Profit or less waste? Digitainability in SMEs - a comparison of Hungarian and Slovakian SMEs

Keywords: digitalisation, SME, sustainability, digitainability, SDGs, Visegrad Four countries

Abstract


SMEs operating in the 21st century must face several challenges including a push towards digital transformation, reorganising business operations to maintain sustainability but on the other hand not to lose profit and keep the business running. This paper aims to reveal whether the profit and the high rate of digitalisation or the sustainability concerns are the main driving forces of SMEs in Hungary and Slovakia. The paper analyses 210 observed SMEs and uses the CHAID decision tree method parallel to factor and cluster analyses to explore the similarities and differences in Hungarian and Slovakian SME behaviours. The results show Slovakian SMEs have a more positive attitude to digitalisation; both Hungarian and Slovakian SMEs are split into two groups in terms of approach to digitalisation and sustainability while the significant differences vary provided the questions of cost and resource reduction, extension of product life cycle or higher productivity are concerned. SMES in both countries agree that business models need to be adjusted to digitalisation and sustainability while they are concerned about the negative impact of digitalisation although significantly differently.

References

Bencsik, A. (2021). Assessment of leadership preparedness for the challenges of the digital age. International comparison. Budapest Management Review, 52 (4), 93-108 (in Hungarian).
Berkhout, F., & Hertin, J. (2004). De-materialising and re-materialising: digital technologies and the environment. Futures, 36 (8), 903-920.
Cranfield, D.J., Tick, A., Venter, I.M., Blignaut, R.J., & Renaud, K. (2021). Higher Education Studetns Perception of Online Learning during COVID-19 – A Comparative Study. Education Sciences, 11(8), 1-17.
Csath, M., Fási, C., Nagy, B., Pálfi, N., & Vinogradov, S. (2020). Competitiveness dilemmas in the age of digitalization and robotization. Budapest, Hungary: Ludovika University Press (In Hungarian).
Csedő, Z., Zavarkó, M., & Sára, Z. (2019). Is digitalization an innovation? Lessons learned from digital transformation and innovation management at a financial service provider. Budapest Management Review, 50 (7-8 ), 88-101 (in Hungarian).
Demartini, M., Evans, S., & Tonelli, F. (2019). Digitalization technologies for industrial sustainability. Procedia manufacturing, 33, 264-271.
Dudás, P. (2018). Segmentation using a decision tree. Economica New, 9 (2), 49-54.
Elkington, J. (2018). 25 years ago I coined the phrase “triple bottom line.” Here’s why it’s time to rethink it. Harvard Business Review, 25, 2-5.
European Comission. (2004). European Charta for Small Enterprises. Luxemburg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
European Commission. (2021). The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI). Shaping Europe’s digital future. Available at: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/desi
Gartner
. (2019). Digitalization. Information technology glossary. Available at: https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/digitalization
Gerasimenko
, V.V., & Razumova, T.O. (2020). Digital competencies in management: a way to superior competitiveness and resistance to changes. Serbian Journal of Management, 15 (1), 115-126.
Gubán, Á., & Sándor, Á. (2021). Opportunities for digital maturity measurement for SMEs. Budapest Management Review, 52 (3), 13-28 (in Hungarian).
Gupta, S., Motlagh, M., & Rhyner, J. (2020). The digitalization sustainability matrix: A participatory research tool for investigating digitainability. Sustainability, 12 (21), 9283.
Hámori, G. (2001). Characteristics of CHAID-based decision trees. Hungarian Statistical Review, 79 (8), 703-710 (in Hungarian).
Kass, G. (1980). An exploratory technique for investigating large quantities of categorical data. Applied Statistics, 29 (2), 119-127.
Kayikci, Y. (2018). Sustainability impact of digitization in logistics. Procedia manufacturing, 21, 782-789.
Lichtenthaler, U. (2021). Digitainability: the combined effects of the megatrends digitalization and sustainability. Journal of Innovation Management, 9 (2), 64-80.
Mai, P. T., & Tick, A. (2021). Cyber Security Awareness and Behaviour of Youth in Smartphone Usage: A Comparative Study between University Students in Hungary and Vietnam. Acta Polytechnica Hungarica, 18 (8), 67-89.
Majláth, M., Kelemen-Erdős, A., & Valociková, C. (2019). Understanding SME's failure: Focus on success factors and gender differences: Comparative analysis of SME's in Czech Republic, Hungary and Serbia. Serbian Journal of Management, 14 (1), 327-345.
Marcysiak, A., & Pleskacz, Z. (2021). Determinants of digitization in SMEs. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 9 (1), 300-318.
Ordieres-Meré, J., Pietro Remon, T., & Rubio, J. (2020). Digitalization: An opportunity for contributing to sustainability from knowledge creation. Sustainability, 12 (4), 1460.
Șerban, R. A. (2017). The Impact of Big Data, Sustainability, and Digitalization on Company Performance. Studies in Business and Economics. 12, 181-189.
Statista. (2022. February 3). Number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Slovakia from 2010 to 2021. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/880143/number-of-smes-in-slovakia/
Szalavetz
, A. (2017). Industry 4.0 technologies and environmental sustainability-Hungarian manufacturing experience. International Economics, 61(7-8), 28-45 (in Hungarian).

Published
2022/04/06
Section
Original Scientific Paper