Implementing Industry 4.0: Exploring the literature in a systematic way using text mining

The increasing popularity of digitisation practices and methods by scholars and practitioners alike has been paving the way for industrial transformation. Industry 4.0 has become an accepted trend across various industries, yet despite the increasing number of articles on this topic the complexities of implementation at the firm level remains largely vague and undefined. Therefore, the research presents a review of the social, operational and strategic aspects following the full-text mining of 116 selected articles. The study reveals that digital transformation requires stakeholders and investors to consider implementation through a multi-level and multidisciplinary lens. On this basis the study identifies the social, operational and strategic gaps within the literature and provides recommendations for future studies on implementation

The Examination of the Corporate Organisation and Implementation of Industry 4.0 in a High Value German Manufacturing Firm

This paper examines the corporate organisational aspects of the implementation of Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 builds on new technologies and appears as a disruptive innovation to manufacturing firms. Although we do have a good understanding of the technical components, the implementation of the management and organisational aspects of Industry 4.0 is under-researched. It is challenging to find qualitative empirical evidence which provides comprehensive insights about real implementation cases. Based on a case study in a German high value manufacturing firm, we explore the corporate organisation and implementation of Industry 4.0. By using the framework of Complex Adaptive System (CAS), we have identified three key factors which facilitate the implementation of Industry 4.0 namely 1.) Organisational structure changes such as the foundation of a central department for digital transformation, 2.) The election of a Chief Digital Officer as a personnel change, and 3.) Corporate opening up towards cooperating with partners as a cultural change. We have furthermore found that Lean Management is an important enabler that ensures readiness for the adoption of Industry 4.0

Erratum: "A CONTINGENT PERSPECTIVE OF OPEN INNOVATION IN NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS"

No abstract received.

An examination of barriers to business model innovation

Business models (BM) are the logic of a firm on how to create, deliver and capture value. Business model innovation (BMI) is essential to organisations for keeping competitive advantage. However, the existence of barriers to BMI can impact the success of a corporate strategic alignment. Previous research has examined the internal barriers to business model innovation, however there is a lack of research on the potential external barriers that could potentially inhibit business model innovation. Drawn from an in-depth case study in a German medium size engineering company in the equestrian sports industry, we explore both internal and external barriers to business model innovation. BMI is defined as any change in one or more of the nine building blocks of the Business Model Canvas; customer segment, value propositions, channels, customer relation, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key partners, cost structure [1]. Our results show that barriers to business model innovation can be overcome by the deployment of organisational learning mechanisms and the development of an open network capability

The timing of openness in a radical innovation project, a temporal and loose coupling perspective

We extend the Profit from Innovation (PFI) framework (Teece, 1986) by combining it with open innovation insights: we explore when and how managers make the transition between closed and open innovation, and how they use appropriation (formal and informal defense mechanisms) and project strategies to capture the value generated from the innovation at the project level. Based on a radical innovation project at Jaguar (UK), we contribute to a process and temporal perspective of open innovation by shedding light on two core project processes and their enabling mechanisms which influenced the ability of Jaguar to maximize profits from the innovation. The first core project process was the choice of timing of the shift from a closed to an open model of innovation: it was enabled by a pro-active change in the formal defense strategy (i.e. submission of a patent), and by an internal loose coupling project strategy that involved autonomy of the project champion and internal engineers’ weak membership in the project. The second core process was an external loose coupling project strategy that was enabled by the deployment of two complementary informal appropriation mechanisms namely, the reduction of the scope of tasks allocated to external partners combined with the development of guarded relationships with them

A multi-dimensional approach for managing open innovation in NPD

Purpose This paper explores openness within new product development (NPD) projects. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of breadth, depth and partner newness on product innovativeness and product competitive advantage. The authors also seek to examine the contingent effects of the appropriability regime. The authors make suggestions to academics and practitioners based on the findings. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a structured survey instrument producing an empirical analysis of 205 NPD projects in the manufacturing sector in the UK. The authors use an ordinary least squares regression model to test hypothesised relationships between openness (breadth, depth and partner newness), product innovativeness, product competitive advantage and the appropriability regime. Findings The authors find that each of the three dimensions of openness, depth, breadth and partner newness, have a significant but differing impact on product innovativeness. Specifically, the study indicates that breadth has a positive effect but only in the presence of a strong appropriability regime, partner newness has a direct positive effect, and depth a direct negative effect. The authors also find that product innovativeness has a positive impact on product competitive advantage. Research limitations/implications Further research should focus on replicating the findings in other countries, search for further moderating factors, such as the stage of the NPD process, and analyse the longitudinal impact of openness within NPD projects. Practical implications Organisations are encouraging managers to be more open in their approach to NPD. The authors’ findings suggest that managers need to think about the three dimensions of openness, breadth, depth and partner newness. Their engagement with each of these dimensions depends on the desired outcomes of the innovation project and the strength of patents. Originality/value The research extends the extant supplier involvement in new product development literature to examine the effect of up to 11 types of external actor in NPD projects. The authors test a new multi-dimensional measurement scale for the openness construct. The authors show that each dimension has a different relationship with product innovativeness. </jats:sec