Co-operative 5.0: leveraging the fifth industrial revolution for sustainable Co-operatives

Abstract

The Fifth Industrial Revolution, also known as industry 5.0 or 5IR, presents a fundamental opportunity to transform the global economic landscape by integrating human capabilities with cutting-edge technologies. Leveraging on its capabilities, the industry 5.0 has been employed in various sectors such as health, manufacturing, and libraries. While that is the case, little is known from the literature point of view on the extent to which industry 5.0 have been adopted in cooperatives, and the ways in which their adoption enhances sustainable cooperatives. Against this backdrop, the study was conducted to explore the impacts of cutting-edge technologies of the industry 5.0 on creating sustainable cooperatives. The study was qualitative in nature in which interviews with key informants and a systematic review of literature were conducted. Findings show that the cutting-edge technologies that make up industry 5.0 have generally not being adopted in cooperatives. Some of the reasons being insufficient financial resources, lack of awareness, fear and/or resistance to change, and lack of access to required infrastructure. The study, however, found that the adoption of cutting-edge technologies within cooperatives have got several potentials such as reduction in operational expenses, enhancing efficiency, and facilitating faster and more efficient information exchange for cooperatives. Further, the study found that the lack of adoption of cutting-edge technologies in the surveyed cooperatives signifies that they are yet to become co-operative 5.0. It is therefore recommended that cooperative leaders should change their mindset, undertake ongoing capacity building, and prioritize on investment in digital infrastructures