An Integrated Model for the Use of Digital Technologies in Small Business Production Processes: Functional Classification, Digital Maturity and Efficiency Criteria
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The digital transformation of small businesses is increasingly shifting from the adoption of isolated software tools toward the integration of production, management, logistics, and customer-related processes within a unified information environment. However, small enterprises differ from large firms in terms of financial capacity, human resources, technological competence, and organizational structure. These differences require a specific methodological approach to selecting and implementing digital technologies in production processes. The purpose of this study is to systematize methods of using digital technologies in small business production, identify their impact channels, develop a digital maturity framework, and propose criteria for evaluating their efficiency. Comparative analysis, systematization, functional classification, conceptual modeling, and expected-sign analysis were applied. The results show that the economic effect of digitalization depends not only on the number of technologies adopted but primarily on the depth of their integration and the continuity of data flows between production functions. A four-stage digital maturity model and a two-dimensional classification matrix based on integration depth and implementation form are proposed. The study argues that cloud-based service models and gradual modular implementation are particularly appropriate for small businesses because they reduce initial investment barriers while allowing technological capacity to expand over time. The proposed framework can be used by small enterprises to prioritize digital investments and by policymakers to differentiate support instruments according to firms’ digital maturity.
Author: Ravshanovich, Mamasoatov Dilshod
Language: English
Subfield: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7218930293