Abstract

The adoption of technology to address industrial challenges and governance issues is pivotal for firm competitiveness and sustainability amidst escalating environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns. Despite extensive research on technology adoption, scant attention has been paid to its impact on ESG practice within manufacturing and services industries. This study aims to empirically investigate the influence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) technologies adoption on firms’ ESG practices and its effect on building a resilient competitive advantage. Employing primary data from 268 responses from both manufacturing (187) and services firms (81), a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis was conducted. Findings show that IR4.0 technology adoption exhibits a moderately insignificant effect on ESG practices, attributed to the lack of technological innovations to stimulate the already weak enforcement of ESG measures thereby affecting sustainability practices. The findings also deduce that ESG practice has a strong positive effect on firm competitiveness. To foster environmentally and socially responsible IR4.0 technology adoption, investments in employee training, and initiating technology transfer among firms are crucial for equipping firms with the requisite skills to effectively utilize IR4.0 technologies to enhance ESG practices and competitiveness.