IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i21p11703-d662763.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Addressing the Impact of Fourth Industrial Revolution on South African Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Author

Listed:
  • John Mugambwa Serumaga-Zake

    (Digital Transformation and Innovation, Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL), University of South Africa (Unisa), Midrand 1682, South Africa)

  • John Andrew van der Poll

    (Digital Transformation and Innovation, Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL), University of South Africa (Unisa), Midrand 1682, South Africa)

Abstract

The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) may fundamentally alter, not only the way people work but also, how Small and Medium (SME) manufacturing businesses operate. In the manufacturing sector, the 4IR may change the design; manufacturing; operations; services, products, and production systems; connectivity; and the interaction among parts, machines, and people. While the 4IR technologies may have many benefits, owing to innovation and technological progress, the manufacturing SMEs require their challenges to be addressed before they may benefit from 4IR technologies. To the best of the knowledge of the researchers, there is no conceptual 4IR manufacturing framework, specifically for a developing economy, which is necessary for addressing these challenges and the opportunities promised by the new industry. This research, therefore, intends to fill this gap by developing a conceptual 4IR framework to assist South African manufacturing SMEs in addressing some of these challenges. Following a comprehensive literature review, components of the 4IR and challenges in the manufacturing industry are elucidated, aimed at defining a set of qualitative propositions as our instrument to develop a conceptual framework for embedding 4IR technologies and opportunities in the manufacturing industry. Further aspects of the framework enable businesses to gain a competitive advantage and sustainable business performance. Future work in this area will validate the framework among stakeholders in the manufacturing industry within the context of a developing economy.

Suggested Citation

  • John Mugambwa Serumaga-Zake & John Andrew van der Poll, 2021. "Addressing the Impact of Fourth Industrial Revolution on South African Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-31, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:11703-:d:662763
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/11703/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/11703/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Moses Oketch, 2014. "Education Policy, Vocational Training, and the Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-069, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. John A. Parnell & Nicholas O'Regan & Abby Ghobadian, 2006. "Measuring performance in competitive strategy research," International Journal of Management and Decision Making, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 7(4), pages 408-417.
    3. Naudé, Wim, 2017. "Entrepreneurship, Education and the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Africa," IZA Discussion Papers 10855, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Thomas C. Powell, 2001. "Competitive advantage: logical and philosophical considerations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(9), pages 875-888, September.
    5. Galbreath, Jeremy & Galvin, Peter, 2008. "Firm factors, industry structure and performance variation: New empirical evidence to a classic debate," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 109-117, February.
    6. Arrighetti, Alessandro & Landini, Fabio & Lasagni, Andrea, 2014. "Intangible assets and firm heterogeneity: Evidence from Italy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 202-213.
    7. Riccardo Brozzi & David Forti & Erwin Rauch & Dominik T. Matt, 2020. "The Advantages of Industry 4.0 Applications for Sustainability: Results from a Sample of Manufacturing Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-19, May.
    8. Shana R. Ponelis & Marlene A. Holmner, 2015. "ICT in Africa: Building a Better Life for All," Information Technology for Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 163-177, April.
    9. Julian Marius Müller & Daniel Kiel & Kai-Ingo Voigt, 2018. "What Drives the Implementation of Industry 4.0? The Role of Opportunities and Challenges in the Context of Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-24, January.
    10. Andersen, Otto & Suat Kheam, Low, 1998. "Resource-based theory and international growth strategies: an exploratory study," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 163-184, April.
    11. Todd R. Zenger & William S. Hesterly, 1997. "The Disaggregation of Corporations: Selective Intervention, High-Powered Incentives, and Molecular Units," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(3), pages 209-222, June.
    12. Neil A. Morgan & Douglas W. Vorhies & Charlotte H. Mason, 2009. "Market orientation, marketing capabilities, and firm performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 909-920, August.
    13. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Jeffrey A. Martin, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities: what are they?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1105-1121, October.
    14. Scott L. Newbert, 2008. "Value, rareness, competitive advantage, and performance: a conceptual‐level empirical investigation of the resource‐based view of the firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(7), pages 745-768, July.
    15. Ogundari, Kolawole & Awokuse, Titus, 2018. "Human capital contribution to economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Does health status matter more than education?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 131-140.
    16. Sidney G. Winter, 2003. "Understanding dynamic capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 991-995, October.
    17. Nicolai J. Foss & Thorbjørn Knudsen, 2003. "The resource-based tangle: towards a sustainable explanation of competitive advantage," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 291-307.
    18. Gautam Ray & Jay B. Barney & Waleed A. Muhanna, 2004. "Capabilities, business processes, and competitive advantage: choosing the dependent variable in empirical tests of the resource‐based view," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 23-37, January.
    19. Melanie Arntz & Terry Gregory & Ulrich Zierahn, 2016. "The Risk of Automation for Jobs in OECD Countries: A Comparative Analysis," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 189, OECD Publishing.
    20. Richard Whittington & Andrew Pettigrew & Simon Peck & Evelyn Fenton & Martin Conyon, 1999. "Change and Complementarities in the New Competitive Landscape: A European Panel Study, 1992–1996," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(5), pages 583-600, October.
    21. Muhammad Haseeb & Hafezali Iqbal Hussain & Beata Ślusarczyk & Kittisak Jermsittiparsert, 2019. "Industry 4.0: A Solution towards Technology Challenges of Sustainable Business Performance," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-24, May.
    22. Oketch, Moses, 2014. "Education policy, vocational training, and the youth in Sub-Saharan Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series 069, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    23. Manuela Ingaldi & Robert Ulewicz, 2019. "Problems with the Implementation of Industry 4.0 in Enterprises from the SME Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, December.
    24. Ercan Oztemel & Samet Gursev, 2020. "Literature review of Industry 4.0 and related technologies," Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 127-182, January.
    25. Frey, Carl Benedikt & Osborne, Michael A., 2017. "The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 254-280.
    26. Maurizio Zollo & Sidney G. Winter, 2002. "Deliberate Learning and the Evolution of Dynamic Capabilities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 339-351, June.
    27. Hoque, Zahirul, 2014. "20 years of studies on the balanced scorecard: Trends, accomplishments, gaps and opportunities for future research," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 33-59.
    28. Ainuddin, R. Azimah & Beamish, Paul W. & Hulland, John S. & Rouse, Michael J., 2007. "Resource attributes and firm performance in international joint ventures," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 47-60, March.
    29. Ranjay Gulati & Dovev Lavie & Harbir Singh, 2009. "The nature of partnering experience and the gains from alliances," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(11), pages 1213-1233, November.
    30. Hemant Merchant & Dan Schendel, 2000. "How do international joint ventures create shareholder value?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(7), pages 723-737, July.
    31. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    32. Abraham Carmeli & Asher Tishler, 2004. "Resources, capabilities, and the performance of industrial firms: A multivariate analysis," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(6-7), pages 299-315.
    33. Muhammad Haseeb & Hafezali Iqbal Hussain & Sebastian Kot & Armenia Androniceanu & Kittisak Jermsittiparsert, 2019. "Role of Social and Technological Challenges in Achieving a Sustainable Competitive Advantage and Sustainable Business Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-23, July.
    34. Brahmadev Panda & N. M. Leepsa, 2017. "Agency theory: Review of Theory and Evidence on Problems and Perspectives," Indian Journal of Corporate Governance, , vol. 10(1), pages 74-95, June.
    35. Jesper Strandskov, 2006. "Sources of competitive advantages and business performance," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(3), pages 119-129.
    36. Caloghirou, Yiannis & Protogerou, Aimilia & Spanos, Yiannis & Papagiannakis, Lefteris, 2004. "Industry-Versus Firm-specific Effects on Performance:: Contrasting SMEs and Large-sized Firms," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 231-243, April.
    37. Margaret A. Peteraf & Jay B. Barney, 2003. "Unraveling the resource-based tangle," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 309-323.
    38. Petre Prisecaru, 2016. "Challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution," Knowledge Horizons - Economics, Faculty of Finance, Banking and Accountancy Bucharest,"Dimitrie Cantemir" Christian University Bucharest, vol. 8(1), pages 57-62, March.
    39. Yiannis E. Spanos & Spyros Lioukas, 2001. "An examination into the causal logic of rent generation: contrasting Porter's competitive strategy framework and the resource‐based perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(10), pages 907-934, October.
    40. Villalonga, Belen, 2004. "Intangible resources, Tobin's q, and sustainability of performance differences," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 205-230, June.
    41. Vassiliki Bamiatzi & Konstantinos Bozos & S. Tamer Cavusgil & G. Tomas M. Hult, 2016. "Revisiting the firm, industry, and country effects on profitability under recessionary and expansion periods: A multilevel analysis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(7), pages 1448-1471, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Boysana Lephoi Mbonyane & Charles Mbohwa & Jan Harm Christiaan Pretorius, 2023. "Physical and Technological Capital Efficiency for Profit Growth in Small and Medium Enterprises in Gauteng, South Africa: A Descriptive Qualitative Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-23, April.
    2. Patrick Ssekitoleko & Shepherd Dhliwayo, 2023. "Elevating South Africa’s Entrepreneurial Activity in the Fourth Industrial Revolution Era," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-13, August.

    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. Nayak, Bishwajit & Bhattacharyya, Som Sekhar & Krishnamoorthy, Bala, 2022. "Exploring the black box of competitive advantage – An integrated bibliometric and chronological literature review approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 964-982.
    2. Zhang, Yucheng & Hou, Zhongwei & Yang, Feifei & Yang, Miles M. & Wang, Zhiling, 2021. "Discovering the evolution of resource-based theory: Science mapping based on bibliometric analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 500-516.
    3. M. à ngeles López-Cabarcos & Sérgio Göttling-Oliveira-Monteiro & Paula Vázquez-Rodríguez, 2015. "Organizational Capabilities and Profitability," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(4), pages 21582440156, November.
    4. Iyer, Karthik N.S. & Srivastava, Prashant & Srinivasan, Mahesh, 2019. "Performance implications of lean in supply chains: Exploring the role of learning orientation and relational resources," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 94-104.
    5. Kraaijenbrink, Jeroen & Spender, JC & Groen, Aard, 2009. "The resource-based view: A review and assessment of its critiques," MPRA Paper 21442, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Maja Pervan & Marijana Curak & Tomislava Pavic Kramaric, 2017. "The Influence of Industry Characteristics and Dynamic Capabilities on Firms’ Profitability," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-19, December.
    7. Tobias Knabke & Sebastian Olbrich, 2018. "Building novel capabilities to enable business intelligence agility: results from a quantitative study," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 493-546, August.
    8. Jim Andersén, 2023. "Green resource orchestration: A critical appraisal of the use of resource orchestration in environmental management research, and a research agenda for future study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5506-5520, December.
    9. Jasna Prester, 2023. "Operating and Dynamic Capabilities and Their Impact on Operating and Business Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-24, October.
    10. Heimeriks, K. & Duysters, G.M. & Vanhaverbeke, W.P.M., 2004. "The evolution of alliance capabilities," Working Papers 04.20, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies.
    11. Sora Lee & Jaewon Yoo, 2021. "Determinants of a Firm’s Sustainable Competitive Advantages: Focused on Korean Small Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, January.
    12. Tan, Justin & Wang, Liang, 2010. "Flexibility-efficiency tradeoff and performance implications among Chinese SOEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 356-362, April.
    13. Diaz-Di­az, Nieves Lidia & Aguiar-Di­az, Inmaculada & De Saá-Pérez, Petra, 2008. "The effect of technological knowledge assets on performance: The innovative choice in Spanish firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1515-1529, October.
    14. Xiaoming He & Yaqun Yi & Zelong Wei, 2019. "New product development capabilities in China: the moderating role of TMT cooperative behavior," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(2), pages 73-97, April.
    15. Wolfgang H. Güttel & Stefan Konlechner & Barbara Müller, 2012. "Entscheidungsmuster und Veränderungsarchitekturen in Wandelprozessen: Eine Dynamic Capabilities-Perspektive," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 64(6), pages 630-654, September.
    16. Pinho, José Carlos & Prange, Christiane, 2016. "The effect of social networks and dynamic internationalization capabilities on international performance," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 391-403.
    17. Stav Fainshmidt & Amir Pezeshkan & M. Lance Frazier & Anil Nair & Edward Markowski, 2016. "Dynamic Capabilities and Organizational Performance: A Meta-Analytic Evaluation and Extension," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(8), pages 1348-1380, December.
    18. Cristina Fernandes & João J. Ferreira & Mário L. Raposo & Cristina Estevão & Marta Peris-Ortiz & Carlos Rueda-Armengot, 2017. "The dynamic capabilities perspective of strategic management: a co-citation analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 112(1), pages 529-555, July.
    19. Patrick Mikalef & Ilias O. Pappas & John Krogstie & Michail Giannakos, 2018. "Big data analytics capabilities: a systematic literature review and research agenda," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 547-578, August.
    20. Philipp Nitzsche & Bernd W. Wirtz & Vincent Göttel, 2016. "Innovation Success In The Context Of Inbound Open Innovation," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(02), pages 1-38, February.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:11703-:d:662763. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.