scholarly journals The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Sustainability Practices: A Comparative Automated Content Analysis Approach of Theory and Practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8497
Author(s):  
Vasja Roblek ◽  
Oshane Thorpe ◽  
Mirjana Pejic Bach ◽  
Andrej Jerman ◽  
Maja Meško

(1) Background: The article provides a methodologically coherent analysis of technological development in the context of the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 and its impact on changes in sustainable development policy. (2) Methods: Using a Comparative Automated Content Analysis (ACA) approach, the article compares recent scientific work on sustainable development and the fourth industrial revolution with the discourse in the news media on sustainable development and industry 4.0. (3) Results: The scientific literature focuses more on changes in business models, production processes, and technologies that enable sustainable development. Newspaper and magazine articles write more about sustainable or green investments, sustainable standards, and sustainable reporting. The focus is on topics that are directly relevant to current sustainable business development and the promotion of research and development of clean and smart technologies and processes. (4) Conclusions: The ACA allows a more systematic comparison of different data sources. The article provides a starting point for sustainable development professionals to gain useful insights into a specific context with the help of the ACA.

Author(s):  
Vasja Roblek ◽  
Oshane Thorpe ◽  
Maja Meško ◽  
Mirjana Pejic Bach ◽  
Andrej Jerman

Background (1) In the time of the 4th Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0, a conglomerate of technical and social inventions, political contexts, socio-cultural circumstances, environmental policies, business models, and economic policies has emerged. Sustainability policy in theory and practice aims to deal with the effects of all these factors and to try to make decisions that ensure both social and economic development sustainably. The question is how to familiarize oneself with the current knowledge about the relationship between Industry 4.0 and sustainability?; (2) Methods: This research utilizes an automated content analysis method to analyses scientific journals, newspapers and magazines. The comparison of results of both research group shows that the scientific literature focuses more on changes in business models, production processes and technologies that enable sustainable development; (3) We found that the scientific literature focuses more on changes in business models, production processes and technologies that enable sustainable development. Newspapers and magazines articles write more about sustainable or green investment, sustainable standards and sustainable reporting. Newspapers and magazines articles write more about sustainable or green investment, sustainable standards and sustainable reporting. Newspapers, as well as some latest research journals, include articles of the COVID-19 outbreak and its effect on the economy and the environment. Indeed, the outbreak of the virus brings a new thought to the reorganization of the complex relationships between consumers, businesses and the state; (4) Conclusions: According to the comparison of the analyses of the results, it can is that the analyses of both types of literature, both scientific and professional, shows that there are common topics they write about, which are related to the field of clean production, emissions, renewable energy, climate change, sustainable investments and corporate sustainability. An urgent global issue that extends all over the world is the promotion of energy-saving technologies and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 505-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seeram Ramakrishna ◽  
Alfred Ngowi ◽  
Henk De Jager ◽  
Bankole O. Awuzie

Growing consumerism and population worldwide raises concerns about society’s sustainability aspirations. This has led to calls for concerted efforts to shift from the linear economy to a circular economy (CE), which are gaining momentum globally. CE approaches lead to a zero-waste scenario of economic growth and sustainable development. These approaches are based on semi-scientific and empirical concepts with technologies enabling 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and 6Rs (reuse, recycle, redesign, remanufacture, reduce, recover). Studies estimate that the transition to a CE would save the world in excess of a trillion dollars annually while creating new jobs, business opportunities and economic growth. The emerging industrial revolution will enhance the symbiotic pursuit of new technologies and CE to transform extant production systems and business models for sustainability. This article examines the trends, availability and readiness of fourth industrial revolution (4IR or industry 4.0) technologies (for example, Internet of Things [IoT], artificial intelligence [AI] and nanotechnology) to support and promote CE transitions within the higher education institutional context. Furthermore, it elucidates the role of universities as living laboratories for experimenting the utility of industry 4.0 technologies in driving the shift towards CE futures. The article concludes that universities should play a pivotal role in engendering CE transitions.


Author(s):  
Sibel Yildiz Çankaya ◽  
Bülent Sezen

Modern industry developed over several centuries and three industrial revolutions. Today, we experience the fourth era of the industrial revolution, Industry 4.0. The advance of industrialization brought along many problems, including environmental pollution, global warming, and depletion of natural resources. As a result, the concept of sustainability began to gain importance. Sustainability can be achieved through a balance between economic, social, and environmental processes. In order to establish such balance, businesses need new business models or insights. At this point, Industry 4.0 can be regarded as a new business mindset that will help businesses and communities move towards sustainable development. The technologies used by Industry 4.0 bear a strong promise to solve these problems, after all. Even though Industry 4.0 attracts a lot of attention lately, few works are available on its impact on sustainability. This chapter examines the impact of Industry 4.0 on sustainability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 224
Author(s):  
Quan-Hoang Vuong

Enterprises and entrepreneurs in emerging economies face a different set of opportunities and challenges from the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0. This volume comprises a number of analyses on entrepreneurial finance with a focus on the emerging markets, covering topics such as debt financing, stock market efficiency, resource consumption, and sustainable development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 169-174
Author(s):  
K. Voskovykh

This article determines that in the context of global digitalization, the competitiveness and sustainable development of companies depend on the speed of mastering new technologies. Assessment of the current level of the construction industry indicates its lag behind other industries. The aim of the study is to analyze the current level of digitalization of construction companies and summarize the constraining factors. The importance of continuous digitization of production and logistics, networking of autonomous smart objects or the use of self-learning systems in order to increase flexibility and optimize processes is emphasized. The main benefit of implementing digital business models is reducing the time it takes to make decisions, implement a project, and bring products to market. The factors holding back digital processes at the construction site are highlighted: a high proportion of manual production, over-regulation, dependence on the public sector and cyclical changes, the scale of the company. New technologies resulting from the fourth industrial revolution promise more efficient processes, greater time and cost savings, greater productivity and quality. The construction industry must catch up with other industries, because it also has to face the challenges of globalization, urbanization, climate change, resource scarcity, demographic change and other events that disrupt its sustainable development. Construction Site 4.0 promises improvements, but the fourth industrial revolution on the construction site is just beginning.


Author(s):  
Elena Viktorovna Shirinkina

The relevance of this research is substantiated by the fact that the world job market is currently under the influence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0). The goal lies in assessing the impact of cyclic and unexpected trends upon the job market, and thus, the forms of job management and employment functions. In this regard, analysis is conducted on the academic theories in the context of conceptualization of the impact of Industry 4.0 upon the job market and employment functions. The long-term trends in transformation of the job market are determined. The empirical basis of this research is comprised of the statistical data provided by Rosstat and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, as well as the resources of analytical articles and scientific publications, including the materials of international organizations, leading consulting companies, global associations, leading educational institutions, other active participants of global educational environment, and job market experts. An overview is given to the trends that affect the companies, their strategies and business models; the impact of such trends upon the transformation of current professions and the emergence of new professions; skills required for these professions. The scientific novelty lies in substantiation of the concept of skill-biased technical change (SBTC) and the theory of routine-biased technological change (RBTC). The presented materials would allow the companies to combine business news with fundamental training of specialists for going along the new career trajectiory in light of the new technological challenges, which defines the practical value of this research.


Author(s):  
Maja Meško ◽  
Vasja Roblek

In the time of the 4th Industrial Revolution was introduced the sustainable model of car sharing. People began to realise the costs of owning and suboptimal use of cars, real estate and other goods. Innovative companies have started to promote services based on an economy of sharing, which has led to a change in the culture of ownership of goods. The first applications of the sharing economy were observed in durable goods such as cars and housing. In this article, we will focus on the question of how successful a genuine car-sharing model is in Europe. According to theory, the car-sharing model provides an example of a sharing economy in which the starting point, rather than ownership of an asset, is access to a service, which makes better use of the shared asset and makes it much cheaper to use and accessible to a wider range of people. The theory also emphasises the role of car sharing in urban environments, as it provides a sustainable environmental solution in the context of car electrification. In this way, such a model ensures that no harmful emissions are produced, and the sustainable aspect of this car-sharing model is further underlined by the use of electricity from renewable sources. However, the question is what the gap between theory and practice is. What do the citizens of European conurbations think about this business model, and how successful is it? To this end, we will use an automated content analysis procedure to analyse publications in scientific journals, newspapers and magazines.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrija Popović

We are at the cusp of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and its implications on the society are far-reaching. The purpose of this paper is to give a comprehensive overview of the implications that Industry 4.0 has on the Sustainable Development Goals from the UN Agenda 2030, based on the review and the analysis of the available literature. The paper is structured to give an insight into the basic concepts of Industry 4.0 and Sustainable Development, then moves through the implications of new technologies on the Sustainable Development Goals, and finally, points out the areas that need to be addressed by policymakers. This paper just tapped into the potentials and issues that the Fourth Industrial Revolution brings while leaving the room for in-depth research of any of the analyzed areas.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 250-267
Author(s):  
Carlos Eduardo Silva ◽  
Rodolfo Cardoso ◽  
Ramon Baptista Narcizo ◽  
Luiza Maciel Gonçalves ◽  
Yohana Carvalho

The term Industry 4.0 has gained prominence in academic and business discourses in recent years, having its concept related to the so-called fourth industrial revolution. Goal: The present research aims to develop and present a framework with the concepts of Industry 4.0. Methodology: The study started from a quantitative analysis of the academic articles available in the Scopus database. Subsequently, a qualitative analysis of articles and technical reports (mostly) was carried out to obtain a more applied technological vision in the industry. With this, technological clusters were built and, finally, the Industry 4.0 framework was proposed. Results: As a result, it was possible to establish an overview of the publications, highlighting the main conceptual views of the different terms that converge for the fourth industrial revolution, as well as the main technologies associated with Industry 4.0, systematizing the knowledge in the industry 4.0 framework. Limitations of the investigation: The search has been limited to available and selected papers for reading. Practical implications: The practical contribution has been satisfactorily evaluated to assist future research on the subject. Value: Finally, the main contribution of the work is the creation of a framework that synthesizes and systematizes the relationships among the main characteristics, technologies, products and business models of the 4.0.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-167
Author(s):  
Marina Teixeira de Souza ◽  
Fernando César Almada Santos

Objective – This study aims to analyze the scientific production on the topic of Industry 4.0. Theoretical framework – The work presented a literary review about the concept, how Industry 4.0. has developed and its characteristics. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology proposed for this work is based on bibliographic research and the application of bibliometric procedures. Findings – Eight hundred and fifty articles were found up to 2020. The publications involved 2,625 authors, from 75 countries, 1,084 institutions and 201 different journals. Highlighting that 88.3% of the articles were published in the last three years. The countries that stood out the most were China and Italy, and the most prolific journal was Applied Sciences Basel, with 59 articles. The most cited article received 343 citations and the largest production per author was nine articles. The topic has risen significantly in recent years with empirical and theoretical studies. Research, Practical & Social implications – The topic is of exponential interest for academics, researchers and managers and for directly impacting business models and organizational strategies, the study involved presenting the development and trends, in an orderly manner, of Industry 4.0 in the period from 1990 to 2020. Originality/value – The originality of the study comes from the gap identified, which corresponds to the need for a bibliometric study that presented the main countries, years of publications, most cited and most published authors, periodicals and recurring keywords, in addition to identifying developments and trends in this topic. Keywords – Industry 4.0. Fourth Industrial Revolution. Trends.


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