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Abstract
PurposeThe paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of the drivers for the use of Industry 4.0 technologies by investigating (1) what motivates companies to consider using I4 technologies and (2) what enables (or hinders) the intention to use I4 technologies to translate into their actual use.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses survey data collected from a sample of export-oriented manufacturing companies with more than 10 employees. Final analysis is conducted on 124 companies.FindingsThe results show that companies are proactively approaching I4. Only efficiency motives and expected competitive advantage have a positive effect on the intention to use I4 technologies, which in turn positively influences their actual use. The external, legitimacy-based, motives do not play a significant role in explaining the intention to use. With respect to I4 technology enablers, employee competency positively moderates and availability of finance negatively moderates the relationship between intention to use and actual use.Research limitations/implicationsThe work extends the existing knowledge base on I4 technology drivers in companies that are not major global trendsetters but are heavily embedded in the value chains of companies from the most industrially developed economies. The study is limited to manufacturing companies in a small European economy and should be retested in other contexts.Practical implicationsThe study can help managers implement I4 technologies in their companies more successfully.Originality/valueWe take a novel research approach by proposing a framework that clearly distinguishes between motives and enablers for the use of I4 technologies.
Highlights
The fourth industrial revolution known as Industry 4.0 (I4) brought about many new technologies in the field of business process digitalization (Ghobakhloo, 2018)
Resampling 5,000 times and using a 95% confidence interval (CI) for the parameter estimates, the results indicate an indirect effect of the efficiency motives through intention to use on actual use, while the indirect effects of other motives are not statistically significant
Our paper adds to the body of knowledge on I4 technologies by clearly distinguishing between the motives and enablers of I4 technology usage
Summary
The fourth industrial revolution known as Industry 4.0 (I4) brought about many new technologies in the field of business process digitalization (Ghobakhloo, 2018). The major advantages of introducing new technologies are increasing productivity and resource savings, process transparency, more profitable business models, higher quality and improved workplace conditions (Mu€ller et al, 2018b; Staufen, 2018; Nosalska et al, 2019). Intelligent products and machines collect various data that help develop new products and services and enable optimization of production processes (Brettel et al, 2014). The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
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