Management innovation as an enabler of firm performance in the context of Industry 4.0 : a longitudinal multi-source, multi-sector analysis

Černe, Matej (author), Čater, Barbara (author), Čater, Tomaž (author), Koman, Matjaž (author), Redek, Tjaša (author)

This study addresses the dearth of research on what enables firms’ performance in the context of Industry 4.0 (I4.0). We investigate how I4.0 shapes the effects of firm investments over time and whether the effects of people and equipment depend on innovative management approaches. A longitudinal multi-sector study is conducted of 157 export-oriented, manufacturing firms in a European Union member state (Slovenia) over a 14-year period (in total, consisting of 1791 total observations). The findings suggest that firms which invest more in technology complement these costs by making investments in people, which over time leads to a higher firm performance. The I4.0 phase moderates this mediated relationship in that firms more advanced with respect to engaging in I4.0 tend to lower their human resources costs despite investing in technology while still showing a superior firm performance. This indicates the substitution effect of technology vis-à-vis human resources. The moderation of management innovation proved to be weaker, calling for a detailed look at its nuances across the studied levels. Taken together, our paper contributes in advancing the stream of research focused on internal factors and processes specifically related to firm investments and management processes, thereby leading to the outcomes of new technology use and capitalization. The findings highlight the link between I4.0 and technology management, and innovation, and complements the existing research on the link between management innovation and performance by contextualizing it within I4.0’s new technology and socio-economic changes.

• Language: English
• Keywords: enterprises, innovations, knowledge transfer, firm performance, industry 4.0, management innovation, labor cost, technology and equipment, longitudinal analysis
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: EF - School of Economics and Business
• Publication status: In print
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2023
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-147837
• UDC: 005.3
• ISSN on article: 1447-9338
• DOI: 10.1080/14479338.2023.2177858
• COBISS.SI-ID: 141289475
• Publication date in RUL: 13.07.2023

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Innovation. organization & management
• Publisher: Routledge, Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 1447-9338
• COBISS.SI-ID: 513431833

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: podjetje, inovacije, prenos znanja

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: J5-2555
• Name: Oblikovanje organizacije v digitalni dobi

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P5-0128
• Name: Izzivi vključujočega in trajnostnega razvoja v prevladujoči paradigmi ekonomskih in poslovnih znanosti