The impact of the fourth industrial revolution on the performance of small and micro enterprises : a case of Mankweng Township, Polokwane Local Municipality, South Africa

Abstract

The Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) are mostly viewed as the catalysts of development in both developed and developing countries. Their significant contribution to socio-economic development has captured the attention of governments across the world. Hence, most governments rely on SMEs to uplift and spearhead their local economy. They also assist the governments to meet or at least fulfil some of the national imperatives. The SMEs in South Africa are mostly located in townships and largely in rural areas and are very accessible to the people on the ground. However, SMEs have currently met the unprecedented growth of technology which is the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The growth of the 4IR influences SMEs to change their traditional way of conducting business operations to be compatible with the changing technology. Meanwhile, the 4IR refers to the usage of the Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), digitalization, robotics, Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), and nanotechnology amongst others. This study discusses both variables in length to answer the research questions. Therefore, this study investigated the impact of the 4IR on the performance of SMEs. The study used judgemental sampling to sample the owners of SMEs to solicit their perceptions on the subject under investigation and as such, open-closed-ended questionnaires were administered to them. It sampled 50 SMEs around Mankweng Township which was sufficient to draw relevant conclusions. The study used a thematic analysis to analyse qualitative data and adopted Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and Microsoft excel to analyse quantitative data collected from the participants. This study reveals that SMEs are underperforming with a decline in customers and loss of sales as a result of poor financial resources and poor state of technology. The study recommends that stakeholders such as individuals, the private sector and the government come on board and actively provide more concerted efforts and resources to aid SMEs