMEs): 28% of SMEs in the construction & crafts sector with SN;
19% of service companies with SN; 10% of SMEs in the hospitality & tourism sector with
SN.
64
10) Develop new products/services (12% of SMEs): 16% of microenterprises with SN (small:
6% medium: 5%).
Of the 205 SMEs, 28% use external support. There are small differences in terms of size and
industry. The larger the company, the more likely it is to be among those using support (smallest:
25%, small: 29%, medium: 42%). In the three largest sectors, services, construction & trades and
hospitality & tourism, this figure is 38%, 20% and 32% of SMEs, respectively. The share is lowest
in health care and social services at 8%.
On average, SMEs use support for about two future topics. If we differentiate according to the
four areas, as can be seen in Figure 7, the proportion of supported topics ranges between 11% for
products & services and 17% for digitization & technologies. For 106 future topics, the SMEs
provided information on which support they make use of and how helpful they find it.
Figure 8 shows the frequency distribution of all 151 external supporters and support services
used, divided into seven categories. The value 151 results from the fact that SMEs in some cases
use several offers for the same future topic. The largest share of support comes from external
consultants & service providers (44%), followed by chambers (17%), associations (12%) and
networks & networking (11%). Funded programs & projects, such as the the Zukunftszentrum MV
is one, add up to 5%.
Figure 8: Proportion of external supporters or offers of support
¹ = e.g. WIFÖG, Employment agency and WelcomeCenter; ² = e.g. Mentoring and Training
6. Conclusion
Finally, we would like to address three issues. The first concerns the limits to drawing generally
valid conclusions about companies in the country or about specific industries. In order to increase
the significance of the results, we show connections with the results of other studies and our own
previous study. The second point concerns the importance of climate protection and sustainability
in this and future studies. Finally, we name two occasions to discuss the results in more detail.
6.1. The results in the context of other & own investigations
As with our past publications, the results reported here describe a specific section of the
corporate landscape at a specific time. It is therefore one of several puzzle pieces that can be
combined to create an interpretable overall picture. Other puzzle pieces can be other studies that
address similar questions about SMEs in the country. They can also be preceding studies of our
own, which offer opportunities for comparison and can thus point to developments. We would like
to shed light on both of these aspects.
65
At present, the only studies that overlap with the ZMV Monitor are those conducted by the
chambers of industry and commerce (IHK)in MV. The current study, the IHK digitalization
survey, presents data from 368 companies from 2021 (more information at: www.rostock.
ihk24.de/servicemarken/presse/medieninformationen/digitalisierungsumfrage-2021-5384640). It
is dedicated to the main reasons for digitization and the challenges and needs of companies in
connection with their digital transformation. Where do we see concrete points of contact with our
findings?
In the survey conducted by the IHK, 44% of companies would like access to public funding to
be made easier and support services for digitization projects and the use of innovative
technologies to be expanded. Our differentiated findings on the need for support provide
indications that the focus is on which digitization- and technology-related topics the offerings
should primarily address: The digitization of processes, products and services, and the
introduction of new software and hardware.
While our monitor results reflect the general scope of the skilled labour issue, the IHK survey
refers to a sub-area of it, IT specialists, and shows that their absence has a negative impact on
the digital development projects of 22% of the companies.
With regard to the further training and qualification of employees, we show that it is a future
topic for 30% of SMEs. The Chamber of Industry and Commerce survey is more specific about
the digital skills that companies think about. According to the study, a digital understanding of
processes, a digital mindset and a willingness to change are relevant for more than 50% of the
companies.
In both surveys, the proportion of companies using external support services is roughly the
same (IHK: "a good quarter"; ZMV Monitor: 28%).
The results of the monitor can also be viewed in the light of our previous studies, in which we
obtained the data from interviews. In some essential points, the ZMV Monitor is a further
development of our previous methodological approach (see the white paper on the ZMV Monitor).
A disadvantage of this further development is the limited comparability of the results, which results
from the revised category system. This means that the names of the areas and future topics we
worked with in the studies differ. However, some future topics and support needs are similar, so
we use them below to establish links between the studies. It should be noted that the factors
mentioned above do not allow us to explain the extent to which (non)changes are due to the new
methodological implementation, the different sample or topic-related developments.
The high proportion of SMEs that consider finding personnel (skilled workers and trainees) to
be one of their issues for the future appears consistently in both surveys. This also applies to the
marketing of products and services. In this study, compared to the previous one, more SMEs
consider retaining or retaining personnel and also training & qualification to be future topics. A
largely constant value relates to the proportion of future topics for which SMEs already use
external support. As in this case, it amounts to around 12%. In this study, around 60% of the future
topics are assessed as requiring support, compared with 39% previously. This increase could be
related to the way we promoted and introduced the ZMV Monitor. The text of our mailshot and
the landing page focused on the topic of support needs and promised company-specific matching.
This suggests a selection effect, according to which only SMEs with a need for support and hoping
to benefit from the matching took part in the study.
Overall, the results indicate that small and medium-sized enterprises need support in the area
of digital transformation or, as the survey has shown, help is being sought.
6.2. Future topics related to climate protection & sustainability
In its current form, the ZMV Monitor is not sufficiently sensitive for making possible efforts of
SMEs in the area of climate protection and sustainability visible. Six SMEs, i.e. 3% of the sample,
used the free text option to indicate a future topic related to climate protection & sustainability.
The value seems small in view of the current social and political discourse. However, it must be
considered that climate and sustainability goals can also be components of the other future topics
(e.g., certain digitalization measures or structural changes) or are considered during
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implementation. In future studies, we would like to be able to make more differentiated statements
and use this reflection as a revision impulse for the ZMV Monitor.
6.3. Discussion of Research Questions
For the first research question (RQ1) presented in the introduction (RQ1: From the perspective
of SME, what topics are perceived as decisive for the future of an enterprise?) the previous sections
already presented our findings, whereas the two sub-questions need discussion:
RQ1.1: Were the topics of digitalization and digital transformation overrated in research and
should be complemented by other areas?
In the ranking of support needs expressed by SME, digitalization of processes was on rank 2
and digitalization of products and services on rank 7, i.e., not only from research but also from an
SME perspective digitalization is seen relevant. Obviously, the opinions and perception of SME
are not decisive for definition of research strategies and topics, but they should be not completely
irrelevant either.
RQ1.2: Are the other areas perceived important by SMEs of relevance for business information
systems research?
Many support needs expressed by the SME motivate or even require use of IT in enterprises.
Marketing of products and services is a clear example but even training employees and finding
staff motivates specific IT. However, new research topics and directions for business information
systems research did not emerge from the survey.
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