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Driving forces and barriers of Industry 4.0: Do multinational and small and medium-sized companies have equal opportunities?

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  • Horváth, Dóra
  • Szabó, Roland Zs.

Abstract

The Fourth Industrial Revolution poses significant challenges to manufacturing companies from the technological, organizational and management points of view. This paper aims to explore how top executives interpret the concept of Industry 4.0, the driving forces for introducing new technologies and the main barriers to Industry 4.0. The authors applied a qualitative case study design involving 26 semi-structured interviews with leading members of firms, including chief digital officers and chief executive officers. Company websites and annual reports were also examined to increase the reliability and validity of the results. The authors found that management desire to increase control and enable real-time performance measurement is a significant driving force behind Industry 4.0, alongside production factors. Organizational resistance at both employee and middle management levels can significantly hinder the introduction of Industry 4.0 technologies, though these technologies can also transform management functions. Multinational enterprises have higher driving forces and lower barriers to industry 4.0 than small and medium-sized companies, but these smaller companies have good opportunities, too.

Suggested Citation

  • Horváth, Dóra & Szabó, Roland Zs., 2019. "Driving forces and barriers of Industry 4.0: Do multinational and small and medium-sized companies have equal opportunities?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 119-132.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:146:y:2019:i:c:p:119-132
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2019.05.021
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    4. Yang Yu & Fangrong Ren & Yun Ju & Jingyi Zhang & Xiaoyan Liu, 2024. "Exploring the Role of Digital Transformation and Breakthrough Innovation in Enhanced Performance of Energy Enterprises: Fresh Evidence for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-22, January.
    5. Beier, Grischa & Matthess, Marcel & Shuttleworth, Luke & Guan, Ting & de Oliveira Pereira Grudzien, David Iubel & Xue, Bing & Pinheiro de Lima, Edson & Chen, Ling, 2022. "Implications of Industry 4.0 on industrial employment: A comparative survey from Brazilian, Chinese, and German practitioners," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    6. Junru Chen & Lei Shen, 2024. "A Synthetic Review on Enterprise Digital Transformation: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-20, February.
    7. Yanlin Sun & Shaoxiong Ma & Hao Feng, 2023. "The New Geography of Manufacturing in China: The Internet and Manufacturing Agglomeration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-21, August.
    8. Chowdhury, Soumyadeb & Budhwar, Pawan & Dey, Prasanta Kumar & Joel-Edgar, Sian & Abadie, Amelie, 2022. "AI-employee collaboration and business performance: Integrating knowledge-based view, socio-technical systems and organisational socialisation framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 31-49.
    9. Zhong, Xi & Ren, Ge, 2023. "Independent and joint effects of CSR and CSI on the effectiveness of digital transformation for transition economy firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
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    11. Calış Duman, Meral & Akdemir, Bunyamin, 2021. "A study to determine the effects of industry 4.0 technology components on organizational performance," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).

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