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Decision No. 749/QĐ-TTg on the National Digital Transformation Program to 2025, with a
vision to 2030. This demonstrates that the period 2021–2025 is a pivotal phase that
requires SMEs to innovate their operational models toward greater efficiency, flexibility
and adaptability.
In addition to digital transformation requirements, sustainable development has
increasingly become an important criterion for enterprises in the context of international
integration and competition. Therefore, studying the sustainable development of SMEs in
Vietnam in the context of digital transformation during the period 2021–2025 holds both
theoretical and practical significance. It helps clarify the relationship between digital
transformation and the long-term development capacity of enterprises, while also
providing a basis for proposing appropriate managerial implications and policy
recommendations.
Although digital transformation is considered a key driver for improving operational
efficiency and competitiveness, its implementation among Vietnamese SMEs remains
uneven. Many enterprises still face difficulties related to financial resources, digital
human capital, technological infrastructure, managerial capacity and strategic orientation
for implementation. Notably, digital transformation and sustainable development are
often approached as two separate issues, whereas in reality they are closely
interconnected processes. If digital transformation is limited to the adoption of isolated
technologies, enterprises may achieve short-term efficiency but find it difficult to create
sustainable economic, social and environmental value. Conversely, the goal of sustainable
development is also difficult to achieve effectively without a digital foundation that
supports governance, data transparency and market connectivity.
Accordingly, the research question arises: How does digital transformation affect
the sustainable development of SMEs in Vietnam during the period 2021–2025 and what
conditions are necessary for this process to generate genuine and sustainable outcomes?
The objective of this study is to clarify the theoretical foundation of sustainable SME
development in the context of digital transformation. In addition, the study analyzes the
current state of sustainable development among Vietnamese SMEs during the period
2021–2025 under the impact of digital transformation, thereby identifying achievements,
limitations and major barriers. Finally, the study proposes several managerial implications
and policy recommendations to promote digital transformation in alignment with the goal
of sustainable development for SMEs in the coming period.
2. Literature review, theoretical foundation and research methodology
2.1. Literature review and theoretical foundation
2.1.1. Literature review
In international scholarship, digital transformation is no longer viewed merely as the
adoption of digital tools, but as a structural process that reshapes how firms create value,
organize operations and respond to changes in the business environment. Vial (2019)
argues that digital transformation should be understood as a process through which
digital technologies generate disruptions that force organizations to reconsider their
value-creation logic, while at the same time confronting organizational and structural
barriers. This perspective is important because it moves the analytical focus away from
technology as an end in itself and instead frames digital transformation as an
organizational and strategic phenomenon.
A growing body of literature has also examined the relationship between digital
transformation and sustainable development. Guandalini (2022), based on a review of

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