Bridging the Digital Divide: Strategic Roadmaps for MSMEs in Emerging Economies — an Experimental Study

Abstract

The digital divide has remained one of the most critical competitiveness challenges against Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the developing economies. It is an experimental research study which identifies the utility of the existence of structured digital adoption roadmaps in order to increase the productivity, the maturity of digital operations and the market coverage of MSMEs. The sample size of 120 MSMEs in three sectors was used in a quasi experimental study that spanned 12 months. Custom-fit digital roadmap, training materials, and exposure to the digital platform were offered to the intervention group as opposed to the business-as-usual of the control group. The results show that increased productivity (by 32 percent), 40 percent increase in online market activities and significant change in digital capability scores was also a part of the consequences of the intervention. The study demonstrates that strategic and organized digital interventions have the potential to close the resource-constrained environments, making MSMEs more competitive.