The mediating role of competitive advantage in ERP-RFID integration for enhancing global market success of Indonesian SMEs

Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstractCompetitive advantage is crucial for the global market as the integration of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and radio frequency identification (RFID) enhances MSMEs’ efficiency, flexibility, and responsiveness, strengthening competitiveness and global expansion. We aim to test the effects of ERP and RFID on competitive advantage and how competitive advantage influences global market success, both directly and through the mediating role. The survey was conducted in June 2025 in Kediri, East Java, Indonesia. It involved 225 SME actors from 75 clusters, selected randomly to reduce bias. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale and analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).The analysis results demonstrate that ERP and RFID significantly enhance a company’s competitive advantage, with path coefficients of 0.2708 for ERP and 0.5434 for RFID, both highly significant at p = 0.0000. This competitive advantage positively influences global market expansion, with a coefficient of 0.4687 (p = 0.0000), highlighting its crucial role in international growth. Furthermore, both ERP and RFID contribute directly to global market expansion, where RFID exhibits a stronger effect with coefficients of 0.1593 for ERP and 0.2500 for RFID (p = 0.0000). Mediation analysis confirms that competitive advantage significantly mediates the relationship between technology implementations and global market expansion, with RFID’s mediating effect (0.2547) exceeding that of ERP (0.1269). This evidence confirms that implementing ERP and RFID significantly enhances a company’s competitive advantage and contributes to global market expansion, with RFID demonstrating a stronger impact and serving as a crucial mediating factor in this relationship.AcknowledgmentsWe sincerely thank the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology of Indonesia, Directorate General of Research and Development, for their financial support, which made the successful completion of this research possible. The funding, granted through the Research and Community Service Program (DPPM) for the 2025 fiscal year under the “Regular Fundamental Research” scheme, was instrumental in facilitating the research activities and contributing to the overall success of this endeavor.