SME and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)

Businesses are quickly adopting techniques that allow for a shorter and more efficient product lifecycle. The digital enablement of various business processes currently provides efficient solutions and aids businesses in keeping up with the quickly evolving business landscape and consumer needs. Since the beginning of the millennium, academic research has given credence to digital technologies and 4IR tools that can optimize business growth and sustainability. Despite this attention, digital technologies and 4IR can be differentiated for SMEs. The ability to build digital systems and connect SMEs with 4IR is critical for social, industrial, and economic growth. The current challenge is the limited pedagogies on SMEs’ fundamentals, theories, and principles that can be aligned with 4IR tools to promote an evolving socio-economic, environmental, and political evolution of societies. Since SMEs account for 50% of formal employment and 90% of firms worldwide, digitalization is similarly important to their systems. The purpose of this chapter is to unpack how SMEs can effectively utilize digital technologies and 4IR tools to augment their growth, sustainability, and competitiveness, as well as adapt to the rapidly changing business environment. The understanding of the integration of SMEs and 4IR is vital as it highlights strategies for leveraging technology to steer economic and social development and progress, addresses a gap in educational resources, and offers insights into practical applications.