Knowledge strategies and digital technologies maturity: effects on small business performance

ABSTRACT

Digital technologies are transforming entrepreneurial activities and increasingly impacting the strategies of small businesses, which, given their size, may find it more difficult to withstand such digital challenges. Our study aims to investigate the influence of knowledge strategies and the maturity of digital affordances on the performance of small businesses. Based on a sample of small businesses, a quantitative analysis was performed. From the knowledge-based perspective, types and origin of knowledge strategies were identified – external codification, internal codification, external personalization, and internal personalization. Our results reveal that two knowledge strategies, based on the levels of knowledge intensity and digital systems maturity, impacted performance. In addition, this study attempts to help entrepreneurs, managers, and other policymakers formulate a more appropriate knowledge strategy based on the existing contingencies between combinations of external and internal digital technologies.

KEYWORDS:

• Strategy
• small business
• digital entrepreneurship
• knowledge strategy
• performance
• knowledge intensity
• maturity model

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.