Technology adoption is always a difficult task for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) due to lack of resources and other market issues. Many technology challenges adversely affect the sustainable business performance of SMEs. However, the incorporation of Industry 4.0 can overcome various technology issues. The goal of Industry 4.0 is to attain an advanced level of operational effectiveness and productivity, as well as a higher level of automatization. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify the role of Industry 4.0 to promote sustainable business performance in SMEs in Thailand. A survey has been prepared to collect the data from managers of SMEs and analyzed with the help of Partial Least Square. The questionnaire was used to collect the data and questionnaires were distributed by using simple random sampling. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed amongst the managerial staff of SMEs located in Thailand. From these distributed questionnaires, 280 were returned and 270 valid responses were found. Data were analyzed by using Partial Least Square (PLS)-Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Findings reveal that Industry 4.0 is a key to the growth of sustainable business performance among SMEs. Elements of Industry 4.0 such as big data, Internet of Things and smart factory have a positive role in promoting information technology (IT) implementation, which contributes to sustainable business performance. Moreover, organization structure and process strengthen the positive relationship between Industry 4.0 and IT implementation.

In the postmodern era of industrialization, sustainable business performance is vital for success in a competitive environment. In order to attain sustainable business performance, Malaysian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are facing various social and technological challenges. The objective of this study was to examine the roles of social and technological challenges in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage and sustainable business performance. To accomplish this objective, first-hand data were collected from Malaysian SMEs. Opinions of managerial staff of these SMEs were preferred regarding the roles of social and technological challenges in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage and sustainable business performance. An email survey was carried out to collect data. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed among managerial staff of SMEs. Questionnaires were distributed by using simple random sampling. By using structural equation modeling, findings of the study revealed that social and technological challenges played major roles in boosting sustainable competitive advantage and sustainable business performance. Moreover, strategic alignment was a key in reflecting the positive roles of social and technological factors on sustainable competitive advantage. Findings of the study are beneficial for practitioners and will allow their strategies to reflect sustainable competitive advantages and sustainable business performance.

The environmental issue has become a global problem that needs to be examined frequently, motivating researchers to investigate it. Thus, the present study has investigated the asymmetric impact of globalization, economic growth and natural resources on the ecological footprint in the presence of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) in Thailand. The study has used annual time series data from 1970 to 2018. The study applied a novel method of nonlinear autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL). In particular, the current study has investigated the effect of positive and negative shocks on the independent variable on the dependent variable. The findings have confirmed that the effect of globalization and natural resources are significant and nonlinear. However, the effect of negative shocks of globalization and natural resources is more dominant on the ecological footprint in Thailand than the positive shocks of both variables. Moreover, the present study has also tested the presence of EKC in Thailand, and the findings confirm the presence of an inverted U-shape curve in the Thailand economy.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the determinants of R&D expenditure and health expenditure of ASEAN countries. The research objectives were developed to analyze the short-term as well as the long-term impact of economic growth, environmental pollution, and energy consumption on health and R&D expenditures. The data was collected for ten years for ASEAN countries using the Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach, which helped the researcher to assess long-run as well as the short-run association of these variables. The findings revealed that environmental pollution, energy consumption, and economic growth had a significant positive impact on health expenditure as well as on R&D expenditure of ASEAN countries in long-run. The findings further revealed that environmental pollution and economic growth had a significant impact on R&D expenditure in short-run; however, there was no significant impact of energy consumption on R&D expenditure in short-run. It was also found that there was no significant impact of any of the independent variables, i.e., energy consumption, economic growth, and environmental pollution, on health expenditure in short-run. The current study and findings have significant implications in theory and practice.