Table 1 Summary of comparison of SMEs'... | Emerald Publishing

Table 1

Summary of comparison of SMEs' and large companies' strengths in digital transformation

	Strengths of SMEs and large companies
(1) Strategy	In large companies, there is typically a dedicated person or department responsible for the topic digitalization in contrast to SMEs
(2) Employees	In SMEs Employees are more aware of the chances and risks of digitalization Employees are better prepared for the upcoming challenges regarding digitalization Executive personnel set better examples regarding digitalization and the development of new competences
(3) Initiation of business transactions	Large companies are more developed in offering digital services that complement traditional ways of customer acquisition and product advertising
(4) Supply chain	In SMEs Core processes are digitalized to a greater extent Production processes are more advanced in reacting to changing conditions autonomously and in real time In large companies The planning of the production programme is rather automated within one system Data is shared via a web-based platform with suppliers to a higher amount Planned orders and forecast data are shared with suppliers to a higher amount Higher integration of orders into IT systems in real time Higher share of web-based platform usage with customers

	Strengths of SMEs and large companies
(1) Strategy	In large companies, there is typically a dedicated person or department responsible for the topic digitalization in contrast to SMEs
(2) Employees	In SMEs Employees are more aware of the chances and risks of digitalization Employees are better prepared for the upcoming challenges regarding digitalization Executive personnel set better examples regarding digitalization and the development of new competences
(3) Initiation of business transactions	Large companies are more developed in offering digital services that complement traditional ways of customer acquisition and product advertising
(4) Supply chain	In SMEs Core processes are digitalized to a greater extent Production processes are more advanced in reacting to changing conditions autonomously and in real time In large companies The planning of the production programme is rather automated within one system Data is shared via a web-based platform with suppliers to a higher amount Planned orders and forecast data are shared with suppliers to a higher amount Higher integration of orders into IT systems in real time Higher share of web-based platform usage with customers