The claim
Spending on digital tools does not reliably improve a business. Using them to actually change how the business finds, serves and keeps customers is what tends to move the numbers.
The evidence
Merín-Rodrigáñez, Dasí and Alegre (2024) surveyed 434 innovative small and medium-sized firms in Spain and modelled the relationships between three things: how far each firm had digitally transformed, how much it had changed its business model, and how it was performing.
Two findings stand out:
- Digital transformation was positively associated with firm performance.
- That association was partly explained by business model innovation — changes to how the firm creates and delivers value. Digital transformation also predicted more business model innovation.
The authors frame business model innovation as the mechanism that channels digital investment “towards performance improvement” — the bridge between buying capability and getting a return on it.
What it actually means
- Tools alone are not the lever. What you do differently because of them is.
- A website, a booking system, a CRM connection — these earn their keep when they change the customer’s experience or the business’s economics, not when they just exist.
- “We have a website” is table stakes. “Our website changed how enquiries reach us and how fast we respond” is the version that shows up in results.
The limits
This is important: the study covers innovative Spanish SMEs, surveyed at one point in time, using self-reported measures. It shows association, not proof of cause, and “digital transformation” there is a broad, firm-wide concept — not specifically “getting a better website.” It should not be read as “a new website will raise your revenue by X.” It is evidence for a direction: digital effort connected to real operational change is the version that correlates with doing better.
What HEDRICK builds in response
HEDRICK does not sell technology for its own sake. Before building, the conversation is about what should actually change — how customers find the business, what they experience when they do, where the friction is. The website and any systems around it are designed to move those things. That is also why the Partnership and Custom levels exist: for businesses where the digital work is meant to keep changing how the business runs.
Sources
- Digital transformation and firm performance in innovative SMEs: The mediating role of business model innovation PLS-SEM analysis of survey data from 434 innovative Spanish SMEs. Digital transformation was positively related to performance; business model innovation partially mediated the relationship. Cross-sectional and correlational, not a controlled experiment. doi:10.1016/j.technovation.2024.103027
HEDRICK links to the primary sources so you can read the context and the limitations yourself. Findings are summarised carefully and are not a substitute for the original research.
