Digital Transformation in Industrial SMEs: A Holistic Approach to Symbiotic Relationships with Technology

Digital Transformation (DT) has become crucial to growing and developing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide. Integrating digital tools and technologies in SMEs will increase efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Adopting digital solutions can help SMEs become more competitive, enter new markets, and internationalize operations. However, in the real world, gaps that limit the ability of SMEs to integrate digital assets are still observed, remarkably in small countries such as Portugal. This article aims to discover and analyze how the managers of industrial SMEs in Northern Portugal face the DT process and modify their SMEs' operations due to the DT process. Through semi-structured interviews and subsequent thematic analysis, this study fills a gap in empirical studies on industrial SMEs passing through DT. It proposes a practical and foundational DT strategy for SME managers. The findings demonstrate an informational deficit among managers and the scientific field, with a need for conceptual clarifications. Nonetheless, the results of digital tool integration and their consequent changes offer clear advantages to SMEs that implement them. Therefore, besides a strategic proposal for SMEs interested in DT, this study raises novel pertinent questions about DT in industrial SMEs.