Capturing the benefits of industry 4.0: a business network perspective

Abstract

This study uses a business network perspective to investigate the industry 4.0 context with the internet of things (IoT) as its enabling technology and product-use data as its core network resource. A three-stage qualitative methodology (interviews, focus group, Delphi-based inquiry) was used to examine the case of an emergent IoT-based business network in the UK road transport industry to examine: (i) how aspects of product use data influence the benefit opportunities the data provide to the different network actors; (ii) how capturing of the benefit opportunities in a network context is impacted by key barriers; and (iii) how network capabilities can overcome these barriers to capture benefits from product-use data. The study, thereby, contributes to an understanding of the industry 4.0 context from a resource dependency theory perspective and provides concrete recommendations for management operating in this context.

Keywords:

• Industry 4.0
• industrial internet
• internet of things (IoT)
• business network
• resource dependence

Notes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The term ‘vignettes’ here describes an analytical step, not a technique for illustrating particular perspectives to the reader.

2 Fern (1982) in his review found that focus group sizes are commonly ranging from 5–20 members.

3 Previous dealings among these network members had been limited to pairwise interactions.

4 UK transport operators will have the opportunity to integrate some of their performance and operations data with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to minimise disruptive on-road vehicle inspections.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) under Grant Ref ES/P010148/1 ‘Pathways towards Servitization: A trans-national study of Organisational Transformation.

Notes on contributors

Andreas Schroeder

Andreas Schroeder is Senior Lecturer of Information Systems at Aston Business School and a member of the Advanced Services Group at Aston University. His main research areas are IT management and digital business models.

Ali Ziaee Bigdeli

Ali Bigdeli is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Industrial Service Innovation in The Advanced Services Group (ASG) at Aston Business School. His interests lie in the operational and organisational change brought about when businesses intend to introduce technological innovations to the market. His research at the Centre focuses on how servitization helps a business to bring its products to market, expand the scale of its operations and increase financial sustainability, and the business model innovation that is required to enable this.

Carlos Galera Zarco

Carlos Galera Zarco is a lecturer in Project Management in the School of Strategy and Leadership at Coventry Business School, UK. His current research interests revolve around business model innovation, operational changes and new organizational forms in the digital economy. He is also interested in value creation and advanced services in projects.

Tim Baines

Tim Baines Professor and Director of the Advanced Services Group at Aston University, is the leading international authority on servitization and advanced services and spends much of his time working hands-on with both global and local manufacturing companies to understand servitization in practice and help to transform businesses.