Adoption of fourth industrial revolution 4.0 among Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

Arfan Shahzad, Mohd Syarol Azuan bin Zakaria, Herbert Kotzab (), Muhammad Abdul Majid Makki, Aamir Hussain and Julia Fischer
Additional contact information
Arfan Shahzad: University of Sargodha
Mohd Syarol Azuan bin Zakaria: University Utara Malaysia
Herbert Kotzab: University of North Florida
Muhammad Abdul Majid Makki: University Bahawalpur
Aamir Hussain: University Utara Malaysia
Julia Fischer: Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU)

Palgrave Communications, 2023, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Using Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) technology, companies can upscale their innovation in organizing, managing, and controlling the value chain life cycle. IR4.0 is anticipated to bring challenges and opportunities to developing economies such as Malaysia, but due to its novelty to the Malaysian business community, the concept still needs clarity in its definition for proper understanding and business practice. This paper aims to examine the impact of IR4.0 adoption on Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by analyzing the organizational readiness, relative advantage, compatibility, top management support, government regulation, and competitive pressure, and its relationship with the adoption of IR4.0 to Malaysian SMEs. This study framework is based on the diffusion of innovation theory (DOI) and technology–organization–environment (TOE) framework. The study results verified the importance of relative advantage, compatibility, competitive pressure, and top management support as significant predictors of IR4.0 adoption. The study is expected to benefit regulators and business ecosystems in understanding the challenges in implementing IR4.0 in Malaysia and formulating intervention processes and programs for successful IR4.0 adoption.

Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-023-02076-0 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palcom:v:10:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-023-02076-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/palcomms/about

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-023-02076-0

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Palgrave Communications from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().