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Examining the development of a digital ecosystem in an Industry 4.0 context: a sociotechnical perspective

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  • Emanuele Gabriel Margherita

    (University of Tuscia)

  • Alessio Maria Braccini

    (University of Tuscia)

Abstract

To respond to increased competition, manufacturing organisations have started developing digital ecosystems within a supply chain by adopting Industry 4.0 technologies. That approach promises to improve organisational efficiency by automating operations and decision-making activities. The development of the digital ecosystem passes through vertical and horizontal integrations of technologies. Vertical integration represents the integration of various organisational units, and it is a milestone in the process of reaching horizontal integration where different organisations integrate their production processes in a supply chain. The extant literature reveals that the vertical integration of an organisation is challenging to achieve, as the adoption process of Industry 4.0 employs a technocentric perspective without considering the way that technology users can cause strong workforce resistance against Industry 4.0 adoption. The sociotechnical perspective addresses this issue by considering both technology and users during the adoption process. Therefore, this paper illustrates the applicability of the sociotechnical approach to an in-depth single case study of an Italian manufacturing group which successfully adopted Industry 4.0 technologies. We show the adoption process of Industry 4.0 technologies, highlighting the outcome of the adoption and proposing sociotechnical enabling factors that assist in achieving vertical integration.

Suggested Citation

  • Emanuele Gabriel Margherita & Alessio Maria Braccini, 2021. "Examining the development of a digital ecosystem in an Industry 4.0 context: a sociotechnical perspective," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(7), pages 1-18, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:snbeco:v:1:y:2021:i:7:d:10.1007_s43546-021-00096-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s43546-021-00096-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alessandro Ruggieri & Alessio Maria Braccini & Stefano Poponi & Enrico Maria Mosconi, 2016. "A Meta-Model of Inter-Organisational Cooperation for the Transition to a Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-17, November.
    2. Gerardine DeSanctis & Marshall Scott Poole, 1994. "Capturing the Complexity in Advanced Technology Use: Adaptive Structuration Theory," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(2), pages 121-147, May.
    3. Yongxin Liao & Fernando Deschamps & Eduardo de Freitas Rocha Loures & Luiz Felipe Pierin Ramos, 2017. "Past, present and future of Industry 4.0 - a systematic literature review and research agenda proposal," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(12), pages 3609-3629, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Marco Vacchi & Cristina Siligardi & Erika Iveth Cedillo-González & Anna Maria Ferrari & Davide Settembre-Blundo, 2021. "Industry 4.0 and Smart Data as Enablers of the Circular Economy in Manufacturing: Product Re-Engineering with Circular Eco-Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-20, September.
    2. Emanuele Gabriel Margherita & Jérôme Sulbout, 2021. "Freelancers 4.0: the impacts of freelancers on the adoption of Industry 4.0 under a socio-technical perspective," Post-Print hal-03442389, HAL.
    3. Emanuele Gabriel Margherita & Alessio Maria Braccini, 2021. "Socio-technical perspectives in the Fourth Industrial Revolution - Analysing the three main visions: Industry 4.0, the socially sustainable factory of Operator 4.0 and Industry 5.0," Post-Print hal-03442406, HAL.

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