Autonomous Agriculture as Strategic Transformation: A Multidimensional Model for Plantation Firms

Autonomous machinery — including self-driving field robots, harvesting arms, and sensor-guided input-application systems — is moving from research prototypes toward commercial deployment across global agriculture, including labour-intensive tree-crop plantations such as oil palm. This conceptual paper integrates engineering, technology-adoption, and strategic-management research to examine autonomous agriculture as an organisational and competitive transformation rather than merely a technical substitution for labour. Drawing on the dynamic capabilities framework and the Technology–Organisation–Environment (TOE) perspective, it develops a four-dimensional model encompassing operational and cost restructuring, workforce and labour-market repositioning, competitive and value-chain differentiation, and governance and risk exposure. The review indicates that value creation depends not only on technical maturity but also on sequencing, organisational reconfiguration, workforce trust, and complementary governance capabilities. Four testable propositions and a mixed-methods research design are advanced for future empirical investigation in Southeast Asian plantation firms, with particular reference to the Malaysian and Indonesian oil palm sector. Keywords: autonomous agriculture; agricultural robotics; precision agriculture; plantation management; dynamic capabilities; technology adoption; oil palm. Title: Autonomous Agriculture as Strategic Transformation: A Multidimensional Model for Plantation Firms Author: Dr. Geetha Govindan K Gopalakrishnan International Journal of Management and Commerce Innovations ISSN 2348-7585 (Online) Vol. 14, Issue 2, October 2026 - March 2027 Page No: 60-64 Research Publish Journals Website: www.researchpublish.com Published Date: 21-October-2026 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23532024 Paper Download Link (Source) https://www.researchpublish.com/papers/autonomous-agriculture-as-strategic-transformation-a-multidimensional-model-for-plantation-firms