Effective implementation of industry 4.0 towards sustainability in Multimedia Super Corridor status companies

Malaysia aspires to be a nation that has fully grasped the potential of technological innovation to expand the economy and empower the people. The country encourages organisations to concentrate on Industry 4.0 implementation while considering economic, environmental, and social development, labelled Triple Bottom Line (TBL). However, few empirical studies investigated the link between Industry 4.0 and TBL. Thus, organisations encounter various challenges in addressing the concepts. This study offers an empirical response to recent calls for exploring the dynamism between Industry 4.0 and TBL by constructing a multidimensional higherorder model. Based on a thorough literature review, the model incorporates the significant antecedents of Industry 4.0 necessary to drive technological advancement; and its impact on sustainability under the mediating effect of Industry 4.0. This study integrates the Technology, Organisation and Environment (TOE) theory and the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) model with TBL. The model’s applicability was validated by cross-sectional data collected from 293 MSC organisations in Malaysia employing PLS-SEM. The disjoint two-stage approach was used to test the model. The findings revealed that the antecedents, IT infrastructure, smart technologies, top management support, and organisational readiness positively affected Industry 4.0 implementation and TBL; however, human capital was not found to influence these constructs. Moreover, the role of government had a substantial effect on Industry 4.0; conversely, it had an insignificant impact on TBL. The findings also confirmed that Industry 4.0 had significant consequences on TBL. Moreover, Industry 4.0 implementation was found as an effective mediator between the antecedents and TBL, except for IT infrastructure and human capital. The validated higher-order model, including the antecedents and the measurement indicators, might be used as a checklist to aid managers in speeding up technological transformation. The study also explored Industry 4.0 as a mediator, providing a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon and association between the antecedents of Industry 4.0 and sustainability from the TBL viewpoint