IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i11p4386-d1399567.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gear Up for Development: The Automation Advantage for Sustainability in Manufacturing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Author

Listed:
  • Samar S. Alharbi

    (College of Administrations and Finance, Saudi Electronic University, Dammam 32256, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

The goal of this study was to determine the impact of business process automation on the performance of manufacturing companies in Saudi Arabia through the use of a specially designed questionnaire that covered 301 senior employees of the operations, production, and information technology departments in these companies. This research focused on the use of automation in manufacturing companies and its impact on sustainability, operational performance, and institutional performance, including the impact of automation on profitability. The results reflect the status of automation in the Saudi manufacturing market. We observed a strong trend towards automation and this contributes to enhancing profitability, increasing the market share of companies, raising efficiency and productivity, and achieving sustainability. These results were obtained through regression and correlation analysis. The agreement of the survey participants with the data related to automation reflects the relative importance of automation in the Saudi market, shows the positive relationship between automation and performance development, and opens the door to further studies in other sectors or countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Samar S. Alharbi, 2024. "Gear Up for Development: The Automation Advantage for Sustainability in Manufacturing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-16, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:11:p:4386-:d:1399567
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/11/4386/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/11/4386/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Srinivasan, Mahesh & Mukherjee, Debmalya & Gaur, Ajai S., 2011. "Buyer-supplier partnership quality and supply chain performance: Moderating role of risks, and environmental uncertainty," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 260-271, August.
    2. Wong, Poh-Kam & Ngin, Phyllisis M., 1997. "Automation and organizational performance: The case of electronics manufacturing firms in Singapore," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 257-268, October.
    3. Andrea Szalavetz, 2019. "Digitalisation, automation and upgrading in global value chains - factory economy actors versus lead companies," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 646-670, September.
    4. David J. Teece, 2007. "Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(13), pages 1319-1350, December.
    5. Amoako-Gyampah, Kwasi & Acquaah, Moses, 2008. "Manufacturing strategy, competitive strategy and firm performance: An empirical study in a developing economy environment," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 575-592, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sima Sabahi & Mahour M. Parast, 2023. "An operations and supply chain management perspective to product innovation," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 808-829, June.
    2. Bag, Surajit & Gupta, Shivam & Kumar, Sameer, 2021. "Industry 4.0 adoption and 10R advance manufacturing capabilities for sustainable development," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    3. Santanu Mandal & Rathin Sarathy, 2018. "The Effect of Supply Chain Relationships on Resilience: Empirical Evidence from India," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 19(3_suppl), pages 196-217, June.
    4. Chikán, Attila & Czakó, Erzsébet & Kiss-Dobronyi, Bence & Losonci, Dávid, 2022. "Firm competitiveness: A general model and a manufacturing application," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    5. Ferreira, Jorge & Coelho, Arnaldo & Moutinho, Luiz, 2020. "Dynamic capabilities, creativity and innovation capability and their impact on competitive advantage and firm performance: The moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 92.
    6. Marina Dabić & Jane Maley & Leo-Paul Dana & Ivan Novak & Massimiliano M. Pellegrini & Andrea Caputo, 2020. "Pathways of SME internationalization: a bibliometric and systematic review," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 705-725, October.
    7. Swen Nadkarni & Reinhard Prügl, 2021. "Digital transformation: a review, synthesis and opportunities for future research," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 71(2), pages 233-341, April.
    8. Jonsson, Patrik, 2008. "Exploring problems related to the materials planning user environment," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 383-400, May.
    9. Jiatong Yu & Jiajue Wang & Taesoo Moon, 2022. "Influence of Digital Transformation Capability on Operational Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-20, June.
    10. Lirios Alos-Simo & Antonio J. Verdu-Jover & Jose M. Gomez-Gras, 2020. "Knowledge Transfer in Sustainable Contexts: A Comparative Analysis of Periods of Financial Recession and Expansion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-24, June.
    11. Emre Yildiz, H. & Murtic, Adis & Klofsten, Magnus & Zander, Udo & Richtnér, Anders, 2021. "Individual and contextual determinants of innovation performance: A micro-foundations perspective," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    12. Christiana Müller & Stefan Vorbach, 2015. "Enabling Business Model Change: Evidence from High-Technology Firms," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 11(1), pages 53-75.
    13. Muhammad Farooq Islam & Ozge Can, 2024. "Integrating digital and sustainable entrepreneurship through business models: a bibliometric analysis," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, December.
    14. Francisco Javier Forcadell & Fernando Úbeda, 2022. "Individual entrepreneurial orientation and performance: the mediating role of international entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 875-900, June.
    15. Giovanni Gavetti & Constance E. Helfat & Luigi Marengo, 2017. "Searching, Shaping, and the Quest for Superior Performance," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(3), pages 194-209, September.
    16. Luis Araya-Castillo & Felipe Hernández-Perlines & Hugo Moraga & Antonio Ariza-Montes, 2021. "Scientometric Analysis of Research on Socioemotional Wealth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-26, March.
    17. FeCheng Ma & Farhan Khan & Kashif Ullah Khan & Si XiangYun, 2021. "Investigating the Impact of Information Technology, Absorptive Capacity, and Dynamic Capabilities on Firm Performance: An Empirical Study," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, November.
    18. Fang Li & Sheng Zhang & Yuhuan Jin, 2018. "Sustainability of University Technology Transfer: Mediating Effect of Inventor’s Technology Service," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-17, June.
    19. Kim, Jongwook & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2008. "A Strategic Theory of the Firm as a Nexus of Incomplete Contracts: A Property Rights Approach," Working Papers 08-0108, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    20. André de Abreu Saraiva Monteiro Alves & Fernando Manuel Pereira de Oliveira Carvalho, 2022. "How Dynamic Managerial Capabilities, Entrepreneurial Orientation, and Operational Capabilities Impact Microenterprises’ Global Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-23, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:11:p:4386-:d:1399567. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.