Smart-enhanced organisational functions: A framework comprising capabilities, barriers, and evolutional path

Abstract

Integrating smart industrial products (SIPs) into production processes introduces new dynamics of capabilities and challenges within organisations. However, a prevalent issue is the ad hoc adoption of SIPs without a cohesive strategy, resulting in isolated solutions that do not effectively enhance core organisational functions. Our research fills this critical gap by identifying and combining the capabilities and barriers posed by SIPs. Our findings allow us to propose a framework comprising the stages each main organisational function needs to develop to move from a traditional to a completely autonomous decision-making function. This evolutional path requires that each organisational function acquires selected capabilities and overcomes specific barriers. Our approach encompasses a multi-method methodology, commencing with a systematic literature review (SLR) encompassing 44 papers, leading to the identification of 20 capabilities and 23 barriers. Subsequently, through rigorous content analyses and expert interviews, we formulate the framework. This paper contributes to academia by providing a framework with an evolutional path that main organisational functions may follow according to the capability they acquire from the SIP and which barriers should be surpassed at each level. For managers in practice, the proposed framework enables a better understanding of the stage of their operations and which capabilities will take their main organisational function from traditional (level 0) to autonomous (level 3) stages.