A situational approach to Industry 4.0 maturity assessment : supporting strategic decision-making in top management teams

Vavpotič, Damjan (author), Fujs, Damjan (author), Hovelja, Tomaž (author)

Purpose – This study aims to address the limitations of current Industry 4.0 evaluation approaches, which often rely on a one-size-fits-all philosophy. It introduces a novel situational evaluation method tailored to the unique contexts of organizations, with a focus on aligning Industry 4.0 initiatives with strategic goals. Design/methodology/approach – A case study methodology was employed involving a large multinational company with over 30 subsidiaries in 14 countries across Europe and Asia. The company operates in three core EU industries: automotive, electric power transformers, and construction. The study involved the entire top management team (TMT) in order to comprehensively assess the effectiveness of the proposed evaluation approach. Findings – The results demonstrate that the TMT highly valued the customized nature of the situational evaluation approach. The proposed Industry 4.0 evaluation approach significantly improved the alignment of the organization’s strategic objectives between TMT members. Originality/value – The study provides a novel approach to Industry 4.0 evaluation that starts with selecting and structuring digital maturity dimensions according to the needs, context, and characteristics of a specific enterprise; continues with evaluations of individual TMT use and completes with group discussion to achieve final strategic alignment and address common challenges in Industry 4.0 adoption (TMT alignment, workforce readiness, and technology integration). Keywords Industry 4.0, Manufacturing strategy, Type of firm – multinational companies, Type of manufacturing process – continuous process,Data collection method – case study (including grounded theory, iterative-pragmatic, and deductive approaches), Data collection method – survey (in-person interviews and written questionnaires) Paper type Research article

• Language: English
• Keywords: Industry 4.0, manufacturing strategy, multinational companies, continuous process, case study, business management
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FRI - Faculty of Computer and Information Science
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 18-38
• Numbering: Vol. 55, iss. 13
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-179340
• UDC: 659.2:004
• ISSN on article: 0368-492X
• DOI: 10.1108/K-06-2025-1518
• COBISS.SI-ID: 267751171
• Publication date in RUL: 11.02.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Kybernetes
• Shortened title: Kybernetes
• Publisher: MCB university press
• ISSN: 0368-492X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 28709889

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: Industrija 4.0, proizvodna strategija, multinacionalna podjetja, neprekinjen proces, študija primera, poslovni menedžment

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P2-0426-2022
• Name: Digitalna preobrazba za pametno javno upravljanje