Title: Enhancing sustainable competitive performance: a study of digitalisation in Georgian entrepreneurial companies

Authors: Hajar Moayery Fard; Arian Matin; Metin Mercan

Addresses: George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology, Webster University Georgia, 82 Ilia Chavchavadze Avenue, Tbilisi 017, Georgia ' George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology, Webster University Georgia, 82 Ilia Chavchavadze Avenue, Tbilisi 017, Georgia ' International Black Sea University, 2, David Agmashenebeli Alley 13 km, 0131, Tbilisi, Georgia

Abstract: The main goal of this study is to explore the relationships between digital strategy, digital platforms, and sustainable competitive performance, as well as the mediating role played by digital capability in the context of employee IT skills within entrepreneurial companies. Data were obtained through a questionnaire administered to workers in entrepreneurial companies in the private sector in Georgia, selected by convenience sampling. A total of 421 responses were collected. Service and product producers were classified by industry type, and the data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) with Smart-PLS software, supplemented by artificial neural networks (ANN). The results indicate that digital strategy, capability, and platforms are positively associated with sustainable competitive performance. However, the mediating effect of digital capability on the relationship between a firm's digital strategy and sustainable competitive performance was not supported. The ANN analysis revealed employee's digital skills (EDS) followed by digital strategy and capability play the most important roles in sustainable performance. The findings also indicated that EDS moderates the impact of digital platforms on sustainable performance.

Keywords: sustainable competitive performance; SCP; digitalisation; entrepreneurial companies; structural equation modelling; SEM; artificial neural networks; ANN; Georgia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2026.152266

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2026 Vol.57 No.4, pp.422 - 444

Received: 22 Sep 2024
Accepted: 22 Oct 2024
Published online: 13 Mar 2026 *

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