ABSTRACT
Digitization plays a significant role in shaping modern business operations. The notion of digitalization is also included in Thailand’s recent national economic development policy, known as Thailand 4.0. Under the policy, rooted in the industry 4.0 concept, the country promotes economic growth with innovation and creativity and tries to move towards the digital economy. This paper presents an empirical study examining the business adaptation of local family firms facing opportunities and business challenges caused by the Thailand 4.0 policy and the digitalization motivation. It delivers empirical evidence on entrepreneurship development in local Thai cross-border freight family businesses trying to change to innovative firms. The researchers employed a qualitative research approach to investigate five purposively selected firms from Nakhon Phanom province of the North-East region of Thailand. The research data was collected using documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with the owner-managers of the selected firms. Study results are delivered under two themes: developing innovative family entrepreneurship and digitalization in local cross-border freight firms. The results show that digitalization is adopted to improve three primary areas for strategic improvement in the transportation industry, including inventory, transport, and location strategies. Family power and control are founded to positively support the family business transformation towards industry 4.0 via business digitalization. Trained employees to gain sufficient knowledge related to digital transformation is also essential. The paper also identifies areas requiring further improvements, including systematic support from public authorities and reliable technology to help widen and sustain domestic and international business partnership networks.
- R H Ballou. 2004. Business Logistics/supply Chain Management: Planning, Organizing, and Controlling the Supply Chain. Pearson/Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
- Ruth Banomyong. 2010. Benchmarking Economic Corridors logistics performance: A GMS border crossing observation. World Customs Journal(2010).Google Scholar
- S Chaisinson. 2021. The development of behavioral decision model for choosing the parcel transportation service provider in Bangkok. Journal of the Association of Researchers 26, 1 (2021), 145–160.Google Scholar
- Kathy Charmaz. 2006. Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis (Introducing Qualitative Methods series). arxiv:arXiv:1011.1669v3Google Scholar
- Roman Chinoracký and Tatiana Čorejová. 2019. Impact of digital technologies on labor market and the transport sector. Transportation Research Procedia 40 (2019), 994–1001. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.TRPRO.2019.07.139Google ScholarCross Ref
- Juliet Corbin and Anselm Strauss. 2012. Basics of Qualitative Research (3rd ed.): Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory(3rd ed. ed.). Sage, London. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452230153Google Scholar
- Marco Cucculelli, Ivano Dileo, and Marco Pini. 2022. Filling the void of family leadership: institutional support to business model changes in the Italian Industry 4.0 experience. The Journal of Technology Transfer 47, 1 (2022), 213–241. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-021-09847-4Google ScholarCross Ref
- Barney G. Glaser. 2002. Conceptualization: On Theory and Theorizing Using Grounded Theory. International Journal of Qualitative Methods (2002). https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690200100203Google Scholar
- Masami Ishida. 2019. GMS Economic Corridors Under the Belt and Road Initiative. Journal of Asian Economic Integration(2019). https://doi.org/10.1177/2631684619894102Google Scholar
- Charlie C Jones and Paitoon Pimdee. 2017. Innovative ideas: Thailand 4.0 and the fourth industrial revolution. Asian International Journal of Social Sciences 17, 1 (2017), 4–32.Google Scholar
- N. Kammerlander and M. Ganter. 2015. An attention-based view of family firm adaptation to discontinuous technological change: Exploring the role of family CEOs’ noneconomic goals. Journal of Product Innovation Management 32, 3 (2015), 361–383.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Nikos S. Kanellos. 2013. Exploring the Characteristics of Knowledge-based Entrepreneurs in Greece. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences(2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.02.060Google Scholar
- Office of the National Digital Economy and Society Commission. 2020. Outcome of Preliminary Study of Digital Economy Indicators. (2020).Google Scholar
- Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning. 2015. The potential Assessment and Readiness of Transport Infrastructure and Services in Thailand for ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Technical Report. Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning, Bangkok. https://www.otp.go.th/uploads/tiny_uploads/Education_Report/2555/Project2-AEC/ExecutiveENG.pdfGoogle Scholar
- W Pansang. 2011. The development of a transportation planning system for reducing empty trucks. Technical Report. Ministry of Science and Technology, Bangkok.Google Scholar
- Pongsakorn Pitchayadol, Danupol Hoonsopon, Achara Chandrachai, and Sipat Triukose. 2018. Innovativeness in Thai Family SMEs: An Exploratory Case Study. Journal of Small Business Strategy 28 (2018), 38–48. https://libjournals.mtsu.edu/index.php/jsbs/article/view/1081/897Google Scholar
- Teeraphorn Polhong and Suteera Puangpronpitag. 2020. Innovative entrepreneurship in local cross-country freight enterprises in thailand. In Proceedings of the European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, ECIE. 468–475. https://doi.org/10.34190/EIE.20.159Google Scholar
- Wilert Puriwat and Suchart Tripopsakul. 2020. Preparing for Industry 4.0 – Will youths have enough essential skills?: An Evidence from Thailand. International Journal of Instruction 13, 3 (2020), 89–104. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2020.1337aGoogle ScholarCross Ref
- R. E. Stake. 2000. Case studies, in:(2nd ed.). Sage, London.Google Scholar
- Thailand Board of Investment. 2015. A Guide to Investment in the Special Economic Development Zones (SEZ). Technical Report. Thailand Board of Investment, Bangkok. https://www.nesdc.go.th/ewt_dl_link.php?nid=5197.Google Scholar
- Thailand Board of Investment. 2016. Thailand’s Logistics Market Set to Flourish. Thailand Investment Review (sep 2016), 5–6. https://www.boi.go.th/upload/content/BOI_TIR_SEP2016_22669.pdfGoogle Scholar
- Malcolm Tight, Kathleen Eisenhardt, and Kathleen M. Eisenhardt. 2016. Building Theories from Case Study Research. In Case Studies. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781473915480.n52Google Scholar
- J Worrakitcharoen. 2016. Warehouse Management System (WMS): a case study of J.S. pack and marketing.Journal Of Logistics And Supply Chain Management Ramhkamhaeng 3, 1(2016).Google Scholar
Index Terms
- Adaptation Strategies to Increase Business Competitiveness in the Digital Era: an Empirical Study of Local Freight Firms in Thailand
Recommendations
Analyzing the trends in the digital economy and the factors of industrial clustering
SPBPU IDE '20: Proceedings of the 2nd International Scientific Conference on Innovations in Digital EconomyToday the digital economy makes a considerable contribution to the world economy and the economies of individual countries and is reasonably one of the priority ways for the development of the former. Correspondingly, it is important to determine the ...
The Digital Economy of the Region: a Distributed Infrastructure of the Industry Ecosystem
FRUCT'24: Proceedings of the 24th Conference of Open Innovations Association FRUCTThe paper analyzes the main processes occurring in the digital economy worldwide and shows the place and role of the Russian Federation in the implementation of these processes. The task of the study was to develop proposals for the formation of the ...
Comments