Embracing Cybersecurity Risk Management in the Industry of Medical Devices

The promises of Industry 4.0 in the medical device industry needs to be built on sound cybersecurity infrastructures, polices, and practices. During 2011-2017, the authors interviewed many manufacturers of medical devices in China, Germany, Israel, Japan, Taiwan, and U.S. about their attitude towards cybersecurity. Many manufacturers are not committed to cybersecurity risk management because they pursue lower cost and shorter product life cycles; do not have sufficient knowledge of operating environments of hospitals; have defensive attitude toward vulnerability disclosure; and reap quick benefits from the low-trust level among stakeholders and unequal power between manufacturers and distributors. Only a few large U.S. manufacturers of medical devices have set up robust secure platforms and interoperable optimal standards which benefit the users. As cybersecurity is a shared responsibility, many small and medium-sized enterprises need to be empowered through the support of international organizations and local government policies.

Analyzing an Impact of Industry 4.0 on Logistics and Supply Chain

The chapter presents an impact of Industry 4.0 transformation on logistics and supply chain management. Logistics and later supply chain management discipline has gone through a number of changes in the last 50 years, namely transition among mass, lean, agile, resilient, and green. All of them are paradigm changes as each significantly reshapes the orientation of the discipline in the source of competitiveness, risk concern, customer services, productivity, process management, externalities, costs, and other aspects of the disciplines. The author presents findings gained in the exploration of these fundamental changes and provides a comparison with a previous change of paradigm. The chapter proposes a transformation that the company supply chain system has to go through to re-establish its competitive position at the time of Industry 4.0. The chapter provides a case study of 3PL perception of Industry 4.0 based on in-depth interviews conducted among the major global 3PLs operating in the Czech Republic.

Logistics Management and Risk Management

Logistics management is an important part of supply chain management and deals with the movement and storage of products and services in order to meet customer demands. Risk management is the business growth strategy that can help executives handle any crisis within company toward achieving improved business planning, reduced costs, and enhanced organizational reliability. The chapter argues that applying logistics management and risk management has the potential to enhance operational performance and gain sustainable competitive advantage in global operations.

Is Malaysia Ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

Malaysia intends to ride on the crest of the coming i.4.0 wave. According to the 2016 GE Global Innovation Barometer study, a significant number of Malaysian executives felt positive about embracing i4.0 vis-a-vis their global peers. On the surface, Malaysia appears ready for its own i4.0 revolution. According to the WEF's Networked Readiness Index on digital readiness, Malaysia was ranked 6th in terms of having the most tech-savvy government in the world. The automotive sector is ideally suited to kickstart the i4.0 revolution as it was traditionally regarded as the “industry of industries” – particularly due to its traditional role in spearheading wider, cross-sectoral industrialisation. However, Malaysia is not yet ready to embrace the 4th Industrial Revolution. This chapter discusses the obstacles, challenges, and opportunities facing i4.0 uptake in the Malaysian automotive industry. It ends by recommending a unique pathway for i4.0 adoption in the sector.

Siemens' Customer Value Proposition for the Migration of Legacy Devices to Cyber-Physical Systems in Industrie 4.0

Industry is transforming from Industrie 3.0, automation, to Industrie 4.0, digitalization. Siemens intends to be a key player in Industrie 4.0, whose customer value proposition will shape manufacturing industries at customers. This chapter analyzes Siemens' customer value proposition for cyber-physical systems as manufacturing equipment and products in terms of this technology's impact on value. The goal is to identify concrete value drivers which cyber-physical systems technology in Industrie 4.0 brings. The statements about these value drivers belong to Siemens and are compared to operations' management literature. Cyber-physical systems negotiating as peer-to-peer in Industrie 4.0 will bring a new level of complexity. Manufacturing complexity builds complex products. Cyber-physical systems peer-to-peer negotiation decides manufacturing scheduling and brings unprecedented levels of complexity and flexibility. Manufacturing complexity enables new business models, one of which is mass customization.

Positioning Theoretical Perspective in Academic Writing

A main challenge for academic writing for students at master thesis level is to find the right perspective from which to launch the argument of the thesis. In the context of international business (IB) studies, the eclectic theoretical paradigm of the field offers students myriad frameworks from which to frame their research questions. The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate how perspective in academic writing can be taught and learnt in a systematic manner. Taking the example of the teaching of culture theory in international business (IB) studies, this chapter illustrates how the deictic or “pointer” function of the pronoun system in language can be used to help perspective research position and research design.

Towards a Framework for Assessing the Maturity of Manufacturing Companies in Industry 4.0 Adoption

The recent introduction of new disruptive technologies aimed at monitoring, controlling, optimizing, and automating production systems is shifting the manufacturing landscape towards a fourth industrial revolution. In this new industrial paradigm, manufacturing companies face complex challenges requiring the development of new organizational and technological capabilities. With this context in mind, this chapter is intended to provide a maturity assessment framework to understand the transformation process in manufacturing companies transitioning to Industry 4.0. The proposed framework is applied to 10 in-depth industrial case studies in Canada and Italy, two countries with increasing awareness of the Industry 4.0 revolution. A comparative case analysis revealed four different standards, or archetypes, for Industry 4.0 adoption, which are discussed and analyzed, highlighting a relationship between a company's manufacturing configuration and its path towards Industry 4.0 adoption.

Process Excellence and Industry 4.0

The process excellence discipline comprises several philosophies, approaches, and techniques with different headings and origins. The history of the industrial revolutions is related with the beginnings and development of these process excellence approaches. Therefore, the aim of this chapter is to explore the evolution of process excellence throughout these four industrial revolutions in order to propose recommendations to successfully cope this new revolution from the process excellence perspective. The chapter reviews publications about the history of the industrial revolutions, technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, and it includes the outputs from a roundtable with Industry 4.0 experts. The chapter concludes that the concept of process and process excellence is essential to implement this new revolution and that the current practices of process excellence most be review in with the perspective of Industry 4.0.

Incorporating Industry 4.0 in Corporate Strategy

Knowledge tells us that increase in productivity decreases margins in a competitive market and increases margins in a growing market. Not much is known about Industry 4.0 and its position within the corporate strategy and its possible impact on corporate performance. This chapter discusses the position of Industry 4.0 within the corporate strategy and how it may impact corporate performance. The main points include that corporates have to reflect on their core resources, leadership, and knowledge portfolio to take advantage of the Industry 4.0 platform. The corporates engaging in cost and volume strategies and those engaging in fast new product development strategies may benefit greatly with Industry 4.0. The services of Industry 4.0 may be outsourced but with added risks. Finally, the increased productivity with Industry 4.0 under constraint market growth may lead to the potential risk of market failure and large-scale layoffs.

Management Challenges in the Digital Era

The chapter gives overview of factors that business leaders need to consider while leading their enterprise to new era of industry. Robotics, automation, and digitalization represent both an opportunity and a threat to any impacted company. The chapter introduces analysis of current trends in industrial world with focus on OECD countries. Also, it provides an overall summary of current changes to managerial roles and suggests how to steer transformation endeavor from multiple viewpoints. Furthermore, a set of general recommendations on reorganization matters towards agile structure is presented. Other challenges arising from i4.0 such as adjustments in education process and changes to employees' mindset are also addressed from managerial viewpoint. The final part of the chapter points out main conclusions and core message as well as areas of further research.