The Importance of Digital Adoption for Small and Medium Enterprises: Comparative Study of Romanian Service and IT&C SMEs

Abstract

Service enterprises constitute significant drivers of growth for developed countries as well as countries in development. The global economy in combination with the fast paced development of technology in the digital era create opportunities for companies that realize the importance of the service-technology convergence phenomenon, also known as the service economy 3.0.In the case of the Romanian economy, SMEs and the service sector contribute significantly to the country’s economic growth and our study aims to uncover opportunities for Romanian service SMEs to further their chances of succeeding on the global service market through adoption of digital technologies. We find that it is of utmost importance for Romanian service SMEs to bridge the digital divide through furthering their knowledge of network effects and digital ecosystems that can ultimately result in developing core competencies that help them remain relevant on the global services market.

Keywords

• service economy
• knowledge economy
• digital transformation
• small and medium size enterprises