Industry 4.0 technologies usage : motives and enablers

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

Purpose – The 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/approach – The 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. Findings – The 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/implications – The 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 implications – The study can help managers implement I4 technologies in their companies more successfully. Originality/value – We take a novel research approach by proposing a framework that clearly distinguishes between motives and enablers for the use of I4 technologies.

• Language: English
• Keywords: industry 4.0, technology, actual use, intention to use, enablers, motives, information technology, innovativeness, productivity
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: EF - School of Economics and Business
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2021
• Number of pages: Str. 323-345
• Numbering: Vol. 32, no. 9
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-129963
• UDC: 659.2:004
• ISSN on article: 1741-038X
• DOI: 10.1108/JMTM-01-2021-0026
• COBISS.SI-ID: 75298819
• Publication date in RUL: 09.09.2021

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Journal of manufacturing technology management
• Shortened title: J. manuf. technol. manag.
• Publisher: Emerald
• ISSN: 1741-038X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 512642329

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: informacijska tehnologija, inovativnost, produktivnost