A comparative investigation of the impact of digitalisation and work-from-home policy on firm performance: MNEs vs international SMEs

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of work-from-home (WFH) practices, raising important questions about their long-term implications for organisational performance. This issue is particularly salient for multinational enterprises (MNEs) and international small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), where digitalisation has significantly reshaped work arrangements. This study evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of WFH and their differential impacts on MNEs and international SMEs. A comparative analysis was conducted using expert pairwise judgements, assessed through linguistic terms with weakened hedges (LTWHs) within the Best–Worst Method (BWM) framework. The LTWHs approach enables experts to articulate nuanced and flexible preferences, extending traditional linguistic scales by softening the strength of evaluations. This makes it particularly suited for capturing subjective assessments of WFH impacts under conditions of uncertainty. The findings indicate substantial variation in WFH adoption, with private sector organisations demonstrating approximately 50 % greater willingness to adopt WFH compared to public authorities. The analysis further highlights the distinct advantages and disadvantages that shape the performance outcomes of MNEs and international SMEs. By introducing a novel hesitant fuzzy linguistic preference approach, this study develops a comprehensive framework for assessing the organisational consequences of WFH. The results offer valuable insights for managers and policymakers seeking to strike a balance between flexibility, productivity, and resilience in the design of post-pandemic work strategies.