Striving to Achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Taiwanese SMEs by Adopting Industry 4.0

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the potential transformation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan, China, to meet the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs) by adopting Industry 4.0. Taiwan is performing excellently at the core of Industry 4.0, information technology competence; however, we are curious if the competence required is available and acquainted by SMEs for achieving SDGs. As the consulting staff of the government, we hypothesized that adopting Industry 4.0 would lead to the success of sustainability. The analytical methodology is the model of technology, organization, and environment (TOE). We conducted the questionnaire survey to test if the adoption of Industry 4.0 will guarantee the success of sustainability. A systemic approach is employed to develop and parametrize the final model between adopting Industry 4.0 and sustainability, using structural equation modeling (SEM). Finally, we found a significant gap for Taiwanese SMEs to achieve sustainability via Industry 4.0 because only three hypotheses are supported: organizational resource availability influences Industry 4.0 adoption, investment costs impact sustainability, and external support pushes the adoption of Industry 4.0. We propose some possible solutions for the government to help SMEs reach the achievement of SDGs.