UNVEILING THE DRIVERS OF DIGITALIZATION IN SMALL TECH FIRMS, A SERBIA CASE
UNVEILING THE DRIVERS OF DIGITALIZATION IN SMALL TECH FIRMS, A SERBIA CASE

Summary/Abstract: The digitalization of small businesses in the high technology sector as a means of attaining prosperity in the context of international risks and challenges and domestic ecosystem opportunities is the study’s significant contribution. The empirical design employed for this study yielded a response to the research question within the study’s theoretical framework. Because Serbia is an emerging economy with 95% of small businesses in the economic sector and fast ICT enterprises sharing in that structure, it was selected for the national ecosystem to evaluate the quality of technology and entrepreneurship conditions for the development of small technology businesses considering digitalization. An empirical study was conducted in Serbia in 2024 on a sample of 432 representatives of these businesses. They were expected to evaluate four tiers of variables: sociocultural variables at the B level, institutional factors and infrastructure for digitalization at the C level, and economic, financial, and market elements at the A level through 24 statements on their potential moderate impact on their digitalization processes. Together with the evaluation of the field research findings, data from the GEM survey, ICT sector development, and literature sources were merged. Four hypothesis valuations are examined using multi-level estimating techniques and regression analysis. Findings suggest that factors at all study levels exercise significant effects on the likelihood of technology entrepreneurs and small companies’ propensity to engage in digitalization, among which the most influential are sociocultural, individual characteristics, entrepreneurial and digital capabilities, and economic factors. The research contributes to the literature on digitalization and the SB economy as well as providing decision-makers with useful information on the prerequisites for improving digitalization design strategies in light of technological advancements.

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