HRMARS - There is growing pressure on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to implement analytical tools to keep pace with changing market dynamics. Despite current trends, there is a lack of understanding on how business analytics can influence the SME performance. This systematic literature review aims at synthesising existing literature to identify key domains in which business analytics can impact business competitiveness of SMEs, such as digital transformation, innovation, sustainable development and market orientation. The review explores the extent to which SMEs use business intelligence and data analytics, and reveals the performance and decision making impacts. A specific process is used to locate, analyze and assess pertinent research studies and determine the trends and gaps in literature. The results reveal that business analytics has the potential to improve operational efficiency and drive innovation, but its implementation is often hindered by factors such as resource constraints and technological challenges. Moreover, the interaction between man-management skills and technology infrastructure becomes crucial to draw on for the successful implementation. There are certain studies that emphasize analytics' role in global growth and sustainability, and others that stress the importance of tailored solutions to meet the distinct challenges faced by SMEs. The review provides a research agenda to fill theory and practice gaps, especially in the application of analytics to the continuous competitiveness of SMEs. This review brings together a range of views, to provide a basis for further research and to provide practical guidance for SME leaders.
Al-Majali et al. (Mon,) studied this question.