Productivity Enhancements through Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies: Comparison of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises with Large Enterprises

12 pages•Published: June 20, 2022

Simon Karl Hubert Backhaus and Devika Nadarajah

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to compare small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) against large
enterprises (LEs) in terms of their productivity enhancements through Fourth Industrial Revolution
(IR4) technologies, specifically in the context of developing countries.
This study adopted a quantitative approach. Questionnaires were distributed to Malaysian manufacturers registered under Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation MATRADE via email and in-person at the Smart Manufacturing Uprising conference in Kuala Lumpur. A total of 76
valid responses were obtained and analyzed using multiple regression.
SMEs’ productivity was found to have significantly increased due to the Internet of Things and digital automation without sensors, while LEs’ productivity revealed a significant improvement from
integrated engineering systems.
The small sample size of 76 raises generalizability issues. Thus, large-scale quantitative research is
recommended to validate the relationships identified in this study.
The study is among the first to identify and compare the significant relationships between IR4
technologies and productivity enhancements among SMEs and LEs. The findings are of interest to academics as well as to public and private sector practitioners in directing resources to technologies
that enhance productivity.

Keyphrases: fourth industrial revolution, industry 4.0, internet of things, productivity, quantitative study

In: Knut Hinkelmann and Aurona Gerber (editors). Proceedings of the Society 5.0 Conference 2022 - Integrating Digital World and Real World to Resolve Challenges in Business and Society, vol 84, pages 13-24.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/jHjL
	https://doi.org/10.29007/njvx

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{Society5.0-2022:Productivity_Enhancements_through_Fourth,
  author    = {Simon Karl Hubert Backhaus and Devika Nadarajah},
  title     = {Productivity Enhancements through Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies: Comparison of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises with Large Enterprises},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the Society 5.0 Conference 2022 - Integrating Digital World and Real World to Resolve Challenges in Business and Society},
  editor    = {Knut Hinkelmann and Aurona Gerber},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Computing},
  volume    = {84},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2398-7340},
  url       = {/publications/paper/jHjL},
  doi       = {10.29007/njvx},
  pages     = {13-24},
  year      = {2022}}

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