The digitalization of services and products is now a fundamental part of business processes. Its impact on business performance, however, is not yet fully understood. In this study, the Italian startup population is analysed to determine their digital habits. The adoption of intra-organizational and inter-organizational electronic infrastructures is analyzed. The results of the manual analysis (Steps 3 and 4) are compared with the computer-assisted analysis of Steps 4 and 5 to determine the factors that affect the digital behavior of Italian startups.
The analysis of the data shows that on average Italian startups use 1.23 digital infrastructures across organizations and 1.75 intra-organizational digital infrastructures. It is also evident that the utilization of digital infrastructures by Italian startups is limited. On average, only two inter-organizational infrastructures are in use and 68% of all analyzed startups have only one intra-organizational technology.
These findings suggest that a large majority of Italian startup companies exhibit digital follower style of behavior rather than advancing digital leader behaviour. The primary reason could be due to the fact that, despite being enrolled in the Startup Act https://adslwireless.biz/due-diligence-in-italys-ma-transactions/ policy initiative, they are not yet mature enough for digital leadership strategies. It is for this reason that it is recommended to the government to implement new policies aimed increasing the digitalization of Italian Startup Ecosystem. This could include, for instance public financial incentives targeted at accelerating the digitalization of startups.