This study examines how digital and knowledge-based capabilities—digital transformation, big data analytics capability, IT capability, and artificial intelligence capability—together with the knowledge resource of intellectual capital, enhance competitive advantage, with organizational agility acting as a mediating mechanism.
Abstract
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in digitally evolving markets face increasing competitive pressure and must continuously adapt to technological change. This study examines how digital and knowledge-based capabilities—digital transformation, big data analytics capability, IT capability, and artificial intelligence capability—together with the knowledge resource of intellectual capital, enhance competitive advantage, with organizational agility acting as a mediating mechanism. Grounded in the resource-based view and dynamic capability perspective, the research analyzes survey data from 463 SME owners and senior managers in Vietnam using PLS-SEM. Results show that both technology-related and knowledge-oriented capabilities significantly improve organizational agility and competitive advantage. Organizational agility also serves as a key pathway through which digital investments translate into superior competitive outcomes, partially mediating these relationships. The study contributes an integrated capability-based framework and offers practical implications for managers and policymakers seeking to strengthen SME competitiveness in digital markets.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets face a critical challenge: how to leverage digital transformation to improve efficiency and sustain competitive advantage despite constrained financial and human resources. This study addresses this problem by examining how distinct dimensions of digital transformation affect SME operational efficiency and, in turn, sustained competitive advantage. Grounded in the Resource-Based View (RBV) and Industrial Organization-Based Strategy (IO), the present study conceptualizes digital transformation through three theoretically distinct sub-dimensions, digital strategic orientation (DSO), digital adaptive capability (DAC), and digital technology sophistication (DTS), and model operational efficiency as a mediating pathway to sustained competitive advantage. Data collected via a structured survey administered to 216 Turkish manufacturing and service SMEs operating in Istanbul were analyzed using variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4. The findings reveal that all three digital transformation sub-dimensions positively and significantly influence operational efficiency, which in turn strongly predicts sustained competitive advantage. A formal mediation analysis confirms that operational efficiency mediates the effects of all three digital transformation dimensions on sustained competitive advantage, with partial mediation for digital strategic orientation and indirect-only mediation for digital adaptive capability and digital technology sophistication. These results advance theoretical understanding by demonstrating that digital transformation operates as a capability-building process consistent with RBV logic, and that strategic digital orientation, rather than technological sophistication, is the dominant driver of efficiency gains. Practically, the findings indicate that SMEs should prioritize embedding digital strategy into corporate planning, developing structured digital upskilling programs for managers and employees, and investing in scalable cloud-based and AI-enabled infrastructure to achieve cost efficiency and competitive positioning.
Purpose: Retail SMEs in China operate in a highly volatile digital commerce ecosystem with rapidly shifting consumer demand, intense platform-based competition, and frequent technological and regulatory changes. This study examines how digital transformation (DT) improves firm performance by strengthening organizational resilience (OR) and whether environmental dynamism (ED) moderates the resilience–performance relationship.
Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative survey was conducted with retail SMEs, and the conceptual model was tested using PLS-SEM to assess measurement properties and estimate direct, mediating, and moderating effects.
Findings: The results show that DT directly improves firm performance and significantly enhances OR, indicating that digital initiatives in retail SMEs create value by boosting efficiency, market responsiveness, and the ability to withstand shocks and adapt quickly. OR partially mediates the DT–performance link, showing that resilience is a key capability through which DT yields superior business outcomes. ED positively moderates the OR–performance relationship, meaning that the performance benefits of organizational resilience increase under high market and technological volatility.
Research limitations/implications: This study uses cross-sectional, self-reported data, limiting causal inference and potentially introducing common method bias. Future research should apply longitudinal or multi-source designs and examine additional mechanisms (e.g., organizational agility, innovation capability) and contextual contingencies (e.g., competitive intensity, regulatory turbulence).
Practical implications: For managers of Chinese retail SMEs, the findings highlight the need to prioritize DT initiatives that improve real-time environmental sensing, speed up data-driven decisions, and enable rapid operational reconfiguration—dynamic capabilities that underpin resilience in highly volatile retail settings. Policymakers can strengthen these SMEs’ competitiveness by offering targeted capability-building programs (e.g., digital literacy, data analytics training, resilience-focused technology upgrades) and by enhancing digital infrastructure and governance to reduce excessive environmental uncertainty for small retailers.
Originality/value: This study extends understanding of DT in retail SMEs by explaining when and how DT improves performance: it identifies OR as a central capability mechanism and ED as a key boundary condition in a dynamic, platform-mediated retail context.
Tao Mei, S. Idris· International journal of res...· 0 citations
This study aims to elucidate the impact of digital transformation on the competitive advantage
of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam, based on the perspectives and lived
experiences of senior managers. Adopting a qualitative research method with a multiple case
study strategy, data were collected through 16 semi-structured in-depth interviews with leaders
and analyzed thematically. The results indicate that digital transformation is not merely a costoptimization tool but has become a strategic lever that redefines competitive advantage,
shifting from price-based competition to competition based on speed, customer experience, and
flexibility. Key impacts include: enhancing operational efficiency through automation,
personalizing customer relationships via data analytics, enabling data-driven decisionmaking, and facilitating the experimentation of new business models. In terms of practical
implications, the study emphasizes that the success of digital transformation depends more on
the mindset shift of leadership and organizational culture than on technology. It also suggests
that SMEs should prioritize projects with a clear return on investment (ROI) and that
policymakers should provide more substantive support in consulting and training. The
originality of this research lies in its use of an interpretive approach to deeply explore the
perceptions of managers within an emerging economy, thereby providing a practical, humancentric perspective that complements previous quantitative studies
Chu The Tiep· International Journal of Eco...· 0 citations
This study investigates the direct empirical impacts of digital transformation capabilities—specifically technology infrastructure, human resources, and strategic governance—on the business performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in Hanoi, Vietnam. Utilizing a quantitative research design, primary survey data were collected from 132 SME decision-makers in June 2026 and analyzed using multiple linear regression via IBM SPSS Statistics. The findings confirm that all three capability dimensions significantly enhance SME performance, with digital strategy and governance emerging as the primary determinant, surpassing technological infrastructure and workforce competencies. These results demonstrate that overcoming the "digitalization paradox" in small enterprises depends heavily on executive leadership commitment and strategic clarity, which ensure that technology investments effectively translate into cost efficiency, market expansion, and financial health. Overall, this research advances the dynamic capabilities perspective by establishing the hierarchical importance of strategic governance in emerging-market SMEs.
A. Nguyen· Journal of Management Resear...· 0 citations
This study examines the relationship between digital transformation and green innovation in Malaysian ICT firms. It specifically investigates the mediating roles of organizational agility and innovation capabilities and the moderating role of institutional pressures. By integrating dynamic capabilities and institutional theory, the research aims to explain how digital transformation supports environmentally sustainable innovation and helps organizations achieve sustainable competitive advantage. A quantitative research design was employed using survey data from 400 employees in Malaysian ICT firms. Data were collected in two phases to minimize bias. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the relationships among variables. At the same time, conditional process analysis examined the mediation effects of organizational agility and innovation capabilities and the moderating role of institutional pressures. The findings show that digital transformation positively influences green innovation. Organizational agility and innovation capabilities significantly mediate this relationship, indicating that digital transformation enhances sustainable innovation by improving adaptability and strengthening innovation capacity. Institutional pressures further strengthen the effects of organizational agility and innovation capabilities on green innovation. This study provides an integrated framework linking digital transformation to green innovation through organizational agility and innovation capabilities while considering institutional pressures as a moderator. It contributes to the literature on digital transformation and sustainability and offers practical insights for managers seeking to use digital technologies to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.
Kamil Hussain, S. Shah, Faisal Khan et al.· Future Business Journal· 0 citations
In an increasingly uncertain market environment, how firms enhance resilience through digital and intelligent transformation (DIT) has become a critical issue. Integrating dynamic capability theory and organizational behavior theory, this study constructs a moderated dual-mediator model to examine DIT’s impact on enterprise resilience from the dual logic of defensive and offensive resilience. Based on panel data of Chinese A-share listed firms from 2014 to 2023, findings reveal that: (1) DIT significantly enhances enterprise resilience; (2) risk management capability and core competitiveness serve as defensive and offensive pathways respectively, partially mediating this relationship; (3) financing constraints exert asymmetric moderating effects, weakening DIT’s promotion of risk management capability while strengthening its cultivation of core competitiveness, revealing the coexistence of survival-oriented and development-oriented behavioral logics under resource constraints. Heterogeneity analysis further indicates that these effects are more pronounced in highly competitive industries and non-state-owned firms. This study opens the mechanism black box of how DIT affects enterprise resilience, providing theoretical foundations for differentiated resource allocation under financial constraints.
Yan Zhao, Fei‐yan Liang, Junguo Hua· Humanities and Social Scienc...· 0 citations
