Industry 4.0: A Solution towards Technology Challenges of Sustainable Business Performance

Muhammad Haseeb, Hafezali Iqbal Hussain, Beata Ślusarczyk and Kittisak Jermsittiparsert
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Muhammad Haseeb: Taylor’s Business School (TBS), Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, 1, Jalan Taylors, Subang Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia
Beata Ślusarczyk: Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, P.O. Box 1174, Vanderbijlpark 1900, South Africa
Kittisak Jermsittiparsert: Social Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Social Sciences, 2019, vol. 8, issue 5, 1-24

Abstract: Technology adoption is always a difficult task for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) due to lack of resources and other market issues. Many technology challenges adversely affect the sustainable business performance of SMEs. However, the incorporation of Industry 4.0 can overcome various technology issues. The goal of Industry 4.0 is to attain an advanced level of operational effectiveness and productivity, as well as a higher level of automatization. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify the role of Industry 4.0 to promote sustainable business performance in SMEs in Thailand. A survey has been prepared to collect the data from managers of SMEs and analyzed with the help of Partial Least Square. The questionnaire was used to collect the data and questionnaires were distributed by using simple random sampling. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed amongst the managerial staff of SMEs located in Thailand. From these distributed questionnaires, 280 were returned and 270 valid responses were found. Data were analyzed by using Partial Least Square (PLS)-Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Findings reveal that Industry 4.0 is a key to the growth of sustainable business performance among SMEs. Elements of Industry 4.0 such as big data, Internet of Things and smart factory have a positive role in promoting information technology (IT) implementation, which contributes to sustainable business performance. Moreover, organization structure and process strengthen the positive relationship between Industry 4.0 and IT implementation.

Keywords: Industry 4.0; big data; business performance; IoT; smart factory; SMEs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

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