The importance of digitalization among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is undeniable, especially when the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is also focusing on how to connect SMEs in Southeast Asia through digitalization. Many incentives have been provided by the government to encourage SMEs’ involvement in digital transformation such as grants and training for SMEs to adopt digitalization in daily operations; however, digitalization did not attract the participation

of all SMEs. As such, the issue of SMEs’ tendency to lag in technological adoption becomes the main concern of this study, since many SMEs are unable to internationalize digitally because they were not initially designed to scale that way. In addition, managing businesses using online platforms is also challenging, especially when higher costs are involved. Nonetheless, changing this situation by removing the barriers may help SMEs to build the resilience needed for future uncertainties. Therefore, this study

attempts to examine the relationship between technology acceptance and technology compliance costs toward business resilience among SMEs. A structured questionnaire was developed, validated, and distributed to SME owners via an online survey form from May 2021 to December 2021. A total of 215 SMEs completed the questionnaire and they were included in the data analysis, which was carried out using SPSS version 20. The findings showed that the two factors under technology acceptance, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, had a significant positive relationship with business resilience. In this regard, SMEs’ lack of new technology acceptance would have an adverse effect on their business performance. In addition, compliance costs were also found to have a positive and significant relationship with business resilience. Hence, SMEs’ investment in technology platforms and provision of employee training to use digital platforms will positively affect their business resilience. In view of the digitalization

of SMEs becoming an important national agenda, the findings of this study will further support and motivate SMEs to adopt the current technology and engage in digital transformation. Ultimately, the study justifies the policymakers’ urgent attention to actively encourage SMEs to transform their businesses before they are left behind.

Highlights

• This paper is devoted to study the factors that encourage SMEs’ involvement in digital transformation.
• In the course of the study, the effect of technology acceptance and compliance costs toward business resilience among SMEs are examined.