Writing now - chapter 2

Writing now - chapter 2

Sub chapter -

Why is technological and organizational transformation becoming necessary in labour-intensive industries such as the palm oil industry?

28/06/2026

Answer :

This is actually an excellent question, and it shows you're thinking like a researcher rather than simply summarizing papers.

My advice is: do not organize your literature review according to one paper. Organize it according to your story.

The purpose of Section 2.1 is to answer this question:

> Why is technological and organizational transformation becoming necessary in labour-intensive industries such as the palm oil industry?

The Abdul-Hamid et al. (2020) paper is just one piece of evidence supporting that story.

I would structure Section 2.1 like this:

2.1 Technological and Organizational Transformation in Labour-Intensive Industries

2.1.1 Drivers of Technological Transformation

Global competition

Labour shortages

Industry 4.0

Sustainability requirements

Digitalization

(Cite several papers, not just one.)

---

2.1.2 Challenges of Digital Transformation

This is where Abdul-Hamid et al. (2020) fits perfectly.

Within this subsection, you don't need five separate subheadings. Instead, write one or two paragraphs that group the barriers logically. For example:

Begin by stating that digital transformation offers significant opportunities but also presents substantial implementation challenges.

Then explain that Abdul-Hamid et al. (2020) identified several major barriers in the Malaysian palm oil industry, including:

technological limitations,

financial uncertainty,

process redesign issues,

weak inter-organizational connectivity,

and workforce-related concerns.

You can then briefly explain each barrier in one or two sentences before moving to the next.

This keeps the literature review flowing instead of reading like a list.

---

2.1.3 Towards Human-Centred and Sustainable Transformation

Here you introduce Ghobakhloo et al. (2024).

The flow becomes:

> We know the barriers...

So how should organizations overcome them?

Now Ghobakhloo provides the answer:

organizational readiness,

leadership,

employee development,

human-centric transformation,

resilience.

Why this works

The story becomes:

1. Industries must transform.

2. Transformation is difficult.

3. Here are the barriers.

4. Here is the emerging solution.

That is a much stronger narrative than discussing one paper at a time.

One more suggestion

I would slightly rename your section:

2.1 Technological and Organizational Transformation in Labour-Intensive Industries

Then use:

2.1.1 The Need for Technological Transformation

2.1.2 Barriers to Digital Transformation

2.1.3 Towards Human-Centred and Sustainable Transformation

I think this structure aligns beautifully with your thesis. It also creates a natural bridge into Chapter 2.3 (Organizational Factors) because you've already introduced concepts like organizational readiness, leadership, and employee support. Examiners often appreciate this kind of continuity, where each section leads logically into the next rather than feeling like isolated summaries of individual articles.

Question:

Question 

Abdul-Hamid et al. (2020) 

Chapter 2.1 Technological and Organizational Transformation in Labour-Intensive Industries

How can I use this to support the argument that palm oil mills face multiple barriers to digital transformation, including:

a)Technological barriers (automation and virtualization limitations)

b)Financial barriers (unclear return on investment)

c)Process barriers (lack of process redesign)

d)Inter-organizational barriers (poor connectivity across firms)

e)Human resource barriers (employment disruption concerns)

Do I break each point and insert into different paragraph or I can lump it as new sub para. But seem absurd to lump it according to journal. 

Abdul-Hamid et al. (2020) 

Second answer from Gemini 

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