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Strategic pathways to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 12 through Industry 4.0: Moderating role of institutional pressure
Abstract
Emerging economies, at the vanguard of extensive resource depletion and limited environmental stewardship, are worst‐hit by climate change events, necessitating an extensive investigation of the relevance of I4.0 in attaining sustainable consumption and production patterns. This study focuses on Sustainable Production and Consumption (SDG12) and investigates how the implementation of I4.0 can contribute to the adoption of circular economy practices (CEPs) to incorporate elements of sustainable consumption and procurement into supply chains. Based on dynamic capabilities theory, institutional pressure, and the triple‐bottom‐line perspective, this study proposes an overarching research framework that presents the synergistic convergence of dynamic capabilities, I4.0, and the circular economy to achieve SDG12. This framework is empirically validated through a survey‐based, cross‐sectional research design by utilizing conditional process modeling. This study employed purposive sampling where respondents constituted 480 industry practitioners and professionals in digital supply chain and operations management from manufacturing firms based in the Baddi and Alwar districts in India. The findings demonstrate that I4.0 and CEPs sequentially mediate the impact of dynamic capabilities on SDG12, while mimetic pressure strengthens the impact of exploitation‐oriented strategy on SDG12.
... Although digital transformation aims to increase competitiveness, it sometimes creates efficiency islands, causing disruptions in organizational culture and reducing processes' effectiveness. As such, it can destabilize organizational connections that work well, having a disruptive impact (Zhang, Mirza, et al., 2023), unintended adverse effects on sustainable development (Dieste et al., 2023), and bringing high risks and concerns to organizations (Ponsignon et al., 2019;Sharma et al., 2024). ...
... Overall, due to the transformative capacity of the implementation of digital transformation, organizations can lessen the unsought effects of production (Kynčlová et al., 2020) and contribute to SDG12 (Isensee et al., 2020;Sharma et al., 2024). Moreover, digital transformation and sustainable development are increasingly interconnected management dimensions fundamental for the future development of organizations (Denicolai et al., 2021). ...
... Regarding the direct impact of digital capabilities on SDG12 success, it was found that, although it is not a sufficient condition, it is a necessary condition. Our results are contrary to Sharma et al. (2024), who found a positive direct effect of the Industry 4.0 implementation degree on SDG12. This implies that attaining sustainable consumption and production success requires a baseline level of digital transformation. ...
Competing in the global market requires organizations to change rapidly, addressing both digital transformation and sustainable development challenges. This study uncovers new relationships and critical factors, enriching current knowledge and guiding future research on how digital transformation enhances sustainable consumption and production (Sustainable Development Goal 12 [SDG12]) success. It identifies key factors that enhance or inhibit these relationships by combining structural model and necessary conditions analysis. The findings reveal that organizations must excel in digital capabilities directly and through excellence practices to achieve SDG12 success. ISO 14001 further strengthens the impact of digital transformation and excellence practices on SDG12. The results empirically demonstrate what European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) and American Society for Quality (ASQ) advocate: excellence practices are a tool for sustainable development. This study adds both to the literature and practice on the relationships between digital transformation, excellence models, and sustainable development and how these relationships are influenced by ISO standards.
... Scholars highlight its role in fostering transparency, managing reputation and addressing stakeholder concerns (see, e.g., Albitar et al. 2023;Al-Shaer et al. 2022;Garzoni et al. 2024;Yang et al. 2024). In doing so, they have investigated various dimensions of corporate SR within their stakeholder relationships (Ida et al. 2024;Sharma et al. 2024;Yin 2024). Additionally, research has explored how SR influences and is influenced by stakeholder experiences, perceptions and behaviours (Albitar et al. 2023;Shahid et al. 2024;Tsetse et al. 2024;Momin and Parker 2013) and contributes to competitive advantages for organisations (Bhuiyan et al. 2023). ...
This paper investigates the adaptation of sustainability reporting (SR) amidst turbulent political and social environments, shaping novel social dynamics. We employ a critical hermeneutic framework to longitudinally analyse SR across three corporations, spanning periods before and after a significant socio‐political upheaval, notably the Egyptian revolution. Through a comprehensive examination comprising 29 sustainability and management reports, interviews with eight key stakeholders, analysis of 488 corporate social media posts (Facebook and Twitter) and scrutiny of 213 news media articles spanning 6 years (2009–2014), we uncover the role of SR in constructing and navigating social relations amid instability. Our findings reveal that SR functions to construct social connections during periods of uncertainty by crafting narratives that symbolically link corporations to newly empowered communities. Consequently, SR becomes a mechanism for reshaping corporate identity, portraying corporations as courageous and aligned with youthful aspirations, aligning their operations with the evolving socio‐political landscape. This study offers a nuanced understanding of how SR serves as a tool for corporate communication, enabling corporations to manage their image and relationships with emerging stakeholders while (re)shaping a political identity that signifies continuity and stability. Grounded in the context of the pre‐ and post‐Egyptian revolution, our analysis highlights the adaptive nature of corporate communication amidst shifting social and political landscapes.
... SDG 12 is identified as a central one that is supported through the transition into a bioeconomy. Including technological innovations (Sharma et al., 2024) and included business models (Salvador et al., 2023). With a focus on promoting the sustainable use and management of natural resources, companies are encouraged to adopt practices that minimise food waste and losses. ...
This study uses the establishment of Pilot Free Trade Zones (PFTZ) as a quasi‐natural experiment, analyzing data from A‐share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2009 to 2022. A staggered difference‐in‐differences (DID) model is applied to examine the impact of PFTZ on firms' green governance performance (GGP). The results show that PFTZ significantly enhance GGP, with robust findings after parallel trend tests, placebo tests, and addressing endogeneity. Mechanism analysis reveals that PFTZ improve GGP through two key mechanisms: “conceptual governance” and “process governance.” The conceptual governance mechanism strengthens firm's environmental and social responsibility awareness, while the process governance mechanism enhances management efficiency and fosters green innovation and transformation, thereby improving green governance quality. Heterogeneity analysis indicates stronger effects in high‐pollution industries, firms with greater reputational capital, regions with advanced green finance infrastructure, and eastern regions. Furthermore, regional environmental regulatory intensity and public environmental awareness positively moderate this effect. The establishment of PFTZ also expands corporate access to sustainable financing, supporting balanced environmental and economic outcomes. This study provides valuable insights for policymakers to promote firms' green transformation within PFTZ.
Purpose
The paper aims to interpret sustainable regional development (SRD) as an exchange ecosystem in which stakeholders provide reciprocal access to resources, benefiting both individual and systemic levels. This paper suggests that knowledge, as a shared and value-transcribed critical resource, nourishes a community’s motivational system (CMS), orienting it toward SRD. This inherently raises questions regarding the nature of social business models (SBM) that can best support community’s motivational system, as well as their sustainable regional development derivatives.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper employs the Fuzzy Expert System (FES) to analyze companies participating in the three most representative Italian consortia, aiming to empirically address the knowledge gap regarding the influence of social business model on sustainable regional development.
Findings
Applying our theoretical framework to Agro-food Protection Consortia – a specific type of hybrid social, regional value-oriented business organization – this paper demonstrates that knowledge sharing along environmental, social and economic dimensions enhances sustainable regional development. Using the IF (condition) → THEN (action) logic of fuzzy method, the study identified knowledge exchange as a key condition motivating actors to contribute to sustainable regional development. This dynamic approach enables better alignment between stakeholders and regional goals.
Originality/value
This paper presents practicable participatory strategic guidelines that balance informal and formal governance mechanisms with the catalytic and enhancing connection of strategic business initiatives for Sustainable Regional Development.
Purpose
This study examines the ethical challenges faced by Jordanian enterprises in implementing sustainable business models (SBMs) aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12) – Responsible Consumption and Production. It focuses on how economic constraints, cultural influences and sustainability awareness shape these challenges in an emerging market context.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research approach was used, involving a survey of 496 business leaders across various sectors in Jordan. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with SmartPLS to assess the relationships among economic constraints, cultural factors, sustainability awareness and ethical challenges in SBMs.
Findings
The findings indicate that significant ethical challenges arise from Jordan’s economic constraints, such as resource scarcity and limited access to finance, which complicate the alignment with SDG 12. Cultural values, particularly the emphasis on community and social cohesion, play a crucial role in ethical decision-making. However, the lack of sustainability education and awareness intensifies these challenges, especially among small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Practical implications
The study highlights the need for policymakers to provide financial support and incentives to promote sustainable practices. Business leaders are encouraged to integrate cultural values into ethical decision-making and to invest in sustainability education to mitigate these challenges.
Originality/value
This research provides new insights into the ethical dimensions of SBMs in emerging markets, offering practical recommendations for enhancing sustainability in resource-constrained environments like Jordan.
Technology alignment in managing end-of-life products to overcome sustainability issues has drawn increasing attention in the food and hospitality industry. Recent literature on sustainable and agile practices in the food and hospitality industry recognizes the importance of reusing food waste materials at their end of life. The current study examines the mediating role that end-of-life food waste management plays in the relationship between agile practices and sustainable consumption and production from the viewpoint of food hospitality companies. The research employs a sequential mixed method design involving quantitative and qualitative analysis. The suggested model was empirically tested using information gathered from 298 respondents recruited through Prolific. After that, post hoc qualitative exploration was carried out by analyzing 24 interviews of the respondents identified out of the 298 respondents of the quantitative study. We discover that agile management practices are antecedents for responsible consumption and production. The findings highlight that food and hospitality firms must consider agile management practices to achieve more sustainable and socially responsible food waste management practices. Further, we find that information technology alignment is not a necessary condition to enhance or weaken the indirect effect of sustainable end-of-life (food waste) management between agile practices and sustainable consumption and production practices within the food and hospitality industry. This work advances theoretical and practical knowledge of conservation and natural resource management in the food and hospitality industry.
The circular economy is an important field of study, as evidenced by the increasing recent interest in academia and business as a result of contemporaneous policy directions. As reported in the literature, the metrics for circular economy lack worldwide applicability. In this work, we extracted data from the LinkedIn platform regarding keywords associated with the circular economy and sustainability. The data refer to “People”, “Jobs”, and “Companies” for the 28 EU countries. “People” refer to relevant personal profiles, “jobs” to circular economy posted jobs, and “companies” to those companies with circular economy and sustainability activities. Using Panel time-series analysis we investigate links among the data extracted. The results show that there is a relationship among the keywords examined, indicating a strong dependence of the profiles and job posts related to sustainability with those related to circular economy. Moreover, the fixed-effects model is preferred in the 2/3 of the cases, while random-effects model in the rest of the cases. The paper proposed the LinkedIn data as an alternative proxy for the examination of Circular Economy interest, but also for other relevant fields of study. Finally, this work’s merit can also be derived from the fact that our approach proves with statistical significance that the circular economy keywords affect the sustainability ones, which is in line with the current literature, that circular economy can contribute to sustainability.
This article aims to assess the evolution of the literature on the link between Industry 4.0 and sustainable development. Through a systematic analysis of the literature, a sample of 234 documents was identified, published between 2011 and 2021. Given the large number of papers collected, the text mining approach was performed to analyze the sample of documents. In particular, the latent Dirichlet allocation model was adopted to group articles in different relevant topics starting from two dictionaries belonging to terms both in the domain of Industry 4.0 and in sustainability. As a result, 11 different topics have been identified that link these two domains. The results showed a strong predominance of Industry 4.0 compared to sustainability models that are very focused only on the environmental aspect. In conclusion, this study emphasizes future research potential by highlighting these existing research areas. K E Y W O R D S corporate social responsibility, Industry 4.0, sustainability, technology, text mining, triple bottom line
Unlabelled:
The existing research on fresh food supply chains (FFSC) sustainability consisting of fur fundamental pillars, namely green (G), resilient (R), agile (A), and sustainability (S) (hereafter GRAS), is explored sparsely and needs thorough investigation. Further, conceptualization and mutual interactions among GRAS enablers that can help perpetuate sustainable supply chains (SSC) still need to be addressed. This study proposes a methodological framework to evaluate the SCS from the perspective of GRAS enablers with an application for the Indian FFSC. A mixed-method sequential approach was used with interviews followed by integrated fuzzy interpretive structural modelling-decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (FISM-DEMATEL) techniques. The study recognizes twenty supply chain sustainability (SCS) enablers through an extensive literature review and discussions with the expert group. The research discloses that the firms' 'organization culture' acts as the most powerful driver in achieving sustainability in FFSC, followed by the firms' 'environmental certification program' and 'financial strength.' This investigation helps the managers/policymakers of the Indian FFSC to ascertain and comprehend the most significant SCS enablers to achieve sustainability in the supply chain (SC). The causation of SCS enablers supports the managers in systematically focusing on the most significant enablers and working towards their successful implementation. According to our knowledge, this is the first scholarly work that establishes hierarchies and interrelationships among GRAS enablers, thereby providing a holistic picture to decision-makers while adapting such practices.
Supplementary information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10479-023-05176-x.
Although Industry 4.0 was believed to promote sustainable development, it has ignored or misunderstood many prevailing sustainability concerns, which led to the emergence of the Industry 5.0 agenda. While the desirable sustainability values of Industry 5.0 are widely acknowledged, the knowledge of how this agenda can deliver sustainable transformation is lacking. The present study addresses this knowledge gap, explaining how Industry 5.0 transformation should be managed to facilitate sustainable development. Therefore, this study strives to model the underlying mechanism for enabling such transformation. The study conducted a content‐centric review of the literature and identified 11 actions and approaches that serve as enablers of Industry 5.0 transformation. The study further conducted the interpretive structural modeling and structured the enablers as an interpretive model explaining steps needed for enabling Industry 5.0. Finally, the study developed the strategy roadmap for enabling Industry 5.0 transformation and sustainable development. Results emphasized stakeholder salience, highlighting the enabling role of stakeholder integration and collaboration in Industry 5.0 transformation. Proactive governmental support is the most driving enabler of Industry 5.0, whereas eco‐innovation and sustainable value network reformation are among the most complex and hard‐to‐develop enablers. Results offer several implications for policymakers and practitioners, explaining the functionality of each approach and strategy necessary for Industry 5.0 transformation. The roadmap determines the sequential relationships among these approaches and strategies and identifies their optimal development sequence for enabling Industry 5.0 transformation synergistically. Results further identify the codependences among the Industry 5.0 transition enablers and highlight their interactions and complementarities.
In the era of Industry 4.0, Quality 4.0 (Q4.0) relates to quality management. To that end, it focuses on digital technologies that integrate social and technical resources and offer the best possible product and service to its customers. Few real-world studies have been done on the social and technical aspects of Q4.0. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate empirically the impact of social and technical Q4.0 on I4.0 technologies and circular economy practices (CEP) in small- and medium-sized (SME) manufacturing enterprises. A framework based on the resource-based view (RBV) theory is developed and empirically validated by an online questionnaire of 189 Malaysian SME manufacturing enterprises. In contrast to the other existent QM investigations, which made use of structural equation modelling (SEM), this study performed an analysis in two stages. First, the Q4.0 practices that significantly influence I4.0 technologies and CEP are identified using the SEM approach. Second, the significant predictors obtained from SEM are ranked according to their relative importance using the artificial neural network (ANN) technique. The findings indicate that social and technical Q4.0 practices have improved I4.0 technologies and CEP. The findings also highlight the role performed by technical Q4.0 practices as a mediator between social Q4.0 practices, I4.0 technologies, and CEP. The findings of ANN highlight that the role of social and technical Q4.0 are crucial to the successful deployment of I4.0 technologies and CEP in manufacturing companies. The purpose of the current research is to shed light on the importance of Q4.0 multidimensions, hence contributing to theory application, especially given the scarcity of multidimensional perspectives of Q4.0 literature. In essence, the SEM-ANN methodology adds something new to the bodies of literature on Q4.0, I4.0, and CEP. As an outcome of the research, organisations can develop innovative strategies to adopt Q4.0 by gaining a better understanding of the elements that contribute to effective Q4.0 implementation in the digital transformation era.
This paper investigates how and whether circular economy (CE) business models affect the implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the waste management sector. A case study is used to determine the relationship between CE business models and SDGs. It shows that CE business models, potentially, can contribute directly to achieving a significant number of SDGs. The strongest relationships are between the CE business model and the targets of SDG4 (Quality education); SDG 5 (Gender equality); SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 8 (Decent working and economic growth); SDG 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure), SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities) SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production). After a narrative literature review on the intersection between CE and SDGs, the paper performed a case study on Contarina SpA, a firm that developed a business model to recycle wastes into recyclable materials under a CE approach. The case findings could stimulate further research into how this and similar types of business models will help societies to change from the ‘use‐it‐once‐and‐throw‐it away’ mentality of linear business models to the integrated, holistic, CE model that seeks to emulate nature's cyclical systems, and achieve the implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Governance of waste management is historically based on local issues, with different applications and rules across countries. To meet the increasing number of circular economic goals, countries worldwide are seeking to improve the efficiency of waste management markets in terms of environmental performance and cost efficiency. For this market to effectively move toward a more circular perspective, sound reforms are needed at the market design level. We suggest that a system operator should be introduced in the industry to coordinate and support the healthy functioning of the market. We develop our idea starting from lessons learned from the energy market that apply governance characteristics and environmental goals. Focusing on the industry structure, we identify tasks and duties that a waste management system operator should perform to boost the transition toward a more circular economy. Our proposal has policy ramifications, with the most important identifying an appropriate legal entity. The study has managerial implications, and we suggest that a system operator is needed for reporting environmental results, ensuring the universality of service, planning and monitoring environmental goals, and supporting local authorities, as well as other coordination activities. These activities will facilitate a move toward a more circular economy, addressing issues concerning the complexity of waste management industries, markets, and outputs.
Industry 4.0, or the Fourth Industrial Revolution, is driven by innovative technologies that have profound effects on both production systems and business models. This revolution is characterized by the addition of disruptive technologies and methods. These aspects of Industry 4.0 have a significant impact on marketing, and have led to an evolution to ensure that marketing activities align with technological advancements and address consumers’ current needs. The purpose of this paper is to formulate and discuss future research avenues for marketing considering the changes brought about by Industry 4.0. The approach taken in the paper is to review the relevant literature and focus on the key themes which are most important for future research on Industry 4.0 and marketing. Therefore, a Systematic Bibliometric Literature Review was conducted based on the SCOPUS indexing online database of scientific articles, the most important peer-reviewed journal database in the academic world. The paper finds that there are a number of research avenues for marketing researchers to conduct investigations in, but the most important areas are five marketing principles in Industry 4.0: cooperation, conversation, co-creation, cognitivity, and connectivity. Future research should focus on the quantitative study of these five principles.
The concept of Sustainable Production is evolving with changes triggered by the emergence of new economic and industrial models such as Circular Economy and Industry 4.0. However, most studies that currently link these concepts are based on the principles of Sustainable Production defined 20 years ago. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to redefine the principles that should govern Sustainable Production operations in the transition towards a Circular Economy and smart industry models. To this end, an initial proposal of 11 principles was shared with 11 world-class experts (academics and practitioners) and a consensus proposal was sought through a Delphi Panel. Ten principles emerged from this study, which were evaluated by experts according to criteria of significance, parsimony, semantic consistency and empirical adequacy. Additionally, to study the relationships between the ten principles, the Interpretative Structural Model (ISM) technique was applied. The ISM technique identified which principles are independent of or dependent on each other and established relationships between the principles. The findings suggest that Principle 5 (“Prioritize employees' well-being”), Principle 6 (“Enhance management commitment to sustainability”), Principle 9 (“Measure and optimize sustainable processes”) and Principle 10 (“Boost the use of sustainable technologies”) help to establish an ideal context to enhance the development of the rest of the principles that characterize Sustainable Production. The presentation of the ten principles opens new possibilities for researchers while helping managers to better understand sustainability in terms of production and, therefore contribute to achieving SDG 12.
Digital transformation, board characteristics, and environmental performance are increasingly important in the field of corporate sustainability. However, despite the growing literature on digital transformation, there is a paucity of literature that considers board characteristics. This paper aims to fill this gap by exploring the relationship between digital transformation and environmental performance from the perspective of board characteristics. Chinese listed companies from 2010 to 2019 were taken as the original data, the moderating effect of the board characteristics was tested by using the moderating effect model. We find that digital transformation can significantly improve corporate environmental performance. A low willingness to digital transformation was showed in the board of directors with age diversity, nationality diversity, shareholding concentration, and political connections. In contrast, digital transformation strategies were preferred in the boards with more female directors and higher educational backgrounds. Our study is of significant value for companies undergoing digital transformation.
Industry 4.0 is transforming how businesses innovate and, as a result, companies are spearheading the movement towards ‘Digital Transformation’. While some scholars advocate the use of design thinking to identify new innovative behaviours, cognition experts emphasise the importance of top managers in supporting employees to develop these behaviours. However, there is a dearth of research in this domain and companies are struggling to implement the required behaviours. To address this gap, this study aims to identify and prioritise behavioural strategies conducive to design thinking to inform the creation of a managerial mental model. We identify 20 behavioural strategies from 45 interviewees with practitioners and educators and combine them with the concepts of ‘paradigm-mindset-mental model’ from cognition theory. The paper contributes to the body of knowledge by identifying and prioritising specific behavioural strategies to form a novel set of survival conditions aligned to the new industrial paradigm of Industry 4.0.
This paper investigates how institutional pressures affect the development of Circular Economy (CE) in firms. Using Institutional Entrepreneurship as a theoretical framework, this paper considers three different levels of institutional pressures (coercive, normative, and mimetic) to examine the effect of each pressure and their interactions on the development of CE. Seeking to clarify the debate on the effect of institutional pressures, this paper considers that the main limitation arises from the fact that previous research has analysed the relationship between institutional pressures without considering the interaction between them and the non-linearity of the processes. Deviating from previous papers, our analysis combines regression methods with Machine learning (i.e. Artificial Neural Networks), and employs data from the EU survey on Public Consultation on the Circular Economy. This research finds that while coercive pressures have a compulsory effect on the development of CE, mimetic and normative pressures do not have an effect by themselves, but only in interaction with coercive pressures. Moreover, this paper shows that the application of machine learning tools has an important contribution in solving interaction problems. From the perspective of environmental policy, this means that a comprehensive policy is required, which implies the coexistence or interaction of the three types of pressures.
The concept of sustainable development is becoming incomprehensible and complex in global supply networks, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) that are most affected by ever-changing industry challenges and standards. Smart technologies, sustainability, and circular economy (CE) connection, which remain unexplored, can be integrated into the supply chain as a business strategy to increase collaboration and cooperation between different tiers of the supply chain to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) according to LMIC. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to discover the drivers of a smart sustainable circular supply chain (SSCSC) in achieving the SDGs in LMIC through stakeholder theory. First, a systematic review is employed to identify the drivers of the SSCSC to achieve the SDGs in the LMIC incorporating existing literature on the subject. Second, the Best-Worst Method (BWM) is applied to analyse the identified drivers, then the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is used to analyse the SDGs. The applicability of the solution methodology was illustrated by providing a numerical example. The results of the study are twofold: first, drivers are analysed by implementation of BWM. The results of the BWM reveal that Economic Sustainability is the best key driver among the eight driversin achieving the SDGs, meaning that without financial assistance and support achieving the SDGs becomes ineffective. Second, the TOPSIS analysis reveals that SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions) is the SDG most supported by drivers.
The biobased business model, which initiated the era of improved use of the biological resources, upgrading resources otherwise wasted or downgraded, started with the “biomass to biofuel” biorefinery: economy by scale, requiring large investments, and stable supply of high volume, low-cost feedstock. A high-profiled business model for pioneering biorefineries was a joint venture, often formed by two already mature businesses, joining two sets of competence, skills, and experience; with opportunity for later merger or acquisition. The biofuel biorefinery was challenged from two sides, its commercial viability (caused by a low-priced end product) and sustainability issues, as it utilizes only the energy content and not the biomass structures. A new era of biobased industries was started, focusing on unlocking the full potential of biomass, by cascading optimized valorization of all (or at least more parts of) the biomass components. This dual objective, opens a spectrum of new types of bioeconomy business models, suitable for more complex biobased industries, including higher-value products in the biobased portfolio, being more complex, handling several more process steps and streams, and producing several types of biobased products. Five examples of such business models are described: (1) Biobased industry, upgrading in-house production sidestreams. (2) Biomass-specialized biorefinery. (3) Cooperatively owned biobased valorization of crop residues and processing sidestreams. (4) Industry clusters as the preferred biobased business model. (5) Local public/private consortium-owned production of biobased products. Furthermore, foresight analysis is presented on possible new business models, suitable for the expected wide variety of new types of biobased industries.
The burgeoning digital economy has expanded the information gap in supply chains. Supply chain information transparency has thus attracted increasing attention from both industry and academia. Meanwhile, as consumers pay more attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR), firms have made efforts to audit their suppliers to avoid CSR violations. This paper explores the strategic role of CSR auditing in supply chain information transparency. We examine how CSR auditing interacts with supply chain information transparency by considering a scenario where a firm strategically sells either a single product or a product line through an online retail platform. Our results show that when the product line strategy is uncertain, the firm’s audit commitment strengthens the platform’s incentive to voluntarily disclose information. Our results also show that when the length of the product line is unchangeable, the platform prefers to share the information even if the firm does not make audit commitments. Additionally, when the platform’s information sharing decision and the firm’s product line design are made simultaneously, the platform may choose to privately withhold the information if the product line extension cost is in the moderate range and the demand loss from CSR-concerned consumers is relatively minor.
The textiles and apparel manufacturing industry in the upstream fashion supply chain generates substantial materials waste that requires urgent efforts to manage effectively, reduce environmental impact, and foster sustainable practices. A huge research scope lies in materials waste management of upstream textiles and apparel manufacturing within the scopes of circular economy to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 for Bangladesh. This research identifies and categorises the materials waste generated in various production stages, determines the economic loss, and traces the informal trading of waste materials. Following an exploratory multiple-case approach, this research collects data from 17 textiles and apparel factories through semi-structured questionnaires, followed by materials stream mapping and observations. The study estimates a loss of approximately 0.70 USD for every piece of apparel export. To trace the destination of waste, it has been found that approximately 15 tons of informal trading of wastes took place in a single underground market. Overall, it leads to a significant loss of value addition that could have been added through a circular economy. Finally, to help achieve SDG 12, this study develops a conceptual waste management model in upstream textiles and apparel manufacturing with potential application opportunities within the circular economy.
The current global economy demands synergy between ecological responsiveness and proactive business models. To analyze these dynamics, the objective of this study is to simultaneously investigate the effects of green innovation practices concerning the sustainable development goals (SDG) and financial performance of firms. This study also advocates for the injection of green innovation reporting into sustainable reporting for greater disclosure. Data from sixty-seven companies from five continents and the top five blue chip firms for each country are collected through content analysis, with the generalized least squares (GLS) approach used to test a causal relationship hypothesis. The results indicate mixed findings, with green product innovation showing positive relationships with returns on equity (ROE) and returns on investments (ROI). At the same time, green process innovation shows negative relationships with returns on assets (ROA) but shows a positive impact on returns on investments (ROI) and firm SDGs. In contrast, green service innovation shows an insignificant relationship with financial performance and SDGs. On the other hand, non-operational green innovation variables and green marketing positively affect returns on assets and investment, showing significant negative impacts on returns on equity. However, green organizational innovation shows an insignificant relationship with firm financial performance and SDGs. In addition, this study also shows that the Australia/New Zealand region is the leader in green innovation reporting, followed by Europe, Asia, Africa, and lastly, North America.
The increasing implementation of digital technologies has various positive impacts on companies. However, many companies often rush into such an implementation of technological trends without sufficient preparation and pay insufficient attention to the human factors involved in digitization. This phenomenon can be exacerbated when these technologies become highly dependent, as during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to better understand challenges and to propose solutions for a successful implementation of digitized technology. A literature review is combined with survey results and specific consulting strategies. Data from the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany were collected by means of an online survey, with a representative sample of the German population. However, we did not reveal any correlation between home office and suffering, mental health, and physical health (indicators of digitization usage to cope with COVID-19 pandemic), but rather that younger workers are more prone to using digitized technology. Based on previous findings that older individuals tend to have negative attitudes toward digital transformation, appropriate countermeasures are needed to help them become more tech-savvy. Accordingly, a software tool is proposed. The tool can help the management team to manage digitization efficiently. Employee well-being can be increased as companies are made aware of necessary measures such as training for individuals and groups at an early stage.
Purpose
The study aims to map the links between Industry 4.0 (I-4.0) technologies and circular economy (CE) for sustainable operations and their role to achieving the selected number of sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a systematic literature review method to identify 76 primary studies that were published between January 2010 and December 2020. The authors synthesized the existing literature using Scopus database to investigate I-4.0 technologies and CE to select SDGs.
Findings
The findings of the study bridge the gap in the literature at the intersection between I-4.0 and sustainable operations in line with the regenerate, share, optimize, loop, virtualize and exchange (ReSOLVE) framework leading to CE practices. Further, the study also depicts the CE practices leading to the select SDGs (“SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation,” “SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy,” “SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure,” “SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production” and “SDG 13: Climate Action”). The study proposes a conceptual framework based on the linkages above, which can help organizations to realign their management practices, thereby achieving specific SDGs.
Originality/value
The originality of the study is substantiated by a unique I-4.0-sustainable operations-CE-SDGs (ISOCES) framework that integrates I-4.0 and CE for sustainable development. The framework is unique, as it is based on an in-depth and systematic review of the literature that maps the links between I-4.0, CE and sustainability.
The fourth industrial revolution (IR4.0) toward automation and digitalization is the new trend among automobile production systems. Indubitably, the automobile industry has been scurrying in this revolution due to investment and governmental support availability. The current study examines the role of industry 4.0 on circular economy practices and supply chain capability to improve firm performance. Cross‐sectional data were collected from 286 respondents through a closed‐ended questionnaire. The adoption of circular economy practices improves the economic and operational performance of the firm. Also, industry 4.0 has the potential to make significant improvements in business operations. The empirical results confirm that industry 4.0 plays a positive role in implementation of circular economy practices and supply chain capability. Furthermore, circular economy practices provide evidence to have positive nexus with operational and economic performance. On the other hand, supply chain capability has a positive relationship with operational performance and has an insignificant association with economic performance, whereas operational performance improves economic health. Thus, the current research work provides the guidelines for the participating enterprises that can achieve sustainable goals by assimilating industry 4.0 in manufacturing systems.
We identify factors influencing energy efficiency and the role of price instruments such as tax and technology use in reducing energy intensity at the firm level. We use data from 2001 to 2015 for India's manufacturing sector from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. Our result strongly suggests that R&D and productivity have a positive impact on achieving energy efficiency. In such a case, at least one-to-one correspondence between the tax and energy intensity may help promote renewable energy use if they are subsidized and allowed to come under the provision of tax credit or tax exemption. Since price instruments do not produce any revenue recycling effect, policymakers can trade-off between increasing corporate tax and generating employment. Therefore, environmental regulations should strictly relate to increase energy efficiency and bring the manufacturing sector out of the productivity dilemma. Also, as evidence from the empirical analysis, there is an urgent need to substitute vintage capital with new capital and better technology. In addition to the existing liberalization policies, the Government must design green domestic policies for the manufacturing sector and map them with FDI and trade. As the polluted firms are energy-intensive, “Performance, Achievement and Trade” (PAT) policies need to focus on these firms.
The literature on the dark side of the customer-brand relationship is still evolving. Admittedly, scholars have given it noteworthy attention in the recent past, yet gaps persist related to the products and services, antecedents, and consequents examined. Our study augments the understanding of the negative aspects of the customer-brand relationship by examining brand hate and betrayal as its two manifestations. Using online food delivery (OFD) platforms as the product/service under focus, we employ a mixed-method approach to identify the negative experiences (i.e., safety and hygiene grievances, dissatisfaction, negative word of mouth, and advertisement overload) that could stimulate the negative emotions of betrayal and hate in customers. Thereafter, we examine the desire for avoidance and retaliation as a response to these negative feelings. Our model is grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework and tested through analysis of data collected from 342 OFD users in the United States. The structural equation modelling results confirm a positive association of customer dissatisfaction, negative word of mouth, and advertisement overload with brand betrayal and hate. Betrayal and hate, in turn, associate positively with avoidance and retaliation. Brand love positively moderates the association of advertisement overload with betrayal and hate and safety and hygiene grievances with betrayal.
Industry 4.0 digital technologies are becoming indispensable for firms striving to enhance their sup- ply chain capabilities and financial performance, but how these relationships play out in practice remains unclear. To address this issue, this study assesses the relationship between supply chain integration, supply chain agility, and financial performance from a dynamic capability perspective. Further analyses are conducted to establish whether Industry 4.0 digital technologies moderate the association between (a) supply chain integration and supply chain agility and (b) supply chain agility and financial performance. Findings based on the data pertaining to a sample of 274 Swedish manufacturing firms indicate that supply chain agility fully mediates the link between supply chain integration and financial performance. However, while Industry 4.0 digital technologies strengthen the effect of supply chain agility on financial performance, they do not moderate the relation- ship between supply chain integration and supply chain agility. These findings contribute to the ongoing debate regarding how digital technologies play a role in achieving competitive advan- tage in interplay with dynamic capabilities related to the supply chain. These findings are relevant for decision-makers, as they address the need for organisational adjustments beyond the mere introduction of Industry 4.0 technologies to fully reap their benefits.
The purpose of this article is to propose a novel classification of the interrelationships between I4.0 technologies and CE principles that highlights the most conclusive findings and extant gaps in the relevant research. A Systematic Literature Review has been developed to locate, select and evaluate relevant contributions made to CE interrelationships with I4.0 technologies. Studies have been analysed and classified according to the specific I4.0 technology and CE principle addressed
(10Rs). The articles have been clustered into three main groups: (i) useful application of materials; (ii) extending the lifespan of products and their parts, and (iii) smarter product use and manufacture. A mind map of the investigated articles has been used to establish the interrelationships between individual technologies and each CE principle at the supply chain
level. Based on this classification, a focus group interview (FGI) was held with experts to dig deeper into the interrelationships between I4.0 technologies and CE principles. The FGI results have identified how each as yet unexplored I4.0 technology could be linked to each CE principle.
A Fuzzy Delphi (FD) study was also applied to identify the most relevant I4.0 technologies for improving CE principles and closing gaps in the literature regarding the 10R CE principles. In addition, guidelines have been established to assist with practical applications and generate a
research agenda on the interrelationships between I4.0 technologies and CE principles at the supply chain level. Implications for theory include the extension of view from the research gaps between I4.0 technologies and the 10Rs identified in the literature; also, an FGI and FD were performed based on the detected research gaps to identify future lines of research for academics and offer useful guidance to directors and managers on I4.0 technology interrelationships for improving at least one of the 10R CE principles. The contribution to practice aims to enable managers to easily identify which technology from the I4.0 domain should be used to advance any given CE principle. Lastly, we provide useful guidance on the application of as-yet-unused technologies to improve CE principles.
This study examined the use and effectiveness of corporate sustainability practices (CSP) and the subsequent effect on a strategic outcome, competitive advantage. The new institutional sociology (NIS) theoretical framework was applied, informed by three different dimensions of institutional pressures (coercive, mimetic and normative). The study used a survey method and developed a seven‐dimensional model utilising the 52 principles provided by the OECD. It used a structural equation modelling in order to test the hypothesised associations between institutional pressures, CSP and competitive advantage to provide an institutional and contextualised perspectives from an emerging economy setting. The study found significant associations between the three types of institutional pressure with specific dimensions of CSP. The findings further revealed that specific CSP dimensions are diversely (positively and negatively) associated with competitive advantage. In line with the tenets of greenwashing, it highlighted the important role of institutional pressures from stakeholders (government, policy and customers) in implementing specific CSP. The findings inform managers, governments, foreign investors and other stakeholders in emerging economies about the influence of the institutional pressure in promoting the use of CSP and the effect of such practices on competitive advantage. From the context of an emerging economy, the study provides a unique empirical insight into the NIS perspective in promoting CSP and the subsequent impact on the strategic outcome, competitive advantage.
The environmental pollution and degradation of natural resources issues are worsening with every passing day and companies need to take immediate action to save the environment. Due to this reason, the current study intended to explore the mediating role of green innovation in corporate environmental ethics and sustainable performance relationship. Additionally, multiple moderating effects 1). Environmental leadership in corporate environmental ethics and green innovation relationship, 2). Environmental strategy in green innovation and sustainable performance nexus was also explored. The multisource data (N = 404) were collected from the managerial-level employees of manufacturing companies in Pakistan using the survey method. We used the “structural equation modeling” technique to examine the proposed hypotheses. The results demonstrated that green innovation mediates the relationship between corporate environmental ethics and sustainable performance (social, economic, and environmental). In addition, environmental leadership positively moderates corporate environmental ethics and green innovation nexus. Furthermore, environmental strategy strengthens the green innovation effect on environmental and economic performance. Overall, the study findings supported almost all direct, indirect, and moderating hypotheses and provided some novel theoretical and practical implications.
As the major consumer of resources and energy, the construction industry has been at the heart of the debate on sustainable development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide the overarching guidance for the construction industry to promote sustainable development from environmental, social, and economic dimensions. Moreover, sustainable consumption and production (SCP) are highlighted in the SDG 12, while Sustainable Procurement (SP) focuses on promoting sustainable development through procurement processes and decisions. However, little has been written about how the construction industry could turn the challenges of SP into opportunities that promotes procurement practices in accordance with national policies and priorities. This study examines the drivers and challenges on the adoption of sustainable procurement in construction and how it impacts the achievement of SDG 12. The quantitative approach using questionnaires identified the drivers and barriers to SP implementation in construction and the SP practices contributing to the realisation of SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production). The results confirmed that the construction industry should play a significant role in achieving the SDGs and show that construction SP practices contribute to the realisation of 9 of the SDG 12 targets. The results also suggested that governments should play a more active role in partnership with industry stakeholders and that the social and economic dimensions of sustainability deserve more attention. The value of this study is to provide construction industry stakeholder an insight into the drivers and challenges of SP and how to turn SP challenges into opportunities by adopting initiatives that consider the environmental, social, and economic impact of all procurement decisions. It also highlights the important role of the construction industry towards the realisation of the SDGs, particularly the significance of SP practices in the construction industry to the achievement of SDG 12.
Food organizations have seen pressure from stakeholders, consumers, governments, and other international agencies to adopt sustainable practices in their business operations. Sustainable development is the current need for the agri-food sector to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDG) established by the United Nations. Sustainable development improves social well-being, environmental well-being, and economic growth. Regular performance monitoring plays an important role in the adoption of sustainable practices. This study developed a sustainable performance assessment (SPA) framework through integrated triple bottom line (TBL) and circular economy practice. The weights of sustainable dimensions and key performance indicators (KPIs) have been determined using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (F-AHP). A fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to the ideal solution (F-TOPSIS) has been used to evaluate sustainable performance and rank the alternatives. A total of 16 KPIs were used to develop the framework drawn from literature and experts' opinions. Food quality, revenue growth, and resource utilization are the top three KPIs obtained from F-AHP. The economic factors have the highest weights (0.4), followed by the environment (0.34), circulation (0.16), and social dimensions (0.1). Food quality is ranked first with a weight of 0.16, and human resources are ranked 16th with a weight of 0.01. Through recycling, waste reduction, and waste management, the circular economy in AFSC acts as a support or catalyst for sustainable development and reaching goals like sustainable consumption and production and zero hunger.
The dynamic market environment has asserted that small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially in the manufacturing sector, need to reassess their supply chain pursuits and effectively inculcate sustainable initiatives through digitalisation. Twenty-one barriers are identified, and fifteen solution initiatives (SI) have been suggested based on an in-depth literature review and expert opinions from electronic manufacturing SMEs. Further, experts were requested to prioritise the barriers and SIs using the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and Preference ranking organisation method for enrichment evaluation (PROMETHEE) technique. “High Implementation cost”, “market competition”, and “resistance to adopt” are the barriers that hamper the adoption of emerging technologies related to Industry 4.0 (I4). “Using 6R”, “Conducting training and education for personnel”, and “Working on brand image” are the top-ranked initiatives that can actuate a firm to adopt sustainable practices. The present study will help academicians, practitioners, and policymakers to formulate effective decision strategies to overcome I4 adoption barriers.
Agri-produce holds an inimitable place in human-life across the globe. It is an inevitable requirement of livelihoods across the globe. Advanced technologies to improve multiple aspects of agriculture have been developed in recent years. The blockchain technology (BCT) is among these technologies that is proving to be pivotal in supporting business transactions in today's digitally connected environment. This article explores BCT adoption in the agriculture supply chain while focusing on comparing the trends in developed versus developing economies. The study was geared toward identifying the enabling factors and barriers to BCT adoption in the agriculture supply chain. Data was collected from The Netherlands, United States, Saudi Arabia, and India. The study used the Interpretive Structural Modeling—Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory in identifying the factors and ranking them based on their extent of influence. While the study found differences of the enabling factors among the four economies, it also identified that policies are the most important enabler of BCT adoption in the agriculture supply chain.
In the last couple of years, circular supply chain management considered the most significant tool for the circular economy. It supports converting production and consumption patterns from linear to sustainable. Several studies have covered the implementation of circularity in different settings, but no concrete investigation exists that in-depth and explicitly explores the procurement perspective toward the circular economy. Previous studies also highlighted the need to focus on procurement or supply management perspective because it consumed an ample amount of budget in the public and private sector. To fill this gap, this study provides a state-of-the-art analysis to adopt circularity in procurement operations. This comprehensive analysis had done by reviewing the 100 peer-reviewed research papers related to the implementation of circular economy and sustainable procurement. This study not just covered the top-down view of literature but advances the literature by finding 55 barriers and enablers under different clusters. From the output, it is evident that efforts need to be taken from 360-degree stakeholders. However, sourcing strategy and procurement operations need to be revamped. This review unpacks the factors at the micro, meso, and macro-level that help academicians to create a framework for empirical investigation. Similarly, it helps practitioners, policymakers, and decision makers to achieve sustainable development goal (SDG) number 12 by incorporating circularity in procurement.
Blockchain (BLC) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are two emerging technologies that have become popular among practitioners for improving the transparency, adaptability, and safety of any industry. This is especially critical for food security, as COVID-19 highlighted the vulnerability of food supply chain (FSC). However, Indian organizations are experiencing problems in implementing the integrated form of BLC-IoT due to limited knowledge and insufficient research. The current study aims to propose a conceptual framework to reduce the impact of adoption barriers against BLC-IoT in FSC. Thirteen key barriers were identified after a thorough literature review and consultation with experts. The relationship among barriers was established using Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and Decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) methods. The analysis shows that the lack of government regulation and workers' low competency significantly influence BLC-IoT adoption. The results also indicate the intricacy of decision-making by demonstrating that 9 of the 13 barriers were a part of the linkage cluster. The study outcome will help practitioners in developing and planning strategies for effective adoption of BLC-IoT in FSC.
The world is looking toward clean and reliable energy solutions that could empower society to mitigate carbon emissions and provide a sustainable way ahead. The circular economy (CE) principles in community energy initiatives can help shift the existing energy pattern and transform society to better understand the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study aims to structure and evaluate the preference of stakeholders' objectives for community energy formation in the era of the CE to accelerate clean energy transitions. The conscious use of energy while participating in energy projects helps reduce energy consumption, reuse waste, and redesign community grid expansion with climate protection objectives. These links are explored systematically by integrating the value-focused thinking (VFT) approach and analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Using the VFT approach helped uncover strategic objectives of maximizing values of community energy using CE measures. Moreover, AHP assisted in identifying the preferred set of values as the results indicate that technical categories are fundamental pressure points for implementing CE principles in such initiatives. This study's contribution falls at the intersection of these concepts, where community energy initiatives provide a platform to integrate CE strategies. This study helps realize the rebound effects of consumer-centric community energy initiatives considering CE principles from a governance literature perspective. From a strategical standpoint, it signifies the potential links between CE and community energy initiatives. The adoption of CE measures has been seen as a “win-win” solution to the community energy business models and improves economic, environmental, and social sustainability.
In the Internet age, companies utilize social media platforms to increase their network, visibility, and profits. LinkedIn is one of the most popular such platforms, offering profile hosting and several basic services for free that both companies and customers make good use of. In this study, data-driven and qualitative approaches of assessing the topic of circular economy as a LinkedIn activity in the EU and UK are performed. Data were collected by LinkedIn registered companies with the keyword “circular economy”, extracting variables such as number of employees, date of foundation, company's activities, etc. Results indicate that 3727 EU company profiles are involved in circular economy activities. The majority of these companies operate in the UK, followed by the Netherlands and Italy. In total, there are >120 k employees in companies with circular economy activities in the EU, with Finland having the highest representation per half million population. With the extracted data, we provide a primary descriptive and statistical analysis for each country's engagement in circular economy, based on the business' sector activity. In addition, a presentation of circular economy companies per industrial sector and country is provided. The findings indicate that the examined companies give collective information regarding differentiations among the countries they operate in, but also shed light to the penetration of circular economy entrepreneurship in the EU. Monitoring the characteristics of the examined LinkedIn companies, as well as their descriptions and hashtags, essential insight on the progress and penetration of this ongoing economic transformation is provided. This approach offers significant perspective for future country-specific in depth-analyses on this trending topic.
Rising income and the aspirations of the middle-class have resulted in the emergence of a new category of luxury brands popularly known as "masstige brands". Researchers have attempted to establish masstige branding and masstige marketing as a differentiated research domain from luxury marketing. As an attempt to this end, the current study, which is confined to women's fashion clothing brands, investigates whether various luxury consumption values are equally applicable in inspiring masstige purchase. In addition, this study investigates whether dimensions of perceived authenticity of a masstige brand moderate the association between various consumption values and masstige purchase intention. By employing an online survey, 462 useable responses were collected from middle-income female consumers in India and analysed using PLS-SEM and multi-group analysis. The findings show that functional, experiential and symbolic consumption values inspire masstige fashion purchase but the zero-moment-of-truth consumption value does not. Quality and sincerity (but not heritage) dimensions of perceived brand authenticity enhance the consumption value perceptions leading to masstige purchase. This study is the first of its kind to examine the applicability of various luxury consumption values in masstige consumption besides testing the moderating effect of perceived brand authenticity.
An organisation's sustainability performance is influenced by its capabilities (skills, resources and competences) which in turn affects the performance of its entire supply chain. However, recent research has not sufficiently explored the convergence of dynamic capabilities, circular economy, resilience and Industry 4.0 concepts for manufacturing supply chains. Therefore, this study aims to identify how dynamic capabilities theory can enable circular and resilient supply chains. A qualitative research process was deployed in three stages: literature review, European project and nine expert interviews. Key investigative variables were used to identify capabilities used in manufacturing, and five research propositions were developed to address the gaps found in literature. The empirical data helped reveal challenges to circular economy implementation and validate the literature findings. The main contributions include a dynamic capabilities model, a causal relationship model and five research propositions for circular economy implementation.
Although sustainability is the top agenda for most global organizations, the noteworthy progress in this realm is still invisible, mainly due to the absence of a robust framework and reliable empirical evidence. Higher Sustainable Organisational Performance (SOP) means the organization has attained effective and efficient control over the majority of business functions, leading to a sustainable competitive edge over the competitors and higher customer delight. Undoubtedly, Industry 4.0 (I4.0) has revolutionized the manufacturing industry and is expected to leverage SOP in times to come. In this context, the study of I4.0 risks reduction and I4.0 drivers needs urgent attention. Similarly, investigating the impact of I4.0 risks reduction and I4.0 adoption on SOP is overlooked in the current literature. Also, the mediating role of I4.0 adoption through I4.0 risks reduction on SOP is yet to be investigated, which has the potential to transform the existing business model into a progressive, viable, and sustainable model. This research has established a theoretical model grounded on Contingency and Dynamic Capability View (DCV) theory. The model has explored the scope of I4.0 adoption to SOP by considering I4.0 drivers impacting I4.0 adoption and I4.0 risks mitigations impacting I4.0 risks reduction and their influence on SOP. Total 15 hypotheses are tested using software packages SmartPLS 3.0 and SPSS v23.0 based on the 273 respondents' data from 221 manufacturing companies of India. The research found I4.0 adoption and I4.0 risks reduction positively drive SOP, and I4.0 adoption has a positive significant mediating effect on the relationship between I4.0 risks reduction and SOP. This study has the potential to support managers, decision-makers, and researchers to build, test, and validate similar models adding minor reforms and developing innovative and creative combinations of inherent capabilities and resources to realize the SOP in manufacturing companies. The study is unique as it has explored the link between I4.0 risks reduction, I4.0 adoption, SOP, I4.0 drivers, and I4.0 risks mitigations for the first time. In addition, the investigation on the mediating effect of I4.0 adoption in the relationship between I4.0 risks reduction and SOP is a pioneering contribution to the existing literature.
Research on sustainable development is significantly influenced by the trade‐off between the economic, social and environmental performance of businesses. Industry 4.0 development is a key business priority due to the promise of exponential increase in productivity, time efficiencies and cost reduction. However, Industry 4.0 development has been slow. Notably, human actors remain central to Industry 4.0, while the social responsibility component of sustainable development is a key prerogative for industry, championed through the UN sustainable development goals and European Commission. Therefore, we evaluate human‐related impediments for Industry 4.0 and critically explore how human resource management (HRM) can overcome these barriers using a socially responsible orientation. First, we analyse the human‐related challenges to Industry 4.0 through a thematic literature review. Thereafter, through an integrative literature review of different research streams (Industry 4.0, HRM and social responsibility), we critically argue novel perspectives on how human resource practices can enable sustainable development of Industry 4.0 in a socially responsible manner. Herein, we address a crucial literature gap. Our findings reveal numerous people‐related barriers, including change resistance, digital skills gap, employment threats widening socio‐economic inequalities, lack of industry‐wide collaboration, leadership and organisational culture challenges. We show that HRM can be a crucial enabler for sustainable Industry 4.0 development through socially responsible human resource practices. These include strategic multistakeholder collaborations, holistic talent management, change leadership, inclusive knowledge sharing, sponsoring education research and codesigning curricula, smart technology for upskilling and retention and rewarding inclusive Industry 4.0 ideas. We conclude with future research directions.
Recently, the novel concept of the circular supply chain (CSC) has gained substantial attention amongst researchers across the globe. It is due to the issues of unsustainability in supply chain operation of manufacturing industry. CSC amalgamates the circular economy (CE) into the supply chain of manufacturing organizations. Business organizations can achieve several sustainable development goals by adopting CSC as an innovative strategy. However, limited attention has been given to its implementation in emerging economies. Thus, this research aim is to identify and analyze the essential CE practices that help to accomplish the several sustainable development goals (SDGs) of CSC management. This research presents an integrated framework of Pythagorean fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (PF-AHP) and Pythagorean fuzzy combinative distance-based assessment (PF-CODAS) techniques. PF-AHP is employed to determine the relative importance of CE practices, whereas PF-CODAS method ranks the SDGs derived due to the adoption of CE practices. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is validated with the help of an Indian manufacturing organization. The finding of this research reveals that practices based on 'government', 'management', and 'economy' initiatives play a significant role and contribute 50 % of its influence on the effective CSC adoption, whereas, 'mitigate waste and enhance environmental sustainability', is identified as the most critical SDG realized due to adoption of CE practices. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to check the robustness of proposed methods. This research provides the systematic, accurate, and valuable decision support tools to practitioners to execute the CE practices efficiently for achieving the various sustainability goals.
Emergence of industry 5.0 facilitates real-time synchronisation of production processes, which helps with the production of customized products. Although industry 5.0 can revolutionize the landscape of goods production, still its adoption is in the infancy stage. Hence, the purpose of this article is to examine barriers that impede the adoption of industry 5.0, and to propose solution initiatives (SIs). After an in-depth literature review and interviews with German industry experts in pharmaceutical sector, barriers and SIs are ranked using an integrated Analytical hierarchy process-elimination and choice expressing reality-decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (AHP-ELECTRE-DEMATEL) approach. “Linking virtual reality and reality” is found to be the most critical deterrent to the adoption of industry 5.0, and falls into a causal group, which signifies their influence on other deterrents. “Measures for better connectivity with patients” is of utmost importance for German firms to ensure secure communication and safeguard patient data. The findings also highlight the problems with the adoption of high-tech innovations due to lack of standardization and fair benchmarking policies on industry 5.0. This article concludes by proposing an industry 5.0 framework. The inhibitors to adopting industry 5.0 were investigated in this article, the results of which will assist practitioners and decision makers to understand the issues with industry 5.0. The results of this article will help potential adopters of this technology to look for the SIs. This will therefore pave the path for effective adoption of industry 5.0 across the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector.
Lack of verified knowledge makes it difficult to determine whether and how emerging and disruptive Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies enable social sustainability. The circular economy (CE) might represent an effective approach to integrate I4.0 technologies into practices and business to improve sustainability. This paper explores how I4.0 technologies might contribute to achieve the United Nations' sustainable development goals (SDGs) through a CE approach. This paper introduces a framework to evaluate I4.0 technology relationships with SDGs and CE. A predictive method is introduced to evaluate I4.0 technologies by integrating DEMATEL and a linear model. The proposed method is used to evaluate the relationship between I4.0 technologies, SDGs, and CE using secondary data from the electronics industry. This study identifies CE practices as a critical link connecting I4.0 technologies and SDGs. The study further builds on the research foundation linking I4.0, sustainability, and CE domains. It will also benefit practitioners formulating sustainability strategies for I4.0 adoption.
Industry 4.0 systems in general and advanced manufacturing systems such as collaborative robots, in particular, are characterized by a high level of complexity leading to new safety concerns. Safety, specifically for collaborative robots, has been mainly addressed from a technical perspective, to safeguard the physical safety of the operator. Concerns have been raised regarding less focus in Industry 4.0 literature on how other factors, such as psychosocial can produce safety-related risks for the operator in human-robot collaboration.
This paper identifies and classifies the risk factors in a human-robot collaboration that have been described in research papers in the last decade. The resulting five classes constitute dimensions that will be used as preliminary building blocks for a safety evaluation framework to be developed in the next step. By evaluating the resulting classes with the underlying dimensions of contemporary socio-technical thinking, this paper demonstrates that these five classes offer a comprehensive, system-wide perspective including risk factors beyond technological considerations.
Topics emerging from new risks related to the impact of working with collaborative robots, such as psychosocial, ethical, and cyber risk factors will need to be taken into account in the risk factors that are important to identify, assess and mitigate before working with collaborative robots. Operator involvement and participation, especially throughout the risk assessment and mitigation cycle are recommended as new areas of attention in human-robot collaboration.
Going forward, one challenge will be the agility and adaptability of legislation to at least keep track of risk factors emerging from continuously changing technologies and to translate them into practically applicable tools for enterprises and design engineers implementing collaborative applications. Another key challenge will be the measurement of the new emerging and sometimes less technological risks.
The latest IPCC report foreshadows a far gloomier picture of climate change consequences than previously held by demonstrating how avoiding environmental damage requires transforming the world economy at a speed and scale that has “no documented historic precedent.” One of the options to address climate change is adoption of mitigation strategies to reduce carbon emissions on national, sectoral, and corporate levels. This research analyzes mitigation responses by organizations facing institutional and stakeholder pressures while dealing with the risk and opportunities presented by climate change. Our research indicates that different types of institutional pressures—coercive, normative, and mimetic—lead to different and, in certain situations, more active responses from companies. We find that coercive pressures are about equal or more effective than normative or mimetic pressures for adoption of mitigation strategies.
Industrialization has brought wealth, prosperity, and abundance to many nations. However, it has had many drawbacks on people’s health and the environment. Several paradigms have been proposed and implemented in an effort to suppress and reverse the adverse impacts of human activities and industrialization. A popular approach that serves as a solution to many of the negative implications of industry today is the circular economy (CE). With today’s top-notch technologies, the transition from the conventional linear economy to CE has been made easier. For example, the implementation of cyber-physical systems (CPSs), an Industry 4.0 (I4.0) tool, within a CE can substantially increase efficiency and reduce waste. This work presents a thorough review on the applications of cyber-physical systems within each of the CE stages, the contribution of different CPS technologies to the sustainable development goals (SDGs), and the current state of the CE assessment tools. The contribution of different CPS tools to each CE stage is demonstrated through several practical examples. In addition, this work reveals how the different CPS technologies applications contribute to the attainment of different SDGs set by the United Nations. It is also deduced from the review of the current state of the CE assessment tools that there is a need for a standardized comprehensive CE measuring or rating system to allow businesses on the micro, meso, and macro levels of the economy improve their circulatory.
While the circular economy (CE) attracts attention from scholars and practitioners, the concept has been challenged by claims that the CE may be seen as a vague concept, or a new label for old green management practices. We propose a new approach to study the effects of the CE on company performance: circular product design (CPD). Consequently, this work investigates how Industry 4.0 technologies and stakeholder pressure influence CPD and, in turn, impact on company performance. Data were obtained from firms which develop products in the electric–electronic and equipment (EEE) sectors in Brazil. Our research results indicate that (i) the application of Industry 4.0 technologies favors CPD, in particular artificial intelligence and big data analytics; (ii) pressure from stakeholders can encourage the adoption of circular strategies, specially from suppliers because they are responsible for developing and delivering smart components; and (iii) although the literature may be seen as controversial, there is a positive relationship with regard to the impacts of CE adoption on market performance. Among its main implications, the article also suggests a set of design strategies oriented towards the development of products for the CE.
Organizations are increasingly facing pressure for changing manufacturing models from traditional to sustainable which accordingly reinforces the need for assessing their performance on sustainability issues. The present study developed a framework based on concepts of circular economy, sustainable cleaner production and Industry 4.0 standards to assess sustainability performance of manufacturing companies and to guide them in prioritizing investment in potential solutions for enhancing performance on sustainability. The study involved a mix of quantitative and qualitative research methods. An exhaustive review of related literature was conducted, followed by several rounds of discussions (Delphi Method) with experts, to identify and finalize practices related to Industry 4.0, cleaner production and circular economy. Best-Worst Method (BWM) was then used to prioritize identified practices. Majority of the sustainability frameworks in extant literature were validated using the case study approach. The present research combined case study approach with multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) tools, which enhanced applicability of the proposed framework. Findings suggest that circular economy practices are most important for increasing sustainability performance in manufacturing, followed by practices of cleaner production and Industry 4.0. ‘Supply Chain Traceability/Information’, ‘Reuse and recycling infrastructure’, and ‘Natural and clean environment’, were the top three practices identified for manufacturing organizations aiming to enhance sustainability. The findings provide empirical support for adopting practices of the circular economy, cleaner production and Industry 4.0 by manufacturing organizations to improve sustainability performance. The developed framework can be readily used by managers to evaluate their own as well as the upstream and/or downstream partners’ sustainability performance. It also provides policy guidance for promoting sustainability approaches in manufacturing.
Amid rising environmental concerns, Industry 4.0 and blockchain technology (BCT) are transforming circular economy (CE) practices and prevailing business models. Recognize the same; this study examines the role of blockchain technology in circular CE practices and their impact on eco-environmental performance, which influences organizational performance. The study collects data from 404 enterprises located in Chinese and Pakistani territories, involved in cross-border supply chain operations. Both countries' sample has great relevance due to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which possesses several positive fallouts in terms of technology spillovers across firms. Using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) modeling framework, this study provides three key findings. First, BCT significantly improves the circular economy practices (circular procurement, circular design, recycling, and remanufacturing). Second, CE practices help improve firms' environmental performance and stimulate their financial performance. Third, higher eco-environmental performance significantly boosts organizational performance. This study sets out the foundations for participating countries/firms that simultaneously achieve financial and sustainable goals by integrating blockchain technology in circular economy practices.