Citation: Tung, S.S.; Dorasamy, M.;
Ab Razak, R. Knowledge Creation for
Digital Innovation in Malaysia:
Practitioners’ Standpoint.
Sustainability 2022, 14, 12375.
https://doi.org/10.3390/
su141912375
Academic Editors: Roberto Cerchione
and Luigi Aldieri
Received: 15 June 2022
Accepted: 4 September 2022
Published: 29 September 2022
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sustainability
Article
Knowledge Creation for Digital Innovation in Malaysia:
Practitioners’ Standpoint
Soon Seng Tung, Magiswary Dorasamy * and Ruzanna Ab Razak
Faculty of Management, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya 63100, Malaysia
* Correspondence: magiswary.dorasamy@mmu.edu.my
Abstract: Background: Malaysia established the National Industry 4.0 strategy (NI4.0) in 2018 to aid
the country’s industries in adopting modern technologies to increase productivity and competitive-
ness. The purpose of NI4.0 is to increase enterprises’ intelligence capabilities as smart manufacturers
in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), who employ data and information across
the whole enactment process. As a result, high-technology adoption in NI4.0 is expected to improve
knowledge creation (KC) in the Information Technology (IT) business. Recent NI4.0 breakthroughs
have permitted new types of borderless projects, thereby, increasing the complexity and unpre-
dictability of IT projects while simultaneously providing a multitude of new knowledge. However,
the understanding of contemporary practice difficulties in IT projects and the knowledge creation
phenomena is limited. Method: This study is exploratory in nature with a generic qualitative research
method. Ten selected key IT project managers were interviewed to understand the current challenges
confronting IT projects in Malaysia to build practice-oriented problem statements and to provide
relevance leading to a research framework for knowledge creation impacting digital innovation.
Interview data were systematically analysed using the NVivo software tool. Results: Practitioners’
reflected that a transactive memory system, IT support and T-shaped skills are current challenges
in Malaysian IT projects. This is consistent with the literature. Conclusions: This practice review
benefits Malaysia’s public and commercial sectors by confirming that the literature is coherent with
practice by providing insights that may warrant further research in this field.
Keywords: knowledge creation; preliminary interview; national industry 4.0; digital innovation
1. Introduction
In recent years, the remarkable development of Information and Communication Tech-
nology (ICT) systems has encouraged the movement of talent, resources and knowledge
beyond the limits of ICT ventures. ICT industry has rendered important contributions
to jobs and profits for Malaysia. Statistics indicate that the ICT industry contributes RM
267.7 billion to the national economy, which is equivalent to 18.5 per cent of the GDP in
2018 [1]. Under NI4.0, the Malaysian Government has defined the main digital areas for the
ICT industry.
Admittedly, NI4.0 opens up the opportunity for a digital transition in the ongoing
industrial revolution. Key digital fields include Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of
Things (IoT), Cloud, Data Mining, Cyber Protection, Data Centers and e-commerce. New
technology with broader scope and complexity increased in the ICT industry, a wealth
of new knowledge has also appeared. While academics and practitioners are increasing
worried regarding the usage of such emerging technology by organisations, little is known
about the implications for the practice of KC and the potential to improve for enterprises [2].
KC has been a catalyst of global competitiveness for NI4.0 [3]. Competitive advantages
are generated through KC and contribute to the firm’s potential progress [4]. Numerous
pieces of evidence imply that Japanese firms, such as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC,
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