Title: Digitalisation, servitisation and financial performance: evidence from small and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam

Authors: Malik Abu Afifa; Hien Vo Van; Trang Le Hoang Van

Addresses: Department of Accounting, Faculty of Business, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman 11733, Jordan ' Tien Giang University, 119 Ap Bac Street, My Tho City, Tien Giang 84000, Vietnam ' Tien Giang University, 119 Ap Bac Street, My Tho City, Tien Giang 84000, Vietnam

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between digitalisation, servitisation and financial performance in small and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam from the manager's perspective. The data was collected from 156 questionnaires. Through quantitative analysis technique, we provide some quite new and interesting results. Firstly, the age and size of the enterprise do not support the implementation of servitisation, and they have no impact on improving financial performance based on digitalisation. Secondly, we quantify the positive impact of digitalisation on servitisation. In addition to the positive correlation between digitalisation, servitisation and financial performance, we make a new contribution to the theory from the results of the intermediate analysis. Financial performance will be improved when enterprises apply digital technology to deploy related services. Furthermore, we show that financial performance in manufacturing firms is significantly improved when the level of synergies between digitalisation and servitisation is higher.

Keywords: digitalisation; servitisation; SMEs; performance; Vietnamese market.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2025.146980

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2025 Vol.36 No.3, pp.402 - 421

Received: 04 Jul 2021
Accepted: 05 Sep 2021
Published online: 10 Jul 2025 *

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