Disentangling the link between ICT and Industry 4.0: impacts on knowledge-related performance

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Bettiol ◽  
Mauro Capestro ◽  
Eleonora Di Maria ◽  
Stefano Micelli
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ict Industry ◽  
Italian Manufacturing Firms

PurposeIndustry 4.0 technologies are promising to increase manufacturing companies' performance through the new knowledge that such digital technologies allow to create and manage within the firm boundaries and through customer interactions. Despite the great attention on the Industry 4.0 adoption paths, little is known about the relationships with previous waves of digital technologies, namely, information and communication technologies (ICTs), and how different groups of both types of technologies link to knowledge and its related performances.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed a quantitative research design using a survey method. Submitting the questionnaire to entrepreneurs, chief operation officers or managers in charge of the operational and technological processes of Italian manufacturing firms, 206 respondents stated that their firm has adopted at least one of the seven Industry 4.0 technologies investigated.FindingsThe findings of the study highlight the positive relationship between ICT and Industry 4.0 technologies in terms of both intensity and groups of technologies (Web-based, Management and Manufacturing ICT; Operation, Customization and Data-processing 4.0), and how technologies affect knowledge-related performances in terms of products and processes, job-learning, product-related services and customer involvement.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first attempts to link groups of ICT to groups of Industry 4.0 technologies and to explore the effects in terms of knowledge-related performances as a measure of technology use. The study shows strong path dependency among ICT, Industry 4.0 and knowledge performance, enriching the literature on technological innovation and knowledge management.

scholarly journals The road towards industry 4.0: a comparative study of the state-of-the-art in the Italian manufacturing industry

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Zheng ◽  
Marco Ardolino ◽  
Andrea Bacchetti ◽  
Marco Perona
Keyword(s):  
Technology Adoption ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
The State ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Functions ◽  
Italian Manufacturing Firms

PurposeThis paper has two objectives: first, to investigate the state-of-the-art of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) adoption in Italian manufacturing firms and, second, to understand variations in technologies implemented and business functions involved, benefits perceived, and obstacles encountered in I4.0 implementation over a three-year period.Design/methodology/approachThe approach adopted in this research is descriptive, nesting longitudinal features. The paper presents a descriptive survey of 102 Italian manufacturing companies. The authors also evaluated non-response biases. The longitudinal approach was achieved by comparing the responses of the 40 sub-samples in common with a second similar survey launched three years prior, which aimed to identify patterns of evolution in the adoption of the I4.0 paradigm.FindingsSurvey findings demonstrate that Italian manufacturing companies still have limited awareness of I4.0 technologies, and the adoption of I4.0 technologies differs per technology. Company size and information system coverage level are the two factors that impact the company's technology adoption level. The comparative study shows that knowledge and adoption increase in a three-year interval with an unbalanced involvement of business functions regarding the I4.0 transformation. Indeed, companies are still seeking I4.0 solutions to reduce costs and lead times primarily, and the benefits perceived by companies are shown to be related to the number of I4.0 technologies in use. Finally, when companies put the I4.0 technologies into practice, competence is constantly considered the most significant barrier.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper aims at conducting a thorough investigation into the development of I4.0 adoption in manufacturing companies. The main limitation of this study concerns the limited number of subjects involved in the longitudinal study (40) and the focus on a limited geographical area (Italy). In addition, more I4.0 technologies could also be incorporated into the survey protocol to gain further insight into I4.0 development.Originality/valueThe authors provide one of the first attempts to assess the variations of I4.0 implementation concerning technology adoption, business function involvement, and the alteration of benefits and obstacles. Several studies presented in the literature highlight the lack of longitudinal studies investigating the development of the I4.0 paradigm in a specific manufacturing context: this paper is the attempt at filling this gap.

After-hours work-related technology use and individuals' deviance: the role of interruption overload, psychological transition and task closure

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Junaid Khalid ◽  
Qingxiong Derek Weng ◽  
Adeel Luqman ◽  
Muhammad Imran Rasheed ◽  
Maryam Hina
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Deviant Behavior ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Related ◽  
After Hours ◽  
And Task

PurposeThe information and communication technologies have made it progressively practical for employees to remain associated with work, even when they are not in the workplace. However, prior studies have provided very little understanding of the implications for the deviant behavior aspect. The current study aims to investigate the association between after-hours work-related technology usage and interpersonal, organizational and nonwork deviance through psychological transition, interruption overload and task closure. The authors draw upon the theory of conservation of resource (COR) to examine the research model.Design/methodology/approachThe primary data for the study has been collected in two waves from the sample of 318 employees who were working in diverse organizations in the Anhui province of the People's Republic of China for empirical testing of the authors’ research model.FindingsThis study's findings have revealed the positive association of after-hour work-related technology use with individuals' deviance in its entire three forms through psychological transition and interruption overload and have negative associations with all forms of deviance through task closure.Originality/valueThe significant contribution of this study is in the literature on technology use and employee outcomes, by identifying the consequences of technology use in both work (interpersonal deviance and organizational deviance) and outside work domain (nonwork deviance) and exploring the underlying mechanisms for these relationships in detail. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind that investigates a relationship between after-hours technology use and all three kinds of deviance while exploring both the positive and negative perspectives in one study.

Entrepreneurial intentions of university students: a case-based study

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (03) ◽  
pp. 393-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramo Palalić ◽  
Veland Ramadani ◽  
Arnela Ðilović ◽  
Alina Dizdarević ◽  
Vanessa Ratten
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Entrepreneurial Intentions ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Entrepreneurial Experience

Purpose This study aims to examine the entrepreneurial intentions of university students at the International University of Sarajevo. For this purpose, the entrepreneurial desires and entrepreneurial orientations of the students across several demographic variables were measured. These variables included prior entrepreneurial experience, student’s gender, faculty, year of study and attitude towards more courses on entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, the research also examined how business environment influences the entrepreneurial intentions of students by considering the same set of variables. Design/methodology/approach The objectives of this paper have been achieved by using a quantitative research instrument, where the cross-sectional survey method for collecting primary data is used. In total, 173 usable responses have been collected from the beginning of April to the end of May in the academic year 2015/2016. Findings The results indicate that the greater the demotivation with the current business surrounding, the smaller the entrepreneurial intentions of the students are when the prior entrepreneurial experience, gender, year of study and attitude towards more courses on entrepreneurship are considered. The study suggests that improving the overall business surrounding and entrepreneurial education might increase the entrepreneurial intentions of the students. Originality/value This is the first paper that treats entrepreneurial intentions of University students in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The cyber-work performance of managers in education

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 151-167
Author(s):  
Ed Dandalt
Keyword(s):  
Technology Use ◽  
Work Performance ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Business Organizations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Workflow System ◽  
Managerial Roles ◽  
School Organizations ◽  
Managerial Employees

PurposeThis study addresses the perspective of N = 273 school principals as related to technology role in performing managerial roles.Design/methodology/approachIn the context of this study, the concept of technology only refers to digital office tools such as microcomputers, email and administrative software. The concept of managerial roles is understood and used herein in relation to the definition provided by Mintzberg (2013) in his managerial typology. Moreover, a survey method was used to collect data from the aforementioned managerial employees. The managerial typology of Mintzberg was applied as a theoretical lens to collect and interpret survey data.FindingsThe findings suggest that surveyed school principals believe that technology use improves their ability to perform informational and decisional roles at work. Arguably, these managerial employees are satisfied with using technology as a labor tool for administrative and managerial work.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited because its sample size does not allow the findings to be generalized to all Canadian school principals. Nevertheless, the findings are significant because they suggest that similar to the positive technology-related attitude of managerial employees in business organizations, those in school organizations also perceive technology as an organizational asset. For that reason, management scholars should not only limit their studies of the intersection between technology and managerial roles or work to business organizations. They also need to extend their research studies and fieldwork to school organizations.Originality/valueThe originality of this study lies in the fact that in management literature, the intersection between technology and the managerial roles of school principals is underresearched. As such, this study represents a step forward toward the need to study the technology-related behaviors of school principals to better understand how technology use enables their workflow system.

scholarly journals Implementing Industry 4.0: assessing the current state

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 825-836
Author(s):  
Roland Ortt ◽  
Claire Stolwijk ◽  
Matthijs Punter
Keyword(s):  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The State ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Measurement Instruments ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Implementation Status

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce, summarize and combine the results of 11 articles in a special issue on the implementation of Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 emerged as a phenomenon about a decade ago. That is why, it is interesting now to explore the implementation of the concept. In doing so, four research questions are addressed: (1) What is Industry 4.0? (2) How to implement Industry 4.0? (3) How to assess the implementation status of Industry 4.0? (4) What is the current implementation status of Industry 4.0?Design/methodology/approachSubgroups of articles are formed, around one or more research questions involving the implementation of Industry 4.0. The articles are carefully analyzed to provide comprehensive answers.FindingsBy comparing definitions systematically, the authors show important aspects for defining Industry 4.0. The articles in the special issue explore several cases of manufacturing companies that implemented Industry 4.0. In addition, systematic approaches to aid implementation are described: an approach to combine case-study results to solve new implementation problems, approaches to assess readiness or maturity of companies regarding Industry 4.0 and surveys showing the status of implementation in larger samples of companies as well as showing relationships between company characteristics and type of implementation. Small and large firms differ considerably in their process of implementing Industry 4.0, for example.Research limitations/implicationsThis special issue discusses implementation of Industry 4.0. The issue is limited to 11 articles, each of which with its own strengths and limitations.Practical implicationsThe practical relevance of the issue is that it focuses on the implementation of Industry 4.0. Cases showing successful implementation, measurement instruments to assess degree of implementation and advice how to build a database with cases together with large-scale studies on the state of implementation do provide a wealth of information with a large managerial relevance.Originality/valueThe paper introduces an original take on Industry 4.0 by focusing on implementation. The special issue contains both literature reviews, articles describing case studies of implementation, articles developing systematic measurement instruments to assess degree of implementation and some articles reporting large-scale studies on the state of implementation of Industry 4.0 and thereby combine several perspectives on implementation of Industry 4.0.

Educational platform of region’s digital modernization in Industry 4.0

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 180-186
Author(s):  
Elena N. Grishina ◽  
Elena A. Lysova ◽  
Irina P. Lapteva ◽  
Eleonora V. Nagovitsyna
Keyword(s):  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Regional Economy ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Federal District ◽  
Educational Services ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regional Market ◽  
Moscow School ◽  
Conceptual Foundations ◽  
Training Of Personnel

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to substantiate the importance of an educational platform for digital modernization of modern Russia’s regions in Industry 4.0 and to determine the functions and conceptual foundations of organization of regional market of educational services for execution of functions for stimulation of digital modernization of Russia’s regional economy. Design/methodology/approach The authors use the method of regression analysis for studying the influence of the indicators of adaptation of the market of educational services to the conditions of Industry 4.0 on efficiency of digital modernization of economy of the regions of the Volga Federal District of the Russian Federation as of late 2018-early 2019. The information and empirical basis of the paper is materials of the index “Digital Russia” of the Moscow School of Management “Skolkovo.” Findings It is determined that the market of educational services plays an important role in the process of transition of regions of modern Russia to Industry 4.0, performing two functions: training of personnel who are capable of working with digital technologies and training of personnel who are capable of creating new digital technologies at a region’s companies. As a result, the educational platform of digital modernization of the regional economy is formed. The developed conceptual foundations of an organization of the regional market of educational services for execution of its functions on stimulating the digital modernization of Russia’s regional economy allow for three variants of the process of training of personnel: within execution of the order of partner companies in a regional technological park, within participation of the region’s companies in a tender for training of personnel and within an independent initiation of the process of training of personnel by universities based on the results of digital marketing. Originality/value The offered authors’ recommendations ensure the following advantages during the creation and development of the educational platform of a region’s digital modernization in Industry 4.0: high marketing activity of universities, direct sequence of training of personnel and improved treatment of the effectiveness of regional universities as the ratio of efficiency in personnel training to expenditures, which stimulates competition between universities and maximization of effectiveness of educational platform of a region’s digital modernization in Industry 4.0.

Research challenges for the use of big data in policy-making

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 593-604
Author(s):  
Francesco Mureddu ◽  
Juliane Schmeling ◽  
Eleni Kanellou
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Public Governance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Challenges ◽  
Data Informed

Purpose This paper aims to present pertinent research challenges in the field of (big) data-informed policy-making based on the research, undertaken within the course of the European Union-funded project Big Policy Canvas. Technological advancements, especially in the past decade, have revolutionised the way that both every day and complex activities are conducted. It is, thus, expected that a particularly important actor such as the public sector, should constitute a successful disruption paradigm through the adoption of novel approaches and state-of-the-art information and communication technologies. Design The research challenges stem from a need, trend and asset assessment based on qualitative and quantitative research, as well as from the identification of gaps and external framework factors that hinder the rapid and effective uptake of data-driven policy-making approaches. Findings The current paper presents a set of research challenges categorised in six main clusters, namely, public governance framework, privacy, transparency, trust, data acquisition, cleaning and representativeness, data clustering, integration and fusion, modelling and analysis with big data and data visualisation. Originality/value The paper provides a holistic overview of the interdisciplinary research challenges in the field of data-informed policy-making at a glance and shall serve as a foundation for the discussion of future research directions in a broader scientific community. It, furthermore, underlines the necessity to overcome isolated scientific views and treatments because of a high complex multi-layered environment.

A business process and portfolio management approach for Industry 4.0 transformation

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Richard ◽  
Robert Pellerin ◽  
Jocelyn Bellemare ◽  
Nathalie Perrier
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Portfolio Management ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Process Analysis ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Project Portfolio ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Project Portfolio Management ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address the difficulties faced by manufacturing enterprises by providing a project portfolio management approach supporting the selection and prioritization of various Industry 4.0 projects where business process analysis is used to ensure the strategic alignment and value of the project portfolio.Design/methodology/approachThe design research methodology, a mixed applied research methodology, was used to develop and test the proposed approach.FindingsDespite the growing interest of the scientific and industrial communities in I4.0, it seems that there is no method by which manufacturing companies can select a large number of improvement projects. Moreover, studies tend to focus on the evaluation and implementation of a single technology, while the transformation of an intelligent plant requires the consolidation and coordination of many initiatives to achieve a global objective.Originality/valueThe proposed project portfolio management model offers support to enterprises during their digital transformation and improves their processes by integrating technology levers through consistent and achievable selection of I4.0 initiatives while meeting strategic goals and objectives.

Antecedents of e-business adoption intention: an empirical study

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bijoylaxmi Sarmah ◽  
Shreekant Sharma ◽  
Shivam Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Perceived Behavioral Control ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Adoption Intention

Purpose Recent advances in information and communication technologies has driven emergence and expansion of the internet with decreased computing and communication costs and paved the way for exploring, creating and delivering value to the stakeholders through e-business adoption by the hotel service providers. Keeping this context in mind, this study aims to develop a conceptual model to investigate the antecedent factors of e-business adoption intention among the owners/managers of Indian micro, small and medium hotel enterprises and empirically validates it. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered from micro, small and medium hotel owners/managers with the help online survey method that resulted into 116 usable questionnaires. Structural equation modeling technique was applied to examine the appropriateness of the hypotheses. Findings Findings reveal that attitude toward e-business, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control positively influences e-business adoption intention among the owners/managers of micro, small and medium hotel enterprises in India. Research limitations/implications The context of this study is micro, small and medium hotel enterprises in India only and thereby limits the generalizability of results to other industry and country context. Practical implications This study offers theoretical and managerial implications to be applied by academicians and micro, small and medium enterprise owners/managers for e-business adoption in Indian hotel industry. Originality value This study can be considered as an extension of the study of Crespo and del Bosque (2008) in which they applied the theory of planned behavior to understand the psychological factors that determine e-business adoption among the managers and, thereby, contribute the existing literature, as empirical studies on e-business adoption intention by micro, small and medium hotel enterprises are scantly available.

scholarly journals Online remote language teaching during and beyond the pandemic: echoes from the Anchor University in Lagos

2021 ◽  
pp. 63-78
Author(s):  
Tunde Ope-Davies
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Communication Networks ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Technology Enhanced Learning ◽  
Tertiary Institution ◽  
Educational Benefits ◽  
Educational Challenges ◽  
Ict Industry

The outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) brought along with it a number of socio-political, public health, administrative, economic, and educational challenges and impacts across the world. Teaching and learning as a critical component of our social existence have been equally impacted with new technologies providing both the tools and affordances for effective virtual learning. This chapter discusses the adoption and application of digital technologies for online teaching and learning at Anchor University, Lagos (AUL), a private tertiary institution in Lagos, Nigeria. The study foregrounds its theoretical principles on Kirkwood and Price’s (2014) perspective on Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) and Herring’s (2004) Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis (CMDA). The dataset was drawn from Google Classroom’s platform deployed by AUL during the COVID-19 crisis. I used qualitative content-based analysis to discuss how the selected data reflect the reality of TEL during the pandemic. The study argues that the deployment of new technologies for teaching and learning in higher education utilised the existing framework and availability of digital tools and mobile communication networks resulting from the phenomenal development of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) industry in Nigeria. It confirms that the availability of a range of digital technologies and social media platforms has improved the possibilities of adapting to remote learning during the period and beyond. It concludes by highlighting socio-educational benefits of remote teaching and learning and some challenges of teaching language-related courses in Nigeria and other similar cultural contexts.

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