COVID-19 pandemic digitization lessons for sustainable development of micro-and small- enterprises

Chunguang Bai; Matthew Quayson; Joseph Sarkis

doi:10.1016/j.spc.2021.04.035

COVID-19 pandemic digitization lessons for sustainable development of micro-and small- enterprises

Sustain Prod Consum. 2021 Jul:27:1989-2001. doi: 10.1016/j.spc.2021.04.035. Epub 2021 May 8.

Authors

Chunguang Bai¹, Matthew Quayson^{1

2

3}, Joseph Sarkis^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ School of Management and Economics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China.
² Center for West African Studies (CWAS), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
³ Department of Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Ho Technical University, Ho, Ghana.
⁴ Foisie Business School, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609, USA.
⁵ The Humlog Institute, Hanken School of Economics, 00100, Helsinki, Finland.

Abstract

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has undeniably influenced the global economy and environment. Major victims of the COVID-19 outbreak are Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs), especially in developing countries, mainly because of limited use of digital technologies. This paper employs a literature review and personal insights to provide COVID-19 pandemic digitization lessons for sustainable development of MSEs from a technology for social good perspective. We develop a framework to support post COVID-19 digital transformation for sustainable development of MSEs. We find that digital payments, especially mobile money, should be a critical digital transformation priority for MSEs. Also, institutions must support MSE resources and capabilities to adopt digital transformation for business continuity, and sustainable production and consumption. Our study suggests that MSE managers and other stakeholders rethink their business strategies, incorporating crisis scenarios and business continuity plans to sustain customers virtually to enhance sustainable development. We also propose further research areas to improve the successful digital transformation of MSEs post COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Developing economies; Digitization; Micro-and small enterprise; Sustainable development.

Publication types

Review