IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rbs/ijbrss/v11y2022i9p265-279.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The perceived societal impact of the fourth industrial revolution in South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Matolwandile Mtotywa

    (Tshwane School for Business and Society, Tshwane University of Technology,Pretoria, South Africa)

  • Smilo P Manqele

    (Business and Social Research Institute)

  • Thulani J Manqele

    (Business and Social Research Institute)

  • Mankodi Moitse

    (Chief Executive, Kagiso Development Trust, Johannesburg, 2090, South Africa)

  • Modjadji A. Seabi

    (Project Management Office Head, Kagiso Development Trust, Johannesburg, 2090, South Africa)

  • Nontando Mthethwa

    (Head: Public Affairs & Communications, Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, Johannesburg, 2090, South Africa)

Abstract

Societal impact reflects the changes that transform the society which affect the well-being of individuals and their families. This study aimed to understand the perceived societal impact of the fourth industrial revolution in South Africa. The investigation used an exploratory mixed research method, with six experts in round table discussion (focus group) and a survey questionnaire with 1,1105 responses. The findings of the study confirm the existential relational proposition that the fourth industrial revolution has a societal impact in South Africa. It is influenced by socio-demographic (province, age) and socio-economic (education and employment) factors. The findings also revealed that the perceived highest impact of fourth industrial revolution’s will be on improved re-industrialisation (RII = 68.6 percent), increase in work mobility (RII = 68.1 percent) and improved service delivery (65.1 percent). Regarding benefits, if correctly leveraged, these new disruptive technologies create a significant opportunity to leapfrog the advancements made in the previous industrial revolutions and help develop society. However, this might widen socio-economic gaps further, especially if there is no action to change the status quo of the highly unequal society in South Africa. Key Words:Societal impact, fourth industrial revolution, relative importance index, South Africa

Suggested Citation

  • Matolwandile Mtotywa & Smilo P Manqele & Thulani J Manqele & Mankodi Moitse & Modjadji A. Seabi & Nontando Mthethwa, 2022. "The perceived societal impact of the fourth industrial revolution in South Africa," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 11(9), pages 265-279, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:rbs:ijbrss:v:11:y:2022:i:9:p:265-279
    DOI: 10.20525/ijrbs.v11i9.2139
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs/article/view/2139/1580
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v11i9.2139
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.20525/ijrbs.v11i9.2139?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jayant Menon & Anna Fink, 2019. "The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Its Implications for Regional Economic Integration in ASEAN," Journal of Asian Economic Integration, , vol. 1(1), pages 32-47, April.
    2. Eva Kuruczleki & Anita Pelle & Renata Laczi & Boglarka Fekete, 2016. "The Readiness of the European Union to Embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution," Management, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 11(4), pages 327-347.
    3. Mohajan, Haradhan, 2021. "Third Industrial Revolution Brings Global Development," MPRA Paper 110972, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 28 Sep 2021.
    4. Ginger Zhe Jin, 2018. "Artificial Intelligence and Consumer Privacy," NBER Working Papers 24253, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qing Li & Long Hai Vo, 2021. "Intangible Capital and Innovation: An Empirical Analysis of Vietnamese Enterprises," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 21-02, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    2. Mohajan, Devajit & Mohajan, Haradhan, 2023. "The Responses of an Organization for the Increase in Wage Rates: Profit Maximization Cases," MPRA Paper 118238, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Jun 2023.
    3. Mohajan, Devajit & Mohajan, Haradhan, 2023. "Economic Investigation of Lagrange Multiplier if Cost of Inputs and Budget Size of a Firm Increase: A Profit Maximization Endeavor," MPRA Paper 117993, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 07 May 2023.
    4. Mohajan, Devajit & Mohajan, Haradhan, 2023. "Mathematical Model for Nonlinear Budget Constraint: Economic Activities on Increased Budget," MPRA Paper 117299, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 17 Mar 2023.
    5. Paupini, Cristina & van der Zeeuw, Alex & Fiane Teigen, Helene, 2022. "Trust in the institution and privacy management of Internet of Things devices. A comparative case study of Dutch and Norwegian households," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    6. Arpita Mukherjee & Divya Satija, 2020. "Regional Cooperation in Industrial Revolution 4.0 and South Asia: Opportunities, Challenges and Way Forward," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 21(1), pages 76-98, March.
    7. Letícia Castro Peixoto & Ricardo Rodrigues Barbosa & Adriana Ferreira Faria, 2022. "Management of Regional Knowledge: Knowledge Flows Among University, Industry, and Government," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(1), pages 92-110, March.
    8. Mohajan, Devajit & Mohajan, Haradhan, 2023. "Various Problems Arise in Industrial Economics If Wage Rate Increases: A Study for Nonlinear Budget Constraint," MPRA Paper 117553, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 04 Apr 2023.
    9. Mohajan, Devajit & Mohajan, Haradhan, 2023. "Bulimia Nervosa: A Psychiatric Problem of Disorder," MPRA Paper 117258, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 17 Mar 2023.
    10. Hayriye ATİK & Fatma ÜNLÜ, 2020. "Industry 4.0-Related Digital Divide in Enterprises: An Analysis for The European Union-28 Abstract: Digital divide has been measured using various indicators in the literature so far. In contrast from," Sosyoekonomi Journal, Sosyoekonomi Society, issue 28(45).
    11. Mohajan, Devajit & Mohajan, Haradhan, 2023. "Sensitivity Analysis for Utility Maximization: A Study on Lagrange Multipliers and Commodity Coupons," MPRA Paper 117077, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Jan 2023.
    12. Laura Abrardi & Carlo Cambini & Laura Rondi, 2022. "Artificial intelligence, firms and consumer behavior: A survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 969-991, September.
    13. Tesary Lin & Avner Strulov-Shlain, 2023. "Choice Architecture, Privacy Valuations, and Selection Bias in Consumer Data," Papers 2308.13496, arXiv.org.
    14. Xiang Hui & Oren Reshef & Luofeng Zhou, 2023. "The Short-Term Effects of Generative Artificial Intelligence on Employment: Evidence from an Online Labor Market," CESifo Working Paper Series 10601, CESifo.
    15. Mohajan, Devajit & Mohajan, Haradhan, 2023. "Sensitivity Analysis of Inputs of an Organization: A Profit Maximization Exploration," MPRA Paper 117121, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 12 Mar 2023.
    16. Mohajan, Devajit & Mohajan, Haradhan, 2023. "A Study on Body Fat Percentage for Physical Fitness and Prevention of Obesity: A Two Compartment Model," MPRA Paper 117158, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Feb 2023.
    17. Brodny, Jarosław & Tutak, Magdalena, 2023. "Assessing the level of digital maturity in the Three Seas Initiative countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    18. Mohajan, Devajit & Mohajan, Haradhan, 2023. "Economic Aspects of Profit Maximization if Cost of Principal Raw Material Increases," MPRA Paper 117453, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 22 Mar 2023.
    19. Mohajan, Devajit & Mohajan, Haradhan, 2023. "A Study on Nonlinear Budget Constraint of a Local Industrial Firm of Bangladesh: A Profit Maximization Investigation," MPRA Paper 117324, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 27 Mar 2023.
    20. Mohajan, Devajit & Mohajan, Haradhan, 2023. "An Economical Study When Cost of Irregular Raw Materials of an Industry Increases for Nonlinear Budget Constraint," MPRA Paper 118176, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 May 2023.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rbs:ijbrss:v:11:y:2022:i:9:p:265-279. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Umit Hacioglu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ssbffea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.