ABSTRACT
The Covid-19 pandemic has made digital transformation no longer an option but a necessity for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to succeed in a highly globalized market. The purpose of the study was to analyze the impact of digital maturity factors on the level of development of SMEs in Latin America. The data for this study was collected using an online survey from the representatives from 490 SMEs from Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay, using structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression for the analysis. There were several results found in the study. First, the results suggested that commitment to digital maturity (CDM) does not influence participants' training and digital skills (TDS) and development level (DL) directly but does have a positive indirect influence on the development level of participants if they are provided training in digital skills. Second, digital maturity experience (DME) directly influenced TDS and positively impacted DL directly and indirectly. Third, training in digital skills does influence the development level of participants. However, CDM alone was not enough to affect the DL of SMEs and was only significant when TDS acted as a mediating variable. Few studies have been conducted to address this critical issue in Latin America, especially to determine which variables impact the development of SMEs the most. Hence, this study provides a novel contribution to the literature. The results of this study are expected to support SMEs in increasing their competitiveness in this era of accelerated digital transformation.
ABSTRACT
Objective: The objective of this study is to provide a general overview regarding the increased inequality due to Covid-19 in various areas and this all had an integrated effect on women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the globe and in Vietnam. Research Design & Methods: The data is collected using various research papers and the reports accessing the inequalities across the world and in Vietnam. The methodology used is compiling the various reports to provide general overview as how Covid-19 has fuelled existing inequalities and providing overview of the situation the women-owned SMEs are facing in this challenging time of pandemic. Findings: The results from the study suggest that the inequalities in various areas have increased such as inequality between and within different countries, employment sector inequalities, gender inequalities, educational inequalities, age-related inequalities and all these has created a wider gap between the barriers faced by men and women across the globe. The women-owned SMEs has found to have the higher challenges in Vietnam as compared to men-owned SMEs. Implications & Recommendations: The current literature identified the increasing inequalities of women in various countries and particular in SMEs in Vietnam. There are several studies conducted in developed countries to determine the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, but there is dearth of studies conducted in Vietnam, especially to study the effect of Covid-19 on the women entrepreneurs. It is important to conduct this kind of study in Vietnam on women SMEs to study the impact of Covid-19 to understand the barriers the women might have faced and how the government can provide the appropriate support to women entrepreneurs in the future which further can help in empowering the women in Vietnam and helping the economy to grow. Contribution & Value Added: This paper provides the general overview of increased inequalities in various areas and in particular women-owned SMEs in Vietnam which is not summarized in earlier studies conducted in Vietnam and hence this study aims to contribute to fill this gap in the literature and provided an avenue for the future research.
ABSTRACT
Educational institutions worldwide had to shift the teaching delivery mode from face to face to online teaching during COVID-19. Most of the universities in Vietnam were based on face to face learning until the sudden outbreak of COVID-19. This research study was conducted with 145 respondents and Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used for data analysis. The participants were undergraduate and post-graduate students in public and private universities who studied online during the pandemic in Vietnam. The purpose of this study was to understand what factors have an impact on students' intentions to study online. The results show that institutional support and perceived enjoyment (satisfaction) affects the students' intentions to study the course online in the future. Perceived enjoyment (PE) affects the online learning intentions (OLI) and PE is affected by ICT infrastructure and internet speed and access. Hence, this research adds new research variable defined as extrinsic factors (ICT infrastructure and access to the internet), which indirectly influences students' intentions to learn online. Given the increased use of smart phones with this generation, it is advisable to integrate mobile technology in online learning and QR codes can be one of the ways to integrate that in the course materials. It is further recommended that to increase the perceived enjoyment of the students with the online learning, the lecturers might be encouraged to use videos, audios and instant messaging to contact and provide the feedback to the students. It is important for universities to prepare for any such future crisis. This study results will provide a useful insight to design the online courses effectively by considering all the factors impacting students' intention and satisfaction.