@article{bolek2026from,
  title = {From Perceived Need to Implementation:  Multidimensional Barriers and Organisational  Readiness in Industry 5.0},
  author = {Vladimír BOLEK and Ján HOLÝ and Jana FILANOVÁand Nora GRISÁKOVÁ},
  year = 2026,
  url = {https://ibimapublishing.com/articles/IBIMABR/2026/526853/},
  journal = {IBIMA Business Review},
  volume = 2026,
  pages = 15,
  doi = 10.5171/2026.526853,
  abstract = {Industry 5.0 is increasingly understood as a human-centric, resilient, and sustainable extension of digital industrial transformation, yet empirical evidence on its implementation at firm level remains limited. Existing studies have relied largely on conceptual discussion or expert-based prioritisation techniques, while the structural relationships among implementation barriers, organisational readiness, and implementation outcomes remain insufficiently examined. This study addresses that gap by identifying and empirically validating the multidimensional structure of Industry 5.0 implementation barriers and by examining their relationships with perceived need, organisational readiness, and the level of implementation. The study is based on a quantitative cross-sectional survey of 286 firms operating in Slovakia. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modelling were employed to validate the barrier structure and test the proposed process-oriented framework. The findings confirm that Industry 5.0 implementation barriers form a higher-order multidimensional construct comprising organisational change, strategic and resource, people and skills, and technological and governance dimensions. Perceived need for Industry 5.0 emerged as a strong positive antecedent of organisational readiness, whereas implementation barriers significantly reduced readiness. Organisational readiness, in turn, exerted a substantial positive effect on the level of Industry 5.0 implementation and partially mediated the relationship between barriers and implementation. The study contributes to the emerging empirical literature on Industry 5.0 by demonstrating that implementation is shaped less by barriers alone than by the organisation’s capacity to convert strategic awareness into readiness for transformation. The findings support a process-oriented view of Industry 5.0 implementation as a socio-technical organisational transition.},
  keywords = {Industry 5.0; organisational readiness; implementation barriers; digital transformation},
  note = Article ID: 526853
}