6: Digital Future of SMEs: Towards Successful Digital Transformation Available to Purchase

The chapter begins with a discussion of the transformative innovations that play a key role in the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Technological advancements like cloud computing, business process automation (BPA), artificial intelligence (AI), and others will play an ever-increasing role, but their development and use must be balanced with ethical considerations. In the future, organizations will be reliant on technologies such as AI for prediction, decision-making, new strategy development, and more. Therefore, ethical and legal concerns are crucial. This chapter will thus probe into those ethical concerns surrounding AI-based algorithms, and models. These ethical issues would require adaptability as the landscape evolves with technology. The chapter emphasizes the need for SMEs to be prepared and to adapt to new digital environments on a constant basis so as to ensure the successful implementation of digital transformation. This will prove that digital transformation is a reality, and not a fantasy for SMEs. They need to focus on having a well-defined digital strategy that is future-focussed if they wish to remain competitive and relevant in the digital era. This chapter also looks at one Malaysian-based company which had grown from being a small firm to becoming a multinational company. The case study illustrates how the company’s use of technologies had helped it to expand its business and to improve efficiency. By adopting new technologies and by being adaptable, it is possible for Malaysian SMEs to prosper and succeed in the digital world.