Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Willingness Index Toward Industry 4.0 in Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

The majority of Malaysian economies are built on the expansion of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), particularly in the years following the Covid-19 pandemic. The advantages and challenges to implementing IR 4.0 are shown in the examination of the SME's willingness index. The study examines the willingness of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Peninsular Malaysia towards Industry Revolution 4.0. The study utilized a mixed method approach to assess the components of the SMEs' Willingness Index toward IR 4.0. This present research aims to investigate the willingness index of SMEs in Peninsular Malaysia towards IR 4.0 and focuses on the dimensions of technological readiness, government incentives, SMEs management attitude, and research and development infrastructure application of IR 4.0 in Malaysia. The result of the finding discusses the index score value of these dimension toward IR 4.0 and it will be beneficial to boost SMEs contribution to the national gross domestic product in the 13th Malaysia Plan's to make Malaysia a high-income developed nation with 35% of the workforce comprising skilled workers by 2025. Alongside, IR 4.0 play an important role as a tool to accelerate Malaysia as a developed nation in line with the National Transformation 2050 (TN50).