Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/308827 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Citation: 
[Journal:] Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences (PJCSS) [ISSN:] 2309-8619 [Volume:] 18 [Issue:] 4 [Year:] 2024 [Pages:] 872-892
Publisher: 
Johar Education Society, Pakistan (JESPK), Lahore
Abstract: 
This study investigates the critical drivers of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in SMEs. The mediating role of AI adoption on the relationship between leadership vision, change management capability, competitive pressure, trading partnerships, and SME performance is also investigated. This research employs a quantitative methodology, collecting data through structured questionnaires from senior and middle-level managers of manufacturing SMEs in Pakistan. Data were analyzed using the software SmartPLS for partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results reveal that trading partnerships are the most critical drivers of AI adoption in SMEs within an emerging economy, followed by change management capabilities and leadership vision. These factors contribute to improving SME performance in competitive and resource-constrained markets, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure). Additionally, AI adoption mediates the relationship between trading partnerships, competitive pressure, and SME performance. This research uncovers unique insights by integrating the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework, Resource-based view theory, and diffusion of innovations theory simultaneously in a proposed research framework that tests the critical drivers of AI adoption in SMEs within an emerging economy.
Subjects: 
AI adoption
SME performance
industry 4.0
competitive pressure
tradingpartnerships
technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework
leadership vision
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc Logo
Document Type: 
Article

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