DIGITAL INNOVATION ADOPTION AMONG MALAYSIAN ENTREPRENEURS: CURRENT TRENDS AND INSIGHTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/IJIREV.826056Keywords:
Digital Innovation, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Industry 4.0, Malaysian Entrepreneurs, Technology AdoptionAbstract
The fast innovation and advancement of industry 4.0 has accelerated the adoption of it which created new opportunities for business to improve, make the process efficient and helped them for long term growth. However, despite having various initiatives by the government on adoption of digital innovation, the adoption by the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia remains inconsistent. Many SME entrepreneurs faces various challenges adopting digital innovation due to lack of digital capability, financial resources, complexity of the new technologies and finally the organizational readiness. This study aims to examine the current state of digital innovation adoption among Malaysian SME entrepreneurs. This study establishes the descriptive profile of the demographic characteristics, organizational structures, and baseline technological readiness of Malaysian SME Entrepreneurs. This study follow a quantitative research design using a structured questionnaire using Google Forms. The survey was distributed using stratified random sampling method by distributing to 167 eligible SME owners and entrepreneurs across Malaysia. The survey was distributed using WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram, and email. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to evaluate the current state of digital adoption. The result of the descriptive analysis shows that 56.3% of the SMEs are micro-enterprises and 34.7% are small enterprises. Nearly half of the SME which consist of 49.1% are operating in urban locations. When it comes to digital readiness, more than half of the businesses which consist of 50.9% reported maintaining only a basic level of digital adoption while only 27.5% have integrated advanced digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, big data and automation into their operations. 28.1% of respondents are from Digital/Technology sector, 24.6% from Manufacturing sector and 23.4% from Service sector. The findings from this study suggest that the policy makers and support agency for SMEs should provide targeted digital skills training, financial support, and sector-specific digitalisation programmes to effectively transition from conventional SMEs toward more advanced digital innovation.
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