A Journey of Digital Transformation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Vietnam: Insights from Multiple Cases

This study aims to investigate the status quo and identify the challenges and benefits of the digital transformation in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. The six participating SMEs were purposely contacted, and they were either nominated for, or received the Vietnam Digital Awards in 2018, 2019 and 2020, which were held by the Vietnam Digital Communication Association (http://en.vdca.org.vn/). A qualitative research method is adopted, using a semi-structured interview method and a theoretical triangulation of legitimacy, stakeholder and stewardship theories to facilitate the investigation. This research tries to identify the current challenges and benefits for digital transformation of SMEs in Vietnam, based on perception and experience from business leaders and managers from six SMEs in Vietnam. The findings of this study reveal that besides the recent challenges for digital transformation, participants also experienced and shared their perspectives regarding the benefits received from the digital transformation journey of their organization, which varied from (i) improve operational as well as business functions; (ii) liberate staffs and managers from daily work and allows them to focus on decision-making tasks; (iii) enable solutions to deal with consequences from the COVID-19 pandemic; (iv) enhance value creation process; and (v) help firms to align with the global business standards.