The Sustainability of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in A Digital Economy Era

Title              : The Sustainability of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in A Digital Economy Era

Researcher       :  Dr.Tanakorn Limsarun
Department      :  Master of Business Administration, Siam University, Bangkok, Thailand

E-mail                 : dr.tanakorn@siam.edu

Abstract            : In an economic downturn, the adoption of digital economy and utilization of Information Technology with Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SMEs) seem to be increasingly important and becoming a new foundation for entrepreneurs today.These are believed to offer a number of advantages regarding the effi ciency, effectiveness, and innovation across the business functions which can lead to more productivities and new opportunities in the market. This will directly induce a great number of new entrepreneurs in the market, removing market barriers and enhance the competitive advantages especially from the SMEs sector – the backbone of the economy in most countries. However, it is not a straightforward task. On one hand, myriads of new entrepreneurs are enjoying the new opportunities that their older generations never had and at the same time their customers are also adjusting their consumption behavior from the old ways to the digital ways very well. On the other hand, researches have found that most SMEs still face the problems in relation to how they can digitize their business structures and functions such as fi nance, marketing and human resources and above all international cooperation. Therefore, this paper aims to highlight key success factors and provide a guideline for SMEs how to start successfully in the key emerging markets as well as introduce key sustainability factors in a digital economy era. The fi ndings of this research should prove valuable to any size of businesses and create a greater awareness of the advantages of the digital economy and business sustainability of SMEs. In sum, it was shown that SME entrepreneurs had to carefully consider the relevant organizational and individual factors as well as the degree of innovation adoption in the organization in order to warrant their business successes in this post-modern business era, the digital economy.

Key words         :  Sustainability, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), Digital Economy

Publication        : วารสารวิชาการบริหารธุรกิจ สมาคมสถาบันอุดมศึกษาเอกชนแห่งประเทศไทยฯ ปีที่ 4 ฉบับที่ 2 กรกฎาคม-ธันวาคม 2558

                                  Journal of Business Administration The Association of Private Higher Education Institutions of Thailand  Vol.4 No.2 Jul-Dec 2015  

Link to Publication:    https://www.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/apheitvu/issue/view/8163

Download PDF  : The Sustainability of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in A Digital Economy Era

Bibliography     : Tanakorn Limsarun. (2015). The sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a digital economy era.  Journal of Business Administration The Association of Private Higher Education Institutions of Thailand,  4(2), 113-124.