Weak GDP may delay policymakers’ ‘Industry 4.0’ plans

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Capital Investment ◽  
Potential Growth ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Data Services ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Property Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
Development Processes

Significance This spending is needed as manufacturers are under pressure to re-engineer their businesses by deploying technologies to enhance productivity and develop and scale new products and data-based services under the rubric of 'Industry 4.0'. Impacts Technologies will revolutionise every aspect of industry from materials, product development, processes, networks and client interactions. Customer solutions based on intellectual property, data, services, skills and other intangibles will be critical sources of value creation. Capital investment is falling amid rising cashflow pressures and competition and faltering demand; this could reduce potential growth. Slower growth will worsen differences between firms that successfully adopt technologies to enhance customer value and those that do not. Governments will face rising pressure to respond to the social impacts of changes affecting their industrial sectors and to protect jobs.

Applying Industry 4.0 technologies in the COVID–19 sustainable chains

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carina Acioli ◽  
Annibal Scavarda ◽  
Augusto Reis
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Supply Chain Performance ◽  
Chain Process ◽  
Sustainable Supply Chain ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainable Performance ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Research

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is 1) to investigate the effects on the crucial Industry 4.0 technological innovations that interact between the real and virtual worlds and that are applied in the sustainable supply chain process; 2) to contribute to the identification of the opportunities, the challenges and the gaps that will support the new research study developments and 3) to analyze the impact of the Industry 4.0 technologies as facilitators of the sustainable supply chain performance in the midst of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).Design/methodology/approachThis research is performed through a bibliographic review in the electronic databases of the Emerald Insight, the Scopus and the Web of Science, considering the main scientific publications on the subject.FindingsThe bibliographic search results in 526 articles, followed by two sequential filters for deleting the duplicate articles (resulting in 487 articles) and for selecting the most relevant articles (resulting in 150 articles).Practical implicationsThis article identifies the opportunities and the challenges focused on the emerging Industry 4.0 theme. The opportunities can contribute to the sustainable performance of the supply chains and their territories. The Industry 4.0 can also generate challenges like the social inequalities related to the position of the man in the labor market by replacing the human workforce with the machines. Therefore, the man-machine relationship in the Industry 4.0 era is analyzed as a gap in the literature. Therefore, as a way to fill this gap, the authors of this article suggest the exploration of the research focused on the Society 5.0. Also known as “super-smart society,” this recent theme appeared in Japan in April 2016. According to Fukuda (2020), in addition to the focus on the technological development, the Society 5.0 also aims at the quality of life and the social challenge resolutions.Originality/valueThis article contributes to the analysis of the Industry 4.0 technologies as facilitators in the sustainable supply chain performance. It addresses the impacts of the Industry 4.0 technologies applied to the supply chains in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it analyzes the research gaps and limitations found in the literature. The result of this study can add value and stimulate new research studies related to the application of the Industry 4.0 technologies as facilitators in the supply chain sustainable performance. It can encourage the studies related to the COVID-19 impacts on the sustainable supply chains, and it can promote the research development on the relationship among the man, the machine and the labor in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Total quality management 4.0: adapting quality management to Industry 4.0

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabiane Florencio de Souza ◽  
Alana Corsi ◽  
Regina Negri Pagani ◽  
Giles Balbinotti ◽  
João Luiz Kovaleski
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Quality Management ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Ecosystem Model ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Total Quality ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Data Collections

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to explore the new concept of TQM 4.0 as a way of adapting quality management (QM) in Industry 4.0 (I4.0), guiding industries to this new phase, which has generated adaptations in numerous areas, one of which is QM and human resources.Design/methodology/approachA systematic review of the literature was carried out. Methodi Ordinatio was applied to build the portfolio of articles with scientific relevance, which is the source of data collections and content analysis. To help out in the analysis, NVivo 12 and VOSviewer software programs were used.FindingsThe results demonstrate that when adapting the QM to the technologies of I4.0, the result is an ecosystem that supports the integration between technology, quality and people in the industrial scenario.Research limitations/implicationsThis article presents a systematic review of the literature, but without delving into specific issues such as the different industrial sectors and the culture of countries in which industries may be inserted, for example, which characterizes a limitation of this research.Practical implicationsThis study provides an ecosystem model that can guide future research, regarding the concept of TQM 4.0, in addition to pointing out some ways of combining technologies, quality and people in the industrial context.Originality/valueThis is one of the first articles to employ a systematic review of the literature using Methodi Ordinatio to build a bibliographic panorama on the intertwining of the themes total QM (TQM) and I4.0, focusing on the emerging concept of TQM 4.0.

A labelling system and automation comparison index for industry 4.0 system

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shailendra Kumar ◽  
Mohammad Asjad ◽  
Mohd. Suhaib
Keyword(s):  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Manufacturing System ◽  
Threshold Value ◽  
Fuzzy Cognitive Maps ◽  
Automated System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Level Of Automation ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Automation Level ◽  
Labelling System

Purpose This paper aims to put forward a labelling system capable of reflecting the level of different Industry 4.0 (I4.0)features present in a manufacturing system and further propose a comparative index to collectively estimate and compare the system automation level. Design/methodology/approach Data for the empirical study were collected from interactions with the practising managers and experts. A relationship among the six I4.0 features is developed with fuzzy cognitive maps. Findings The paper proposed a simple and easy-to-understand labelling system for I4.0 systems, which indicates the automation level in each of six dimensions of any manufacturing system. The system is further strengthened by a proposed automation comparative index (ACI), which collectively reflects the automation level on a scale of “0” to “1”. Thus, the labelling system and parameter could help in comparing the level of automation in the manufacturing system and further decision-making. Research limitations/implications Only seven industrial sectors are illustrated in the paper, but the proposed concept of the classification scheme and ACI find their applicability on a large spectrum of industries; thus, the concept can be extended to other industrial sectors. Furthermore, a threshold value of ACI is a differentiator between a I4.0 and other automated systems. Both aspects have the scope of further work. Practical implications The way and pace by which the industrial world takes forward the concept of I4.0, soon it will need a labelling system and a parameter to assess the automation level of any automated system. The scheme assesses the automation level present in a manufacturing system. It will also estimate the level of the presence of each of all six attributes of an I4.0 system. Both labelling system and ACI will be the practical tools in the hands of the practising managers to help compare, identify the thrust areas and make decisions accordingly. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind that proposed the labelling system and automation comparison index for I4.0 systems.

Biomimetics for business? Industry perceptions and patent application

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 597-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryo Kohsaka ◽  
Yoshinori Fujihira ◽  
Yuta Uchiyama
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Patent Application ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Private Company ◽  
Private Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
The Social ◽  
International Comparative

Purpose Biomimetics are expected to contribute to sustainable environmental management; however, there has been no exploration of industry perceptions by using empirical data. This study aims to identify the trends and perceptions of biomimetics. The industrial sectors in Japan and international patent application trends are analyzed. Design/methodology/approach An online survey to identify the perceptions of staff members in Japanese private companies (n = 276) was conducted. Japan is an emerging country in terms of the social implementation of biomimetics, and this paper can provide insights into other such countries. Findings It is identified that the strength of connections to biomimetics differs across industrial sectors. The respondents from companies that use nanoscale biomimetics tend to have the knowledge of, and experience in, biomimetics. Regarding the overall understanding of patent applications, Japanese private company employees require knowledge of patent application trends and country rankings as potential factors influencing the development of biomimetics. Social implications Knowledge transfer and sharing of experience among engineers and researchers of nanoscale technologies and urban scales are necessary to facilitate biomimetic advancement. Originality/value The results of the first survey and an analysis of the perceptions of staff members in private companies in Japan are provided to show the challenges in the social implementation of biomimetics. The results can be referred to for the social implementation of biomimetics in emerging countries. The method of this study can be applied to an international comparative analysis in future research.

Supporting property valuation with automatic reconciliation

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurizio d’Amato
Keyword(s):  
Mortgage Lending ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Property Data ◽  
Subjective Judgement ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mortgage Crisis ◽  
Valuation Process ◽  
The Stability

Purpose Valuation is a professional activity based on international and local standards. In the valuation process more than one method can be modified. In this case, a final reconciliation of different opinions of value may be required. It is a matter of fact that the final result of these different valuation methods may vary. Therefore, in the final part of the valuation process, the valuer is required to assign a weight to the different methodologies to reach an appropriate opinion of value. This process is essentially based on valuer’s expertise. This paper aims to propose an automatic procedure of calculating the weights to assist the valuer in the valuation process. Design/methodology/approach The work provides methodologies to assign the weights through simple mathematical procedures that can be used to support subjective judgement in the valuation process. The models proposed can be applied to other phases of reconciliation inside the valuation process and are based on the collection of previous property data in the same market segment. Findings Two different methodologies are proposed to support valuers in the valuation process and in particular in the phase of the choice of the weights for final reconciliation purposes. Research limitations/implications The implication is the development of an information system to support the appraiser in providing these weights. The models proposed are only two but represent a future, much larger field of research. Practical implications The models may help in determining more consistent valuation reports. Social implications Consistent valuation reports for the determination of mortgage lending value may contribute to the stability of the social and economic system, especially after the 2008 non-agency mortgage crisis. Originality/value These are original models proposed in literature for such kind of problems.

Executive assessment of MBA graduates in Nigerian companies

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linus Osuagwu
Keyword(s):  
Master Of Business Administration ◽  
University Administrators ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Descriptive Research ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
The Social ◽  
Spss Software ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Mba Graduates

PurposeThe study aims to explore, via empirical evidence, executive assessment of Master of Business Administration (MBA) graduates in Nigerian companies.Design/methodology/approachThe research utilized a descriptive research design with structured questionnaire developed from relevant extant literature. Relevant data analysis, including determination of the psychometric properties of the research instrument, was undertaken via the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software.FindingsThe research results indicate that MBA graduates in the surveyed Nigerian organizations exhibited desired managerial tendencies only at an average extent.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations associated with the research include the use of convenience sampling approach, limited sample size and combination of respondents from different industrial sectors.Practical implicationsThe research has practical implications for organizational executives associated with management development programmes via MBA, in addition to university administrators with regard to content, format, curricula and process for MBA education programmes.Originality/valueThe research is original and has practical and theoretical values.

Retailers' CSR: the effects of legitimacy and social capital

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiyoung Kim ◽  
Sejin Ha ◽  
Clarissa Fong
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Capital Investment ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Practical Implication ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – This study aims to investigate consumer perception of community and employee oriented CSR program, and examine how retailers' CSR activities lead to social (i.e. legitimization) and financial support. Further, by taking the social context into account, this research examine the moderating effect of consumer engagement in community social capital on the relationship between perceived retailers' CSR action and retailer legitimization. Design/methodology/approach – Pre-test was conducted with 144 students to validate the measurement model. A total of 220 responses from US consumers were used for the main-test, and multiple group analysis in structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed in order to test the structural model. Findings – The result indicates that when retailers are perceived as adhering to social norms through their CSR actions, they gain legitimacy and support from the consumers within the community. Further, consumer social capital moderates the relationship between perceived CSR and retailer legitimacy. Practical implications – Findings of this research can provide retail marketers with practical implication in developing their CSR strategy catering to the community members. Understanding consumers with higher level of social capital investment will increase the capability and effectiveness of the retailers' CSR activities. Originality/value – This research offers theoretical contributions to the current research stream of CSR studies by testing the moderating effect of consumers' engagement in the social environment on consumers' legitimization and support toward retailers that perform CSR activities. This study also provides new perspective on assessing the outcome of retailers' CSR actions by focusing on both social and financial dimensions.

Priorities of training of digital personnel for industry 4.0: social competencies vs technical competencies

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 138-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena G. Popkova ◽  
Kristina V. Zmiyak
Keyword(s):  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Competencies ◽  
Regression Curves ◽  
The Social ◽  
Technical Competencies ◽  
The World ◽  
Human Labor ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the priorities of formation of competencies during training of digital personnel for industry 4.0. Design/methodology/approach The author performs two experiments for determining the scenario according to which industry 4.0 develops and will develop: the first experiment is aimed at determining the influence of the number of robots at unemployment level in 2019 and 2022 with the help of regression and correlation analysis (regression curves are built). The second experiment is connected to evaluation of the ratio of the number of robots to the number of population in 2019 and 2022. The research objects are countries with the highest number of robots in the world – i.e. with the highest level of development of industry 4.0; the information and empirical basis is materials of the International Federation of Robotics and the International Monetary Fund for 2019 and their forecasts for 2022. Findings The results of the performed experiments showed that in 2019 and 2022 the level of robotization of socio-economic systems of the countries of the world will be very low, and robotization will not cause growth of unemployment. Based on this, it is concluded that industry 4.0 will be developing according to the scenario of moderate automatization and robotization with preservation of domination of human labor in most business processes and spheres of economy. Communications with people will constitute the basis of the activities of digital personnel, and social competencies (with obvious significance of technical competencies) will be of top priority for them. Originality/value It is substantiated that technical competencies, with their large importance, will move to the background, while the key task will be society’s adaptation to the new technological mode and making social competencies the highest priority. The social and technical competencies of digital personnel in view of the performed tasks for industry 4.0 are determined.

Assessing the functional efficiency of agricultural futures markets in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 431-442
Author(s):  
Ju Ronghua ◽  
Yang Zhiling
Keyword(s):  
Futures Markets ◽  
Futures Market ◽  
Market Liquidity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Data Services ◽  
Futures Contract ◽  
Functional Efficiency ◽  
The Social ◽  
Agricultural Futures ◽  
Loss Index

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to quantitatively analyse the changes in the functional efficiency of the six Chinese agricultural futures markets and compare the relative behaviour of different futures markets. In addition, this paper analyses the causes of differences in the functional efficiency of agricultural futures markets and advances policy suggestions. Design/methodology/approach The method used in this paper is the social loss index proposed by Stein (1981, 1986). This method can quantitatively measure the functional efficiency of agricultural futures markets from the perspective of social welfare. The indicator is calculated for the 2009–2017 period and for several sub-periods. The data are from the CSMAR research data services in China. Findings Preliminary results suggest that the longer it takes for an agricultural futures contract to reach maturity, the lower the functional efficiency of its market. Second, the functional efficiency of the agricultural futures markets in China is improved except for that of the wheat futures market. Finally, the corn futures market is most efficient probably due to the progress of marketization, while the strong wheat futures market is most inefficient probably due to the decrease in futures market liquidity. Originality/value This paper uses a more reasonable method to study the functional efficiency of Chinese agricultural futures markets and then analyses the causes of differences in the functional efficiency of agricultural futures markets.

Decomposing the value of department store shopping into utilitarian, hedonic and social dimensions

2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo Rintamäki ◽  
Antti Kanto ◽  
Hannu Kuusela ◽  
Mark T. Spence
Keyword(s):  
Customer Value ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Department Store ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Retail Markets ◽  
Hedonic Value ◽  
The Social

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to decompose total customer value as perceived by department store shoppers into utilitarian, hedonic and social dimensions, and empirically test this conceptualization in a Finnish department store shopping context.Design/methodology/approachData were collected by a questionnaire administered over three days at a department store that generates the second largest turnover in Finland. A total of 364 shoppers completed the questionnaire.FindingsEmpirical evidence supports our tripartite conceptualization of total customer value. In particular, social value is an independent construct. Further, social value varies by day‐of‐week, with a significant increase on Saturday (versus weekdays) when the store is more crowded, whereas no such differences in utilitarian and hedonic values were detected.Originality/valueThe principal contribution is a tripartite conceptualization of total customer value that incorporates utilitarian, social and hedonic value dimensions in a department store shopping context. Individually these dimensions are all well rooted in streams of consumer behavior literature, albeit mostly at the product or brand, not the store, level. Increasing our understanding of these softer aspects of shopping, particularly the social dimension, is important because they represent possible differentiating factors in the highly competitive and often commoditized retail markets.

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