Patterns of Artificial Intelligence Adoption in Small and Medium Businesses

Cristina Mocanu, Monica Mihaela Maer Matei and Anamaria Năstasă ()
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Cristina Mocanu: National Scientific Research Institute for Labour and Social Protection
Monica Mihaela Maer Matei: National Scientific Research Institute for Labour and Social Protection
Anamaria Năstasă: National Scientific Research Institute for Labour and Social Protection

Chapter Chapter 26 in Reimagining Capitalism in a Post-Globalization World, 2024, pp 385-398 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Digital tools could be very beneficial for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by reducing costs, increasing opportunities and access to a global market, better connections with suppliers and clients, increasing productivity, etc. But, even if most of the small and medium businesses are aware of the benefits of digitalization, only a minority of them have plans to digitalize their activities. Strategies for digitalization among SMEs vary with the sector, size, turnover, position on the value chain, and innovation patterns, but also with different types of digital technologies available. According to Flash Eurobarometer 486 (European Union. (2020). Flash Eurobarometer 486 report. SMEs, start-ups, scale-ups and entrepreneurship, https://doi.org/10.2775/385281 ), until now, approximately 62% of SMEs adopted different digital technologies, but only 6% of them considered artificial intelligence, and the other 10% considered data analytics as a solution for their needs. Hence, for the current chapter, we aim to explore patterns of artificial intelligence (AI) utilization in SMEs, but also awareness and barriers to their adoption among entrepreneurs. In this respect, we use the microdata for the 2020 Flash Eurobarometer “SMEs, start-ups, scale-ups, and entrepreneurship,” covering 39 countries. Using statistical classification techniques, we unveil the most important factors and barriers that are related to AI utilization among SMEs, and we discuss these factors in relation to other innovations and sustainably oriented activities. Our results can lead to a better understanding of the strategies that could be adopted in order to reduce future gaps in the rhythm of development among SMEs.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Digital transformation; SMEs; Technology adoption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-031-59858-6_26

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-59858-6_26

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