Sustainable I4.0 integration and transition to I5.0 in traditional and digital technological organisations

Abstract

Using a rigorous panel of experts from diverse sectors and organisational sizes, the paper investigates the enablers and the role of people & management, technology & innovation mechanisms in traditional and digital technological organisations, unveiling the context-specific interventions triggered by specific mechanisms leading to the outcomes of sustainable industry 4.0 (I4.0) and transition to Industry 5.0 (I5.0). The under-researched causal relations among enablers are seen through the lenses of the structural contingency theory (SCT) and the Context-Intervention-Mechanism-Outcome (CIMO) logic. Interventions are enablers in action. Based on a set of enablers from the literature, cause and effect diagrams are derived from Fuzzy Delphi and FDEMATEL methods. Two distinct roadmaps resulted from the research. The findings of the roadmaps emphasise different outcomes in organisations of different sizes, technologies and strategies (traditional or digital). For the outcome of strengthening I4.0, the leading resulting enabler is corporate culture. To transition to I5.0, a more extensive set of enablers is required, comprising a combination of corporate culture, use of natural resources, consistent data flows, data security, and effective communications. This study contributes to practice with two roadmaps for sustainable technological advancement for both traditional and digital technological organisations and contributes to theory by applying a novel combination of theories to a new field of study.