THE ROLE OF DIGITAL AND FINANCIAL LITERACIES IN DRIVING SME’S DIGITAL INTENSITY FOR STRATEGIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW AND DIRECTION FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have become significant drivers of economic growth worldwide, contributing significantly to employment and innovation. As the global business landscape undergoes a digital transformation, SMEs face increasing pressure to adapt and integrate digital technologies. This abstract delves into the critical role of digital and financial literacies as predictive factors in determining the extent of digitalization. However, the rate of digital adoption of SMEs is very different. This may be due to the digital and financial capabilities that SMEs and their workers possess. This abstract emphasizes the crucial role of digital and financial literacy as predators in an increasingly digital-centric business landscape, where small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face the imperative to adopt digital technologies for sustainable growth and competitiveness. Digital literacy encompasses the ability to effectively utilize digital tools and technologies. Digitalization has become a powerful force that is changing traditional business models and operational paradigms. The literature review highlights the main obstacles that SMEs must overcome in order for them to acquire financial and digital literacy. It also looks at ways to overcome these obstacles with the help of policy support, training initiatives, and focused interventions. Policymakers and practitioners stand to gain a great deal from an understanding of the factors that influence SME digital intensity. The article explores possible legislative changes as well as useful tactics to improve SMEs' financial and digital literacy and create an environment that is favourable to strategic entrepreneurship. A literature review is a method for systematically, explicitly, comprehensively, and reproducibly identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing research that has been written and documented by researchers. It can be used to find holes in the literature, synthesize current knowledge, and provide a foundation for future research. In this study, the researchers used various database journals, including Scopus indexed database journals and google scholar. They also use the VosViewer program to perform multi category analysis. In order to shed light on the factors that influence SME digital intensity, this review synthesizes the body of research, paying particular attention to the roles that digital and financial literacy play together. This research advances our knowledge of these factors, which adds to the current conversation on strategic entrepreneurship and establishes the framework for upcoming empirical investigations and useful interventions to assist SMEs in navigating the digital environment.