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transformation, and how they perceive its relationship with sustainable development in
Vietnam during the period 2021–2025. Although the study uses five-point Likert-scale
items and reports mean values, these numerical results are used only for descriptive
purposes, namely to summarize patterns of perception, indicate the relative prominence
of factors and support thematic interpretation. The study does not use inferential
statistics, causal modeling or hypothesis testing. Accordingly, the role of quantitative
information is supportive rather than determinative, while the core contribution of the
study lies in interpretive analysis grounded in theory and context.
The research relies on two sources of data. The first is secondary data, including
legal documents, government reports, publications by international organizations and
academic studies on digital transformation, SMEs and sustainable development. These
materials are used to establish the policy and theoretical context, identify major debates
in the literature and triangulate the interpretation of empirical findings. The second is
primary data collected from 200 SMEs through a semi-structured questionnaire survey.
The sample consists of 200 SMEs operating in Vietnam during the 2021–2025 period.
The selection of enterprises followed purposive sampling logic, with the aim of ensuring
that respondents could provide informed and relevant evidence on digital transformation
practices and development orientation. Only enterprises classified as small and medium-
sized under the Vietnamese context and having actual exposure to digital tools, digital
processes or digital business activities were included. Respondents were business owners,
directors, senior managers or personnel directly involved in operations, business
development or technology-related activities. This selection strategy helped ensure that
the responses reflected organizational realities rather than superficial observation.
Although the sample was not intended for statistical generalization to the entire
population of Vietnamese SMEs, it was structured to capture a diversity of enterprise
experiences across common SME characteristics such as operational scale, business field
and level of digital engagement. In this sense, the sample is analytically representative
rather than statistically representative. Its strength lies in covering a sufficiently varied
range of enterprise profiles to identify recurring patterns, major constraints and
meaningful differences in the way digital transformation is perceived and implemented.
The primary instrument was a semi-structured questionnaire designed on the basis
of the research objectives and theoretical framework. The questionnaire was organized
into five thematic parts: enterprise characteristics; awareness and implementation of
digital transformation; technological, organizational and environmental conditions;
adaptability and innovation capacity; and perceived outcomes in economic, social and
environmental terms. The semi-structured format was chosen because it combined the
comparability of fixed survey items with the interpretive value of open-ended responses.
This enabled the study not only to aggregate assessments but also to understand the
practical reasoning behind those assessments.
Most evaluative items in the questionnaire used a five-point Likert scale, with
responses ranging from 1 to 5 to indicate increasing levels of agreement, intensity or
perceived effectiveness. The use of the Likert scale served two purposes. First, it helped
standardize responses across enterprises and made it possible to summarize broad trends
through frequencies, percentages and mean scores. Second, it supported the qualitative
interpretation by showing which dimensions were consistently viewed as stronger or
weaker. In this study, however, mean scores are not interpreted as precise measurements

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