Assessing the preparedness of the textile sector for implementing Industry 4.0: An organisational culture perspective

Current research highlights the importance of an appropriate organisational culture (OC) for successfully implementing Industry 4.0 (I4.0), suggesting that overlooking OC may impede organisations from fully leveraging and maintaining the benefits of I4.0. Although there is an agreement on the characteristics of suitable OC for I4.0, methodologies to evaluate organisational readiness from an OC perspective are needed. Our study aims to assess the preparedness of organisations for implementing I4.0. Through an extensive literature review, we identified the suitable OC for I4.0, gauged the currently prevailing primary perceived OC, and evaluated the preparedness of the selected sector for implementing I4.0. Utilising data collected from Pakistan’s textile sector (PTS), the research employs a cross-sectional survey utilising the Competing Values Framework (CVF). After an extensive literature review, the study found that an OC with dominant adhocracy culture profile traits is well-suited for implementing I4.0. However, the data from 162 textile organisations reveal that the perceived primary/dominant OC in PTS is the clan culture profile, with the control culture profile being the least prevalent. The results indicate that the current prevailing OC characteristics, as perceived by the respondents, are not suitable for I4.0 implementation, indicating that the selected sector is not ready to implement I4.0 from an OC perspective. This study is unique in its systematic approach, adapting the CVF to evaluate perceived OC for I4.0 readiness in a developing economy using qualitative and quantitative methods. The approach may be applied to different sectors and countries.