Empowering Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises through Digital Business Model Innovation

The report argues that manufacturing SMEs can transition from survival to sustained growth by combining digital transformation with the reinvention of their business models. It outlines a maturity path from continuous improvement to data value extraction, identifies key organizational and external barriers, and proposes a structured four-stage process (initiation, ideation, integration, and implementation) for executing these innovations.

• The Brazilian manufacturing sector has experienced a decline in economic contribution, with its share of GDP falling by a third over 30 years to 11% in 2022, and the number of manufacturing companies stagnating between 2010 and 2020 at 297,300.
• Digital business model innovation is a progressive evolutionary path that begins with continuous operations improvement, moves through digitization (digital data collection), digitalization (data flow between systems), and data value extraction (using AI and machine learning), ultimately leading to the innovation of the business model itself.
• SMEs face a wide array of internal and external challenges to innovation, including a lack of clear strategy, high investment costs and limited access to funding, difficulties in attracting technical talent, risk aversion in corporate culture, and inadequate cybersecurity and data privacy protections.
• A successful transition to a digital business model requires a structured four-step process: Initiation (identifying pain points and opportunities), Ideation (generating value proposition ideas), Integration (testing and validating business plans), and Implementation (operationalizing the model and adjusting management practices).
• Global value chains are shifting toward five main trends: a move toward multi-local value chains, a transition from 'doing' to 'being' digital, a shift from economies of scale to economies of skill, a move from regulatory compliance to innovative sustainability, and a change from cost-driven to customer-value-driven models.
• Brazil is implementing a neo-industrialization policy featuring six missions, including the digital transformation of industry to increase productivity, specifically aimed at rejuvenating SMEs and improving global competitiveness.

APA

World Economic Forum (2024). Empowering Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises through Digital Business Model Innovation. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Empowering_Small_and_Medium_Sized_Enterprises_through_Digital_Business_Model_Innovation_2024.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Empowering Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises through Digital Business Model Innovation. 2024. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Empowering_Small_and_Medium_Sized_Enterprises_through_Digital_Business_Model_Innovation_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Empowering Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises through Digital Business Model Innovation |date=May 2024 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Empowering_Small_and_Medium_Sized_Enterprises_through_Digital_Business_Model_Innovation_2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2024empowering, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Empowering Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises through Digital Business Model Innovation}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2024}, month = may, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Empowering_Small_and_Medium_Sized_Enterprises_through_Digital_Business_Model_Innovation_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }