Acta Mechanica Slovaca 2022, 26(3):54-63 | DOI: 10.21496/ams.2022.011
The Level of Sustainability and Digitalization of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Slovakia
- Technical University of Kosice, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Industrial and Digital Engineering, Park Komenskeho 9, 040 01 Kosice
The article focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), their barriers and successes, associated with the transition to a sustainable and digital economy before the COVID-19 pandemic. Emphasis is placed on comparing the level and identifying differences in the transition to digitalization and sustainability of SMEs in Slovakia with the Europe Union's (EU) average. The comparison of the level of SMEs in Slovakia and the EU average is focused on the barriers associated with the introduction of digitalization; approaches applied in the adoption of digital technologies; already applied types of digital technologies; measures taken in relation to environmental and social sustainability; the existence of a strategy to support becoming a sustainable business and barriers to sustainability. Based on the input data, which are drawn from a survey published by Flash Eurobarometer 486 (FL486), interesting findings and contrasts were reached between SMEs in Slovakia and the EU average.
Keywords: SMEs; Digitalization; Sustainability; Digital Technologies; EU
Received: April 1, 2022; Revised: May 3, 2022; Accepted: May 16, 2022; Published: September 15, 2022 Show citation
References
- Alvarez-Risco, A., Arcentales, S.D.A., Rosen, M.A. 2020. Sustainable Development Goals and Cities. In Building Sustainable Cities. Sringer, pp. 313-330.
Go to original source...
- Ardia, D., Bluteatu, K., Boudt, K., and Inghelbrecht, K, 2020. Climate change concerns and the performance of green versus brown stocks. Working paper research. [pdf] Available at:
- Bharadwaj, A., El Sawy, O.A., Pavlou, P.A., Venkatraman, N.,Buzási, A., Pálvölgyi, T., Szalmáné Csete, M. 2021. Assessment of climate change performance of urban development projects - Case of Budapest, Hungary. Cities [e-journal] 114, 103215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2021.103215
Go to original source...
- Digital Business Strategy: Toward a Next Generation of Insights. MIS Quarterly, [e-journal] 37, pp. 471-482. Available through the website:
- Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), 2020. [pdf] Available at: < https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/document.cfm?doc_id=66957>.
- ElMassah, S., Mohieldin, M. 2020. Digital transformation and localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Ecological Economics, [e-journal] 169, 106490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106490
Go to original source...
- European Commission, 2020. SME strategy for a sustainable and digital Europe. [pdf] Available at:
- European Commission, 2020. Unleashing the full potential of European SMEs. [pdf] Available at:
- European Commission, 2020. European Union Recovery Instrument. [pdf] Available at:
- European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA), 2021. Annual Report on European SMEs 2020/2021. [pdf] Available at:
- European Commission, 2020. Flash Eurobarometer 486: SMEs, start-ups, scale-ups and entrepreneurship. [online] Available at:
- European Commission, 2020. Flash Eurobarometer 486: SMEs, start-ups, scale-ups and entrepreneurship. [pdf] Available at: < https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/eurobarometer/api/public/odp/download?key=3378FE9119E40F4287FE7BC2C59C9E89>
- European Commission. 2021. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. [pdf] Available at:
- Feroz, A.K., Zo, H., Chiravuri, A. 2021. Digital Transformation and Environmental Sustainability: A Review and ResearchAgenda. Sustainability, [e-journal] 13, 1530. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031530
Go to original source...
- Interreg Europe, 2021. Annual report on European SMEs 2020/2021. [online] Available at:
- Ivanov, D. and Dolgui, A., 2020. A digital supply chain twin for managing the disruption risks and resilience in the era of Industry 4.0. Production Planning & Control, [e-journal] 32(9), pp. 775-788. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2020.1768450
Go to original source...
- Legner, C., Eymann, T., Hess, T., Matt, C., Böhmann, T., Drews, P., Mädche, A., Urbach, N., Ahlemann, F. 2017. Digitalization: Opportunity and Challenge for the Business and Information Systems Engineering Community. Business Information System Engineering, [e-journal] 59, pp. 301-308. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12599-017-0484-2
Go to original source...
- Li, L., Su, F., Zhang, W., Mao, J.Y. 2018. Digital transformation by SME entrepreneurs: A capability perspective. Information System Journal, [e-journal] 28, pp. 1129-1157. https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12153
Go to original source...
- Morakanyane, R., Grace, A., O'Reilly, P. 2017. Conceptualizing digital transformation in business organizations: A systematic review of literature. Proceedings of the 30th Bled eConference: Digital Transformation-From Connecting Things to Transforming our Lives, [e-journal], pp. 1-14. http://dx.doi.org/10.18690/978-961-286-043-1.30
Go to original source...
- Paavola, R., Hallikainen, P., Elbanna, A. 2017. Role of middle managers in modular digital transformation: The case of Servu. Proceedings of the 25th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), [e-journal] pp. 887-903. Available through website: Aalto University:
- Singh, A., Hess, T. 2017. How Chief Digital Officers Promote the Digital Transformation of their Companies. MIS Quarterly Executive, [e-journal] 16(1), pp. 1-17. Available at:
- Ursula von der Leyen, 2019. Political Guidelines for the Next European Commission 2019-2024. [pdf] Available at:
- Vial, G. 2019. Understanding digital transformation: A review and a research agenda. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, [e-journal] 28(2), pp. 118-144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsis.2019.01.003
Go to original source...
- Wallace, H., Pollack, M.A., Roederer-Rynning, C., Young, A.R. 2020. Policymaking in the European Union, 8th ed. Oxford University Press, [e-book] pp. 471. https://doi.org/10.1093/hepl/9780199689675.001.0001
Go to original source...
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.