Thai SMES' response in the digital economy age : a case study of the service sector of community-based tourism in the upper Northern provinces group 2

Abstract

The purposes of the study were to identify the factors affecting SMEs’ response in the digital economy age, to examine the context of policy implementation and the role of stakeholders in the promotion and development of SMEs in the service sector of community-based tourism (CBT), to analyze the competitiveness of CBT, and to reveal the gap of service quality of SMEs at the CBT attractions. The research design consisted of both the qualitative and quantitative methods in order to fulfill four objectives of the study. The findings of this study are as follows. (1) It was found that five independent variables, i.e., the strategic management factor, the decision-making process factor, the structural contingency factor, the perceptive factor, and the SMEs’ potential factor, in the multiple regression model could together predict dependent variables. (2) Policy actors can be divided into three levels. Politicians or the Cabinets at the national policy level, high-level bureaucrats at the implementation level, and stakeholders of CBT in the province and community at the local level. Policy instruments are plans and projects to support SMEs. Stakeholders as the local-level actors played the role in development of SMEs under the concept of Collaborative Public Management. (3) The competitiveness analysis of CBT can be divided into five forces: rivalry of CBT, threat of new entrants, threat of substitute, bargaining power of suppliers, and bargaining power of customers. And (4) the gap of service quality of the CBT business. There are some problems in assurance of service.