{"title":"Who is leading the digital transformation? Understanding the adoption of digital technologies in Germany","authors":"Clemens Ohlert, Oliver Giering, Stefan Kirchner","doi":"10.1111/ntwe.12244","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Debates on digitalisation in Germany often refer to ‘Industrie 4.0’ describing a seamless and technology-driven process spearheaded by manufacturing. This view conflicts with sociological arguments, assuming highly differentiated processes of digitalisation. We review the literature and empirically test the core assumption that digital technologies relate to organisational characteristics and that adoption differs according to the type of technology. We analyse German IAB-Establishment-Panel data, which contains organisation-level information, including digital technologies. Our results show a lead of manufacturing in the adoption of digital production technologies. Regarding other digital technologies, manufacturing performs on par or is outperformed by specific service industries. Additionally, the usage of digital technologies relates to organisational characteristics, other than industry (e.g., establishment size, age, competition, employees’ qualification). The relationship patterns largely persist across technologies, with some technology-specific variants. Our empirical results underline the embeddedness of digitalisation processes in Germany and underline the relevance of the technologies in question.","PeriodicalId":51550,"journal":{"name":"New Technology Work and Employment","volume":"21 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5000,"publicationDate":"2022-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"New Technology Work and Employment","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12244","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ERGONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Debates on digitalisation in Germany often refer to ‘Industrie 4.0’ describing a seamless and technology-driven process spearheaded by manufacturing. This view conflicts with sociological arguments, assuming highly differentiated processes of digitalisation. We review the literature and empirically test the core assumption that digital technologies relate to organisational characteristics and that adoption differs according to the type of technology. We analyse German IAB-Establishment-Panel data, which contains organisation-level information, including digital technologies. Our results show a lead of manufacturing in the adoption of digital production technologies. Regarding other digital technologies, manufacturing performs on par or is outperformed by specific service industries. Additionally, the usage of digital technologies relates to organisational characteristics, other than industry (e.g., establishment size, age, competition, employees’ qualification). The relationship patterns largely persist across technologies, with some technology-specific variants. Our empirical results underline the embeddedness of digitalisation processes in Germany and underline the relevance of the technologies in question.
期刊介绍:
New Technology, Work and Employment presents analysis of the changing contours of technological and organisational systems and processes in order to encourage an enhanced and critical understanding of the dimensions of technological change in the workplace and in employment more generally. The journal is eclectic and invites contributions from across the social sciences, with the primary focus on critical and non-managerial approaches to the subject. It has the aim of publishing papers from perspectives concerned with the changing nature of new technology and workplace and employment relations. The objective of the journal is to promote deeper understanding through conceptual debate firmly rooted in analysis of current practices and sociotechnical change.