The digitalization of industries is at the heart of today's global economy. However, there seems to be a lack of knowledge about the most effective method for initiating a digital transformation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME). In the context globalization and shortages in labors, access to goods, services and skills, the need for SMEs to face the competition becomes a crucial issue. This research attempts to develop a model, based on a literature review and case studies, in order to evaluate digital performance as well as to study the assumption that some parameters of the model, such as Leadership, Culture and organization and Data management for example, have different impacts on the performance of SMEs. A literature review and an 80-hour questionnaire-based methodology and field interviews allowed to evaluate the impact on business performance of the different notions revolving around the topic of digital transformation. The results show that the most significant parameters that tend to augment the digital performance and thus help to foster a digital transformation in SMEs are mainly the management commitment and exemplarity (28%), the acquisition and development of skills (26%), the digital architecture (42%), the automation (42%), the quality of data (42%) and the use of the e-commerce (42%). The purpose of this study is then to target those important elements that have the most effect on the performance of small and medium-sized manufacturing companies, with the aim of guiding efforts and investments both in academia and in the real world. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
