How can rural businesses thrive in the digital economy? A UK perspective

Tiwasing, Pattanapong; Clark, Beth; Gkartzios, Menelaos

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10745

Cited by 37 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 53 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…As we travel towards the fifth industry revolution, defined by humans and artificial intelligence working together (European Commission, 2021), a human-centric approach to sustainability is appealing and compliments Industry 4.0 and the value technology can bring to the planet (European Commission, 2021). Rural development, including agriculture, is now about a smart transition to another way of doing things involving technology, innovation and entrepreneurial orientation, potentially addressing rural challenges such as capacity, poor infrastructure, environmental conservation and the spatial penalty (Cowie et al, 2020; European Commission, 2021; Smith et al, 2021; Tiwasing et al, 2022). We have five papers featured in this Special Issue, each article contains elements of challenges faced by rural entrepreneurs as well as adaption and adoption, either from a policy perspective shaping the way forward or from the bottom-up approach where communities and businesses move and shift, where they harness technologies and innovate through circular economies with a respect of and for the natural environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges and opportunities for rural entrepreneurship in times of crisis

Smith,

Steiner,

Steinerowska-Streb

et al. 2024

The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges and opportunities for rural entrepreneurship in times of crisis

Smith,

Steiner,

Steinerowska-Streb

et al. 2024

The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The challenge is to fulfill the needs of practical public sector market interruptions such as the developing broadband infrastructures. It can be gained by more competent digital training and development skills to address digital technology in rural areas [26]. Digital training can be a program to put adequate skill and knowledge about IT adoption [27].…”

Section: Bumdesa and Smes Implicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both entities will gain new approaches to increase their profit by adding innovative digital business, a large part of the market, strong sales, and value creation from digital players [28]. Furthermore, digital technology in rural areas shall close digital, skill, demand, and connectivity gaps [26]. The gaps can be blocked by collaboration stakeholders such as the government, academicians, and Industries.…”

Section: Bumdesa and Smes Implicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Village-owned Enterprises and SMEs Businesses Engagement Through Web Application Using System-Usability Scale

Wardhana¹,

Romadlon²,

Fitriana³

et al. 2022

Jur. Ris. Kom.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Village-owned enterprises (BUMDesa) and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are enabled to strengthen the rural economy. The two entities shall collaborate and will help the rural economy become more adaptive and sustainable. One approach to collaborate is using digital technology, such as web applications. It will allow businesses to survive by gaining potential networking and cross-border markets through online marketing. This collaboration can be done using a digital technology approach where both roles are needed to improve the village economy. If this technological approach is not implemented, then marketing will be limited so that it will have an impact on the village economy. The qualitative and scrum approach is used to develop the digital web. The result shows differences between BUMDesa and SMEs' roles toward the web application. BUMDesa can make better managerial through digital businesses so that BUMDesa can accelerate SMEs' productivity by opening new markets and business perspectives to SMEs. The testing process is carried out to prevent the failure of website development by implementing a usability test, namely the Usability Scale (SUS) System. The tests carried out show that the proposed design gets a good score of 69.63, so it is effective and efficient to be implemented in website development. SMEs can gain a broader market, improve their production standard, and add production capacities. The collaboration will map and profile their strengths and weaknesses to minimize the implementation gap. In addition, the BUMDesa and SMEs will invest in social capital, which means the ability to establish cooperation, trust, and participation, in the local community to benefit from the social network. It will improve innovation capability

show abstract

“…Therefore, innovation opportunities for rural enterprises are often limited, and many rural businesses fall behind their urban counterparts in terms of innovation practices and growth. Importantly, however, the expansion of digital technologies and the development of the knowledge economy help to mitigate some ‘traditional’ challenges associated with the geographic isolation of rural businesses (Tiwasing et al, 2022). For example, digital technologies allow rural businesses to overcome distance barriers and facilitate access to wider markets as well as skilled workers beyond the local context (Schmerber et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovation and rural context: An exploratory case study of a small rural enterprise from the Czech Republic

Steinerowska-Streb,

Peterková,

Steiner

2024

The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study identifies i) factors that encourage small rural enterprises to innovate and ii) obstacles to introducing innovation. Using a case study of a rural business in the Czech Republic, the paper reveals that although rural businesses may experience innovation barriers, such as inadequate human resources and volatile market conditions, they can innovate, respond quickly and effectively to emerging market circumstances and turn threats into opportunities for growth. Importantly, many of the challenges and opportunities for innovation interplay with each other, with some obstacles becoming a foundation of creative and innovative solutions that help to develop a sustainable, modern and efficient enterprise. We highlight that the innovation of rural enterprises can be an outcome of pull and push factors that influence both product innovation and business innovation processes. Pull factors represent incentives and opportunities to stimulate rural innovation. Push factors, on the other hand, necessitate change and create pressures that must be addressed to ensure business longevity. The paper also shows that successful innovation is not free from agency, with the strategic vision and innovation outlook of business owners being a significant driver of innovation practices. Finally, our study shows that the innovation of rural enterprises depends on local, regional, national and international connections, and goes beyond rural areas, with a ‘think local and act global’ approach helping to harness opportunities in wider markets.

show abstract

How can rural businesses thrive in the digital economy? A UK perspective

Cited by 37 publications

References 53 publications

Challenges and opportunities for rural entrepreneurship in times of crisis

Challenges and opportunities for rural entrepreneurship in times of crisis

Evaluating Village-owned Enterprises and SMEs Businesses Engagement Through Web Application Using System-Usability Scale

Innovation and rural context: An exploratory case study of a small rural enterprise from the Czech Republic

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About