IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v10y2021i6p214-d570342.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Readiness of Polish Industrial Enterprises for the Industry 4.0 Revolution

Author

Listed:
  • Marcin Lis

    (Department of Management, Faculty of Applied Sciences, WSB University, 41-300 Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland)

  • Bartosz Jeżyna

    (Department of Management, Faculty of Applied Sciences, WSB University, 41-300 Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland)

  • Ewa Szkudlarek

    (Department of Management, Faculty of Applied Sciences, WSB University, 41-300 Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland)

  • Szymon Szumiał

    (Faculty of Management, University of Warsaw, 02-678 Warsaw, Poland)

Abstract

Implementing solutions related to Industry 4.0 is a challenge for Polish industrial enterprises, regardless of size or affiliation to a larger, international organisation. The aim of this article is to examine the awareness, readiness and ability of these enterprises to meet this challenge. This study was conducted on a group of 60 randomly selected representatives of companies operating in Poland. A structured interview consisting of 32 questions, carried out using the English computer-assisted web interview (CAWI) method, was used to collect the data. Statistical differences between companies employing up to 249 people and companies employing at least 250 people were verified by the use of the nonparametric Mann–Whitney U test. Latent variables were also extracted, and the comparison was conducted using the independent samples from a Student’s t-test. Regardless of the differences in responses between companies employing up to 249 employees and those employing 250 or more, the results showed an insufficient level of knowledge of technological solutions as well as a lack of awareness about supporting business development by means of specialised technology providers. Even though little awareness of the importance of Industry 4.0 solutions was identified, identifying key determinants for raising awareness of these solutions among companies operating in Poland may become not only the basis of further scientific research but also of a vital catalogue of activities that can be used to disseminate knowledge in this area. Both paths are extremely important for Polish enterprises. Practical implementation of Industry 4.0 measures particularly entails additional support for small and medium-sized enterprises (hereinafter SME) investment in technological, financial and human resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcin Lis & Bartosz Jeżyna & Ewa Szkudlarek & Szymon Szumiał, 2021. "Readiness of Polish Industrial Enterprises for the Industry 4.0 Revolution," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-24, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:6:p:214-:d:570342
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/6/214/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/6/214/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Szczepańska-Woszczyna Katarzyna & Kurowska-Pysz Joanna, 2016. "Sustainable Business Development Through Leadership in SMEs," Engineering Management in Production and Services, Sciendo, vol. 8(3), pages 57-69, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Agnieszka A. Tubis & Katarzyna Grzybowska, 2022. "In Search of Industry 4.0 and Logistics 4.0 in Small-Medium Enterprises—A State of the Art Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-26, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:6:p:214-:d:570342. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.