## 4 Primary Findings
### Holistic Analysis of Findings
#### 4.1.3 Critical Factors  
The \"Critical factors\" category represents the types of factors affecting the implementation of I4.0 in Kazakhstan. In addition, 87% of interviewees indicated more than one factor as significant. Therefore, the sum of coding scores exceeds 100%. From Figure 4, the most challenging obstacle is the human resources issues (80% score). Culture also gained a high score (67%). Technical and Governmental related issues received a score of 40%. Surprisingly, Financial factors were the least important (33%). **Human resources** gained the highest score of 80%. Respondents said that 70% of projects fail because of people. Employees are not improving their abilities to cope with the continuously changing environment. On top of that, any established technology cannot provide improvements in the people/employees sharing of knowledge [64]. Again, employees need training and specific instructions for a project to succeed (Q6). The weak education system in the country causes another problem, which is a shortage of qualified professionals. The main problem is that there are not enough high-quality professionals. Therefore, we have to look for ready-made solutions abroad. Moreover, we need to bring engineers because we do not have people to serve these solutions. We do not have such universities that would produce skilled engineers. (Interviewee 13)  
Moreover, the lack of well-established processes and structure creates difficulties for employees. It deprives them of the ability to learn before the actual implementation (Q4). Causal conjunction analysis revealed that the competence of top management is crucial. Decision-making in Kazakhstan is highly centralized, and thus the expertise of executive management is essential [65]. The wrong implementation strategy will inevitably lead to a fiasco. Centralized management does not pay off. It should be distributed and networked. (Interviewee 04)  
Next, the **cultural** issues were investigated and got a high score (67%). Interviewees described various aspects of culture affecting the I4.0 implementation. The first is the fear of uncertainty associated with changes, which results in resilience to changes among employees (Q7). The second is the absence of technological culture. Figure 4: Key factors affecting the Industry 4.0 implementation in Kazakhstan companies. The change of mindset is the main challenge of every aspect of digitalization. (Interviewee 01)  
One interviewee named the third issue as mental readiness. Managers expect fast and positive results. However, many problems, delays, and rework might slow any transformation. Therefore, management should not expect great short-term results (Q8). The fourth is the lack of communication and explanatory work with employees. Many interviewees highlight people as the key to any change (Q9). Next, the general resistance to changes and know-how in the country were noted. In Kazakhstan, we have a lot of punishment for initiatives. (Interviewee 02)  
Consequently, due to the fear of failure and punishment, enterprises implement the I4.0 projects fictitiously. Enterprises only create an image of digitalized ones due to government pressure. However, in reality, the level of their digitalization is low. (Interviewee 13)  
Finally, every international practice needs an adjustment based on cultural specifics. Blindly copying will limit the potential of a system. Managers should consider cultural differences (Q10) [66]. **Financial** issues are among the major obstacles to implementing I4.0 projects [39]. SMEs usually face more difficulties due to the high investment costs [19]. Companies in Kazakhstan also experience financial concerns (Q11). For example, hiring professionals is costly and not affordable for SMEs (Q12). However, another interviewee stated that companies have access to funds but do not invest because of the absence of the long-term development strategy (Q13). **Technical** issues escalated when COVID-19 hit the unprepared Kazakhstan economy [67].