Driving forces and barriers of Industry 4.0: Do multinational and small and medium-sized companies have equal opportunities?

• Published in: Technological forecasting & social change 2019-09, Vol.146, p.119-132
• Main Authors: Horváth, Dóra, Szabó, Roland Zs
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Annual reports; Automobiles; Barriers; Case studies; Companies; Digital strategy; Equal opportunity; Executives; Industrialization; Industry 4.0; Lean; Management; Management functions; Management reports; New technology; Performance measurement; Qualitative; Resistance; Resistance factors; Supply chain; Websites
• ISSN: 0040-1625; 1873-5509
• DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2019.05.021

The Fourth Industrial Revolution poses significant challenges to manufacturing companies from the technological, organizational and management points of view. This paper aims to explore how top executives interpret the concept of Industry 4.0, the driving forces for introducing new technologies and the main barriers to Industry 4.0. The authors applied a qualitative case study design involving 26 semi-structured interviews with leading members of firms, including chief digital officers and chief executive officers. Company websites and annual reports were also examined to increase the reliability and validity of the results. The authors found that management desire to increase control and enable real-time performance measurement is a significant driving force behind Industry 4.0, alongside production factors. Organizational resistance at both employee and middle management levels can significantly hinder the introduction of Industry 4.0 technologies, though these technologies can also transform management functions. Multinational enterprises have higher driving forces and lower barriers to industry 4.0 than small and medium-sized companies, but these smaller companies have good opportunities, too. •Industry 4.0 is both a technological issue and a significant social phenomenon.•Human resource factors are critical driving forces and barriers of Industry 4.0.•MNEs have higher driving forces & lower barriers than SMEs across nearly every aspect.•Industry 4.0 provides opportunities for performance measurement and evaluation.•Industry 4.0 also results in the transformation of management functions.