PETALING JAYA: Trapper recently shared a business report called “CEOs Straight Talk” with local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to inform business owners and CEOs on the latest economic standing, and more importantly what they need to do to overcome the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic challenges.
Trapper is Malaysia’s largest independent marketing and media agency.
Data in the report was curated, aggregated and summarised according to the latest findings presented by World Bank in June 2021, Maxis Digital Readiness Index as well as astute academic papers.
The report comes with Trapper’s commentary in helping SMEs plan ahead for pandemic recovery.
Among the critical points for businesses is that the country has the highest number of SMEs in the region, and yet a very low share of activity. It also has a lower rate of tech adoption and is less likely to provide training and invest in innovative activities.
When it comes to the biggest barriers to digital adoption, two prominent reasons have been cited, which are low organisational readiness – lack of business-driven IT strategy with financial investment in place – and lack of digital culture.
When asked what are the critical things local firms must look into, Trapper CEO Lim Sue-Anne said: “We encourage business owners to go back to fundamentals. Measure, evaluate and articulate the value their business is creating, and assess how digital solutions can be used to increase that value.
“For example, by lowering the cost of doing business, increasing speed to market, or increasing staff performance, then they will be able to evaluate the right digital tool better and foster a positive and agile culture for adoption.
“Despite the pandemic, there is no right time to review their business strategy. Business transformation needs to happen today to not only protect revenue but also future-proof the business,” she said.
Malaysia has the lowest incidence of investment in the research and development (R&D) of products and markets. According to the World Bank, the country’s proportion of firms that introduced a product in the last three years dwarfed in comparison to regional countries. Therefore, Lim said Malaysia needs to believe in in R&D.
The other pertinent area that the private sector needs to focus on is the investment to upskill staff and design internal communications and programmes to develop a digital-first culture, such as increasing perceived ease-of-use and usefulness of digital tools, encourage internal digital adoption and thinking and update outdated key performance indicators (KPIs).
Lim urged business owners to develop a business transformation strategy and prioritise plans by putting investments behind them.
She said most firms have adopted digital tools for marketing and sales to maintain revenue generation during the lockdown period.
“While near-term digital adoption is important to maintain business continuity, a long-term plan needs to be in place for the business to remain competitive.
“Developing a strategic digital transformation plan that can provide a competitive edge in value creation and delivery is critical to future-proof businesses and in many senses, the nation.
“What we really need to understand is that Malaysia’s post-pandemic recovery will be largely driven by the private sector. The weight is not all on the government’s shoulders, it is on us to keep ourselves innovative and competitive, and maintain a high-level of productivity and skilled staff,” Lim said.
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2021/07/05/smes-need-to-sharpen-competitive-edge-in-a-post-pandemic-world