Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

When Digital Intelligent Taking Over: Addressing SMEs Readiness on Industry 4.0 in Malaysia

Mira Qerul Barriah Muhamad, Syed Jamal Abdul Nasir Syed Mohamad, Norzanah Mat Nor

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i1/8335

Open access

For the past recent years, the fourth industrial revolution or famously known as Industry 4.0 has gained a large degree of intellectual interest. The usage of Internet augmented tremendously. Business models have been revolutionized and transformed accordingly, adding values to be commercialized. Industry 4.0 is a modern age of revolution in which businesses embrace innovative technology and digital transformation to improve productivity and competitive advantage to sustain in dynamic business landscape. Digital technology strengthens market environment by providing incomparable prospects for growth, employment and innovation. However, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs hereafter) in Malaysia faced several challenges in embracing the technology innovation offered by Industry 4.0. Growing evidence have shown that SMEs in Malaysia are not accustomed with enormous features of Industry 4.0 such as cloud computing, Artificial Intelligent, Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data. Hence, this paper presents list of responsive mechanisms and coherent policies taken by Malaysian government and various authorities in addressing such challenges. Among the mechanisms and policies structured include provide funding and incentive, ecosystem support, training, coordinate standards and digital integration, build infrastructure and regulate the governance. This paper buttresses a notion that a proactive government is important for the march of better future.

Agostini, L., & Nosella, A. (2019). The adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in SMEs: results of an international study. Management Decision, 58(4), 625-643. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-09-2018-0973
Agostini, L., & Filippini, R. (2019). Organizational and managerial challenges in the path toward Industry 4.0. European Journal of Innovation Management, 22(3), 406–421. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-02-2018-0030
Asian Productivity Organization. (2019). Gearing Up to Industry 4.0 Digitization Strategies for SMEs. Retrieved from https://www.apo-tokyo.org/publications/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Gearing-Up-To-Industry-4.0-Digitization-Strategies-for-SMEs.pdf
Chin, Y. W., & Lim, E. S. (2018). SME Policies and Performance in Malaysia. Yusof Ishak Institute, Economics Working Paper, 3. 1-40. Unpublished.
Dallasega, P., Rauch, E., Linder, C. (2018). Industry 4.0 as an enabler of proximity for construction supply chains: a systematic literature review. Comput. Ind. 99, 205–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compind.2018.03.039
Department of Statistics Malaysia. (2019). Contribution of Digital Economy was 18.5 per cent to National Economy. Retrieved from
https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php/index.php?r=column/ctheme&menu_id=b0pIV1E3RW40VWRTUkZocEhyZ1pLUT09&bul_id=UERrcjExbnRKd3NwQ0Y3V011RngyQT09
Drath, R., & Horch, A. (2014). Industrie 4.0: Hit or hype? [industry forum], IEEE Industrial Electron Magazine, 8(2), 56-58. https://doi.org/10.1109/MIE.2014.2312079
Imran, M., Hameed, W. U., & Haque, A. U. (2018). Influence of Industry 4.0 on the Production and Service Sectors in Pakistan: Evidence from Textile and Logistics Industries. Social Sciences, 7(246), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7120246
Ismail, M. R., & Zakaria, Z. (2018). The effects of entrepreneurship orientation, government support and internalization on Malaysian SMEs performance. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(7), 453-468. https://doi.org/IJARBSS/v8-i7/4387
Ling, Y. M., Hamid, N. A. A., & Chuan, L. T. (2020). Is Malaysia ready for Industry 4.0? Issues and Challenges in Manufacturing Industry. The International Journal of Integrated Engineering, 12(7), 134-150. https://doi.org/10.30880/ijie.2020.12.07.016
Malaysian Investment Development Authority. (2018). Pushing Technology for SMEs. Retrieved from https://www.mida.gov.my/home/7538/news/pushing-technology-for-smes/
Ministry of Trade and Industry. (2018). Industry4wrd: National Policy on Industry 4.0. Retrieved from https://www.miti.gov.my/miti/resources/National%20Policy%20on%20Industry%204.0/Industry4WRD_Final.pdf
Molino, M., Cortese, C. G., & Ghislieri, C. (2020). The Promotion of Technology Acceptance and Work Engagement in Industry 4.0: From Personal Resources to Information and Training. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (2438), 1-15. https://doi.org/doi:10.3390/ijerph17072438
Muhamad, M. Q. B., Mohamad, S. J. A. N. S., & Nor, N. M. (2020). Prefiguring Issues of SMEs Readiness in Malaysia as the Future of Industry 4.0 Unfolds. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(12), 1283–1292. https://doi.org/6007/IJARBSS/v10-i12/7635
Musa, H., & Chinniah, M. (2016). Malaysian SMEs development: future and challenges on going green. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Science, 224, 254-262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.457
National Entrepreneurship Policy 2030, (2019). Retrieved from https://www.medac.gov.my/admin/files/med/image/portal/NEP2030-Final.pdf
Ombi, N., Ambad, S. N. A., & Bujang, I. (2018). The Effect of Business Development Services on Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Performance. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(3), 114–127. https://doi.org/doi:10.3390/10.6007/IJARBSS/v8-i3/3910
Singh, D. S. M., & Hanafi, N. B. (2020). Innovation Capacity and Performance of Malaysian SMES. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(2), 665–679. https://doi.org/6007/IJARBSS/v10-i2/6956
SME Corporation Malaysia. (2018). Propelling SMEs in the Digital World. Retrieved from https://www.smecorp.gov.my/index.php/en/resources/2015-12-21-10-55-22/news/3475-propelling-smes-in-the-digital-world
SME Corporation Malaysia. (2018). SME Annual Report 2017/2018 – Access to Finance. Retrieved from
https://www.smecorp.gov.my/images/SMEAR/SMEAR2017/ENG/Chapter6.pdf
Zhu, K., Kraemer, K. L., & Xu, S. (2006). The process of innovation assimilation by firms in different countries: a technology diffusion perspective on e-business. Management science, 52(10), 1557- 1576

In-Text Citation: (Muhamad et al., 2021)
To Cite this Article: Muhamad, M. Q. B., Mohamad, S. J. A. N. S., & Nor, N. M. (2021). When Digital Intelligence Taking Over: Mechanisms in Addressing SMEs Readiness on Industry 4.0 in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(1), 543–551.