Industry-4.0-Enabled Digital Transformation: Prospects, Instruments, Challenges, and Implications for Business Strategies

Abstract

Digital transformation, which significantly impacts our personal, social, and economic spheres of life, is regarded by many as the most significant development of recent decades. In an industrial context, based on a systematic literature review of 262 papers selected from the ProQuest database, using the methodology of David and Han, this paper discusses Industry 4.0 technologies as the key drivers and/or enablers of digital transformation for business practices, models, processes, and routines in the current digital age. After carrying out a systematic literature review considering key Industry 4.0 technologies, we discuss the individual and collective ways in which competitiveness in contemporary organizations and institutions is enhanced. Specifically, we discuss how these technologies contribute as antecedents, drivers, and enablers of environmental and social sustainability, corporate growth and diversification, reshoring, mass customization, B2B cooperation, supply chain integration, Lean Six Sigma, quality of governance, innovations, and knowledge related to dealing with challenges arising from global pandemics such as COVID-19. A few challenges related to the effective adoption and implementation of Industry 4.0 are also highlighted, along with some suggestions to overcome them.

1. Introduction

At the beginning of the 20th century, the main forces impacting the world economy and trade were the oil, metallurgy, and engineering industries. Today, the world is rapidly transforming into a digital economy, as evidenced by the prominence of tech giants such as Amazon, Google, Apple, Netflix, and Microsoft, which have become the highest ranking companies in the world in terms of market capitalization in recent years [1,2,3]. Digitization is evolving at an unprecedented rate, primarily because of its ability to collect, use, and analyze vast amounts of (digital) data and information, with enormous implications on every sphere of life [3]. These digital data are mainly collected based on the analysis of digital footprints from the activity of individuals, social groups, and enterprises that remain on various digital platforms [4]. Digitalization affects all sectors of an economy, from medicine and education to transport and energy. The core of the digital economy is innovations in digital goods and services, processes, and routines that are inspired and enabled by digital technologies [5,6,7]. Kamble et al. [8,9] state that innovations in digital technologies have a clear and beneficial impact on organizational sustainability, as current market conditions are forcing businesses to improve digital capabilities in all aspects of their strategies and operations in order to stay competitive, especially in high velocity markets [10,11,12,13]. The integration of these technologies could enable a faster, as well as more efficient and more agile, response to the surmounting environmental dynamism and complexity [14]. In an industrial context, the incorporation of these technologies through autonomous, knowledge-based, and sensor-based self-regulating systems is known as Industry 4.0. [15,16].

The explosive development of information and communication technologies, and their subsequent integration into business processes, are the essence of the fourth Industrial Revolution, known as Industry 4.0 [16,17]. Industry 4.0 (hereafter I 4.0) consists of several innovative technologies that have dramatically revolutionized the field of business by enabling disruptive responses to the challenges stemming from issues such as environmental uncertainty [18,19]. Technological innovations fostered by I 4.0 provide an opportunity to move economic processes to qualitatively new levels of management [20]. In current times, the adoption and integration of I 4.0 have become increasingly important because of its vital role in enhancing organizational efficiency, responsiveness, and competitiveness [21,22]. As a result, it has become increasingly popular, particularly in manufacturing and logistics [23,24,25,26]. Although virtualization increases visibility, transparency, anticipation, and flexibility, all of which can promote business resilience to the environmental disruptions [27,28,29], businesses are not only moving towards I 4.0-enabled digital transformation in order to yield an effective adaptive response to the competitiveness challenges stemming from environmental dynamism, but also to seize the subsequent opportunities from such environmental changes [30,31,32,33].

The integration of I 4.0 brings with it some distinct advantages, such as improved agility, ameliorated quality standards, increased efficiency, and enhanced productivity [34]. With the emergence of Industry 4.0, communication between machines and humans has increased. These technologies can impact processes (and daily routines) by converting conventional appliances into intelligent devices that can be used to incorporate advanced systems [35]. As such, I 4.0 technologies have enhanced business (mostly manufacturing) connectivity, facilitating the seamless integration of business architecture and processes [36,37,38,39]. The application of I 4.0 technologies in business supply chains has contributed to enhancing their agility and responsiveness [40,41]. Data generated regarding customer preferences through I 4.0 technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data Analytics (BDA) facilitate mass customization, allowing firms to meet the varying needs, preferences, and requirements of customers through innovative solutions that are tailored to their meet needs with tweaked precision [42,43,44,45]. I 4.0 is not only changing the fundamental aspects of enterprises such as production, sales, maintenance, and service, but also the ways employees and partners interact and communicate. Complex decision-making has been replaced by a real-time decision-making system, yielding intelligent solutions with superior timeliness and concurrency.

I 4.0 technologies have gained substantial attention from academics, executives, and professionals worldwide. A deep understanding exists, in that I 4.0 is not merely a phrase, but a system and collection of highly disruptive technologies that has firmly reshaped (business) models, not only in industries, but also in social, political, and cultural spheres of life [46]. Kweka et al. [47] and Lee et al. [48] described digitalization as an important driver of competitiveness for SMEs. Tonelli et al. [49] asserted that the core competencies regarding technological innovations such as I 4.0 enhance the value of firms at both strategic and operational levels. Salvi et al. [50] found that proving an enterprise is successfully adapting digitalization in its work can serve as a reason for attracting more investors and partners. However, despite the widespread integration of I 4.0 technologies, research on their potential to affect competitiveness at corporate and business levels is still in its infancy, with most of it focused on the functional impact of single-digital tools [30,31,51]. Additionally, scholars such as Verhoef, Thijs, and Yakov [13] have noted that digitalization is changing the rules of the market and has a significant impact on strategies, not only destroying companies that are unable to adapt, but also entire markets. However, despite these assertations, the implications of I 4.0 for corporate and business strategies are still an under-researched topic [52,53,54]. Therefore, there is a dire need for research debating the performance implications of I 4.0 from a strategy perspective. To address this deficiency, based on an exhaustive account of the contemporary scholarly discourse in the literature, this paper discusses organizational performance and competitiveness using an I 4.0 strategy lens. The paper aims not only to enhance our understanding of the role of I 4.0 technologies in enhancing the competitiveness of firms, but also to offer insights to practitioners in order to assist in establishing better plans for the integration of I 4.0 technologies to achieve greater social, economic, and ecological gains. This study complements insights gained from other recent literature-review-based studies, such as Banos et al. [55], Garcia et al. [56], Kweka et al. [47], and Li et al. [46]. However, it is different in that it specifically focusses on the performance-enhancing effects of integrating I 4.0 as an enabler, supporter, and driver of corporate and business strategies in a wide variety of industrial contexts.

The paper is divided into eight sections. Section 2 outlines the methodology of our literature-based review and our evaluation of the fourth Industrial Revolution (I 4.0). Section 3 presents the model encapsulating the antecedents, developments, and consequences of digital transformation for modern-day businesses and economies. Section 4 presents a detailed account of Industry 4.0 and its effects on business operations and processes. Section 5 sheds light on the leading I 4.0 technologies and their contributions to enhancing the competitiveness of businesses and firms. Section 6 highlights the strategy implications of integrating I 4.0 into businesses that are frequently highlighted in the literature. Section 7 discusses some of the challenges that organizations adopting and implementing I 4.0 might encounter. Section 8 concludes the entire discussion.

2. Methodology

Relevant research articles incorporating I 4.0 at theoretical, applied, and empirical levels were selected using an adapted version of the approach suggested by David and Han [57], and later adopted by Newbert [58] and Yaqub [59]. First, we restricted the search by including articles published in “scholarly” or peer-reviewed journals only. Secondly, as I 4.0 is a phenomenon pertaining more to business and economics, we searched the ProQuest One Business database. We initially selected articles that contained one or more of the key words, such as “Industry 4.0”, “I 4.0”, “Digital Transformation”, “Blockchain Technology”, “Internet of Things”, “Big Data Analytics”, “Business”, “Management”, or “Economics” in their abstracts or titles. This search generated a list of 3581 research articles. For determining substantive relevance, articles were retained only if they discussed the dynamics of I 4.0 in business, economics, or management contexts only. The search process was augmented using the snow-ball method, which resulted in the inclusion of a few more relevant articles that were not already on the list generated from the ProQuest One Business database. Finally, full texts of the 262 selected articles were studied to find the relevant facts of the matter, which will be reported through the following sections.

Sample Profile

Table 1. Distribution of articles (timewise).

S. No.	Timeline	N	%
1	Pre 2005	2	1
2	2005–2010	6	2
3	2011–2015	32	12
4	2016–2020	158	60
5	2021+	64	25
	Total	262	100

shows the breakdown of articles according to the year(s) of publication. There were negligible mentions of Industry 4.0 technologies before 2005. The discussions began after 2005, obtained some momentum during 2011–2015, but accelerated significantly after 2015.

Table 2. Distribution of articles by the publication outlet.

S. No.	Journal Name	N	%
1	International Journal of Production Economics	16	6
2	Production Planning and Control	14	5
3	Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management	14	5
4	Sustainability	13	5
5	Computers in Industry	10	4
6	Procedia Manufacturing	7	3
7	Industrial Management and Data systems	6	2
8	International Journal of Information Management	6	2
9	Technological Forecasting and Social Change	6	2
10	Procedia CIRP	5	2
11	Others	165	64
	Total	262	100

shows the preferences of publication outlets, with International Journal of Production Economics (6%), Production Planning and Control (5%), Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management (5%), and Sustainability (5%) emerging as the leading choices for researchers to publish their research involving Industry 4.0-enabled digital transformation.

Table 3. Distribution of articles (by affiliation of first author).

S. No.	Region	N	%
1	Europe	157	60
2	Asia	65	25
3	South America	22	8
4	North America	11	4
5	Africa	4	2
6	Oceania	3	1
	Total	262	100

and

Table 4. Distribution of articles (by publishing area).

S. No.	Region	N	%
1	Europe	224	85
2	North America	26	10
3	Asia	11	4
4	Africa	1	1
	Total	262	100

reveal that majority of the researchers involved in these types of investigations were from Asian (25%) and European (60%) regions, and they mainly chose journals published from Europe (85%) as the most appropriate outlets for the dissemination of their research.

3. The Model

Figure 1 presents a summary of our findings regarding the role of I 4.0-enabled digital transformation in affecting business strategies, as well as describing the key prospects, instruments, and challenges. The following section discusses this further.

One of the most significant developments of recent decades has been the emergence of a knowledge-driven economy [60,61]. The formation of a knowledge economy is associated with the digitalization of firms, organizations, and institutions [62]. In such an economy, information and knowledge are the key resources for forming the competitive advantage. An overpowering capability to collect, process and use information from the digital environment is critical to the success in a digitalized knowledge-driven economy [63,64,65]. The benefits of such (digital) capabilities have been extensively documented in a large body of literature. Digitalization actively promotes the development of new companies and start-ups as creating a company to work in e-business is comparatively simple and affordable. Castagnoli et al. [66], Neubert [67], and Santos-Pereira et al. [68] argue that in order for rapid development, startups need to internationalize quickly, and this is best achieved through digitalizing the business. In a recent literature review spanning recent decades, Feliciano-Cestero et al. [69] documented the impact of human and non-human components such as knowledge, digital servitization, and leadership on affecting internationalization at individual, firm, and macro levels. Naglic, Tominic, and Logozar [70] confirmed the efficacy of digitalization in boosting export performance. Digitalization is one of the main trends in the development of small- and medium-sized businesses during the pandemic that remained after [71]. Ilcus [72] argued that digitalization is creating a new competitive environment through the transformation of business strategies, models, and processes. According to Bouwman et al. [73] and Muller [74] digitalization is generally desired and carried out so as to reduce the loss of resources involved in business processes; however, the process usually results in a significant transformation of business models. Zhang et al. [75] noted that incumbent firms could achieve significant improvements in innovation through digital transformation, especially under high levels of market and technological uncertainty. Ivanov, Dolgui, and Sokolov [76] stated that digital technologies such as BDA and T&T systems enhance demand responsiveness and capacity flexibility, which could help predict and mitigate disruptions by enabling enhanced visibility, forecast accuracy, flexibility, and coordination in real-time environments throughout the supply chain. Reis et al. [77] stated that digitalization will not transform existing companies, but also create new digital companies. Such companies will be radically different from existing ones, as they will be mostly virtual. These companies do not need physical space for consumers, as the (consumer) value is created and consumed in virtual environments.

Digitalization of business models applies to all aspects of a company’s work: pricing, resource management, development of closed-loop processes, and the formation of an ecofriendly environment [78]. Parviainen et al. [79] extended a model of digitalization that is most often used by companies. The model consisted of four stages. The first stage involved determining the current position and level of digitalization of the company. In the second stage, the goals of digitalization were determined. The third stage involved the development of a roadmap for digitalization, and the fourth stage was its implementation. These steps would be repeated until appropriate levels of digitalization were realized. Companies across the world are adopting digital technologies to create efficient, transparent, and resilient systems. In the future, companies with business processes based on digital technologies will have a competitive advantage [13]. Hence, the sooner digitalization is implemented, the more a company will gain. In an industrial context, embracing digital transformation in a timely, efficient, and effective manner is aligns with the adoption and implementation of Industry 4.0.

4. Industry 4.0 as the Essence of Digital Transformation

I 4.0 perfectly delineates the essence of the Fourth Industrial revolution, with the advent of cyber–physical systems facilitating automated organizational/institutional operations in intelligent factories, with significant implications for possible investments, consumption, development, jobs, and commercialization [19,80,81,82,83,84]. The concept of “Industry 4.0” was first introduced in 2011 at the Hannover Fair and was brought to the attention of many governments around the world [85]. It was co-founded by the German federal government’s initiative, which included academics and private companies [86] and aimed to develop creative production processes to increase efficiency and productivity in industries. By its very nature, it signifies a new phase in the evolution of production systems by integrating a variety of emerging and convergent technologies that could add significant value to the entire manufacturing process [16,87,88,89,90]. It represents a new organizational layer of managing and controlling the entire value chain for customized goods and services to adapt to the ever-changing and varying needs and wants of customers [91,92]. According to Lasi et al. [93], the following three components make up Industry 4.0.

• Digitalization and enhanced integration across different vertical and horizontal value chains: creating personalized products, digital customer orders, automated data delivery systems, and integrated customer service solutions.
• Product and service digitalization: providing comprehensive smart grid descriptions of the product and associated services.
• Implementation of innovative digital business concepts: High interaction within systems and technological capabilities for creating new and integrated digital business models. The foundation of the industrial internet involves the embedded accessibility and monitoring of systems throughout the entire enterprise in real time.

Despite the term “Industry 4.0” originating from Germany, it bears similarities to trends elsewhere in Europe, where it was given varying titles, such as smart factories, smart industry, or advanced manufacturing [94,95]. Smart factory refers to the application of emerging cutting-edge technological innovations in the digital domain, including advanced robotics and artificial intelligence, high-tech sensors, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, data collection and analytics, digital manufacturing, and the integration of all these into an interoperable digital value chain that is widely adopted and shared across multiple organizations from numerous countries [96,97]. It envisions an ecosystem that allows smart engines to interact with each other, providing not only the ability to automate manufacturing operations, but also some level of analysis and comprehension of manufacturing problems, as well as the capability to fix those problems with minimum input from humans. It encourages leveraging Big Data, IoT, and artificial intelligence (AI) altogether. Although originally mainly related to the fabrication sector, these technologies showed a significant performance impact in the retail sector, operating organizations, and third-party service providers at the subsequent stage of its evolution [97] and became widespread throughout various industries. Martindale, Duong, and Sandeep [98] attested to the profound efficacy of I 4.0 technologies such as robotics and automation, Big Data, IoT, and cybersecurity in enhancing innovation in products, processes, and services in the food industry. Similar assertions were made by Linh et al. [99] regarding the role of robotics and autonomous systems (RAS) in enhancing the productivity of supply chains in the food industry, after conducting a systematic literature review.

According to Jeschke et al. [100], and Pereira, Lima, and Santos [101], I 4.0 represents a paradigm shift in smart manufacturing. It incorporates manufacturing operation systems closely with interaction, information, and artificial intelligence tools. Tesla’s Gigfactory in Berlin, Adidas Speed Factory in Ansbach, Infineon’s Smart factory in Dresden, and Siemens Elektronikwerk in Amberg (EWA) are some salient examples of how firms could leverage the true potential of cutting-edge I 4.0 technologies such as robotics, 3D printing, AGVs, IoT, digital twins, AI, Cloud, and edge computing to enhance flexibility, reliability, efficiency, productivity, and cycle time performance by enabling smart production in real-time environments [102]. Ahuett-Garza and Kurfess [103] contended that the primary goal of Industry 4.0 is to increase the productivity and responsiveness of manufacturing systems. Liao et al. [104] discovered that I 4.0 affects the manufacturing sector in three distinct ways: first, through vertical integration, second through horizontal integration, and third through end-to-end engineering. I 4.0 represents, in particular, the sweeping change in the way manufacturing operations work today [105,106]. Described as a worldwide revolution of the manufacturing sector through the implementation of digitization and the internet, such changes include radical innovations in the production methods, workflows, and services offered for finished products [97]. I 4.0 technologies, which encapsulate the essence this digital transformation, impact the manufacturing industry by converting conventional appliances into intelligent devices that can be used to incorporate advanced systems [35,107]. However, I 4.0 technologies are suggested to enhance visibility, predictability, and collaboration [108], the scope of which extends convincingly beyond the manufacturing operations.

Table 5. Distribution of articles in terms of technology focus.

S. No.	Focus in Terms of Technology Type	N	%
1	Block chain technology (BCT)	23	9
2	Big Data Analytics (BDA)	21	8
3	Cloud computing (CC)	23	9
4	Artificial intelligence (AI)	17	6
5	Internet of Things (IoT)	40	15
6	Others	27	10
7	Digitalization/I 4.0 (General)	111	42
	Total	262	100

reveals that much of the literature (42%) has discussed I 4.0 technologies compositely. However, as far as individual technologies are concerned, five of them have remained the center of attention in these discussions, namely IoT (15%), BCT (9%), CC (9%), BDA (8%), and AI (6%).

Based on the central tenets of the I 4.0 framework, which are immediate support, decentralization, modularity, interoperability, service orientation, and virtualization [109], the following paragraphs discuss five leading technologies frequently cited as the key drivers of I 4.0 revolution in accredited studies in the literature [53,110,111,112,113,114]. A detailed description of these technologies and their contributions, specifically in facilitating, enabling, and driving (business) strategies, are examined in the following sections.

5. Industry 4.0 Technologies and Business Strategies

In a wider context, digital technologies are a broad concept that encompass any technology that has digital elements. I 4.0 technologies can be classified as physical and virtual. Physical technologies are primarily concerned with industrial processes such as additive manufacturing, sensor technology, and drones [115]. Virtual technologies include a broad range of contemporary communication and information technologies, including cloud computing, blockchain technology, Big Data, and simulation [116]. These are embodied through cyber−physical systems, which make manufacturing processes scalable and modifiable, allowing for mass production of highly customized goods [117]. Certainly, as cyber−physical systems interact over IoT, they link physical goods, infrastructure, individual players, computers, and processes across the boundaries of the organization, allowing for the convergence of virtual and physical worlds using actuators, sensors, and computing capacity to transfer data in the correct amount time to decentralized decision-making mechanisms [118,119,120].

While maintaining that Industry 4.0 technologies abridge the essence of digital transformation, Dalmarco and Barros [121] described I 4.0 technologies as being embodied in eight main technological fields, namely: Internet of Things (IoTs), cloud technology, Big Data analytics (BDA), 3D printing, cyber−physical systems, cybersecurity, robotics, and visual computing. Tjahjono et al. [97] expanded this list to include virtual reality (VR/AR), 3D printing, simulation, BDA, cloud computing, cybersecurity, IoT, electronics miniaturization, auto-ID, robots, drones, machine-to-machine connectivity, business intelligence, and artificial intelligence as primary I 4.0 technologies. Although all of them are important for actualizing I 4.0-enabled transformation of business processes, we will further elaborate on five of them, namely Internet of Things, blockchain, Big Data analytics, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing, as they have been championed as the key drivers of I 4.0 revolution by Maxwell and Khalid [42]. In the following paragraphs, apart from highlighting their nature and scope, we discuss how they support the Porter’s [122] cost and/or differentiation-based generic business strategies, while appreciating the fact that their contributions to the corporate and functional strategies have also been widely cited in the literature.

5.1. Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT corresponds to a particular technological approach where several appliances that can turn the internet on and off to use software and automation procedures that enable smart living are networked with each other [123]. Every device that supports smart sensor technology qualifies as an IoT environment device. Every object, including humans, can become embedded in the IoT network, through smartphones or wearables. Quetti, Pigni, and Clerici [123], and Zhong et al. [124] described IoT manufacturing as an advanced production methodology of transforming traditional production methods into smart production devices. These smart devices are interconnected and interact with each other digitally using sensors. The devices can interact automatically and adapt to carrying out production logics. IoT represents an innovation that has transformed how we arrange and organize our work and home lives, how we navigate our ways around and use transportation, and how we control industrial machinery [125,126]. Cui et al. [127] described IoT as a pathway towards achieving operational excellence.

IoT represents the next-generation network of the internet, providing a broad expansion to the internet and enabling ubiquitous connectivity from objects to objects, real-time autonomous information acquisition, computing, and bridging the gaps connecting objects in the tangible world to their depiction in information tools [128]. Having IoT capability can enable a company to make full and comprehensive use of artificial intelligence, simulation, automation, robotics, data acquisition systems, and networks for advanced engineering. With these advanced solutions, a powerful, collaborative, and future-proof manufacturing infrastructure can be built that can deliver sustainable cost benefits [129]. According to Nagy et al. [130] and Weng [131], IoT capabilities could increase the possibilities of differentiating goods or services and drag the focus of competition away from cost. Information on customers’ purchasing and usage patterns gathered through sensors on products integrated into IoT may lead to a better and comprehensive understanding of customers’ characteristics and their tastes, preferences, and requirements, thus helping firms provide customized and differentiated solutions to their needs [132].

5.2. Blockchain Technology (BCT)

Introduced in 2008 [133], the technology has been listed as one of the top 10 strategic technological developments [134] and has been dubbed the most significant innovation since the internet [135]. BCT uses established encryption principles and serves as a repository for transaction information, and is documented and shared via a decentralized peer-to-peer network. All participants keep a copy of the digital chain ledger and validate new entries using a consensus protocol within this network. This feature is of major interest because it can promote the scanning, intermediation, and resolution of inter-organizational confidence issues in collaborative networks. BCT focuses on value exchange, while earlier technology has concentrated on faster and more secure information transfer. BCT is especially important for supply chain networks to make and verify transactions for organizations and individuals without a central control authority. According to Banerjee [136], blockchain use widens SCM and increases its operational efficiency.

BCT is widely used in various industries due to its conspicuous features such as real-time information sharing, cybersecurity, transparency, reliability, traceability, and visibility [137,138]. It increases the efficiency of supply and logistics chains, allowing for speeding up the transmission of data flows among different parties [139]. Nonetheless, with blockchain technology, any change in data can be passed on instantly, enabling the rapid adaptation of products and business processes, while at the same time keeping manual mistakes and transaction delays to a minimum [76]. Furthermore, this modular, interoperable platform, designed to prevent the risk of duplication of expenditure, enables efficient operations. Furthermore, keeping an accurate track of inferior quality products and helping to identify additional transactions of those products has the potential to decrease the need for rework and recalls, which in turn reduces the use of resources and greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, Ivanov, Dolgui, and Sokolov [76] further elaborated on its efficacy, such as better decision-making, procurement, product management, accountability, and visibility, which not only boost business processes, but also decrease costs and time. However, despite such contributions to reducing energy consumption and costs, we need to be mindful that the overall high energy consumption and higher costs attributable mainly to the initial capital requirements remain key disadvantages of BCT [140]. BCT provides maximum visibility across the supply chain, with verification of the status of products, monitoring of their location, and other useful functions contributing to supply-chain efficiency, flexibility, agility, and cooperation that, augmented with other I 4.0 technologies such as IoT and BDA, could assist in actualizing differentiation and achieving superior customization at mass levels.

5.3. Cloud Computing

Cloud computing refers to a computing paradigm that allocates tasks across a set of connected devices, applications, and shared services that are accessible through a network. Commonly, this interconnected network of servers and links is referred to as “the cloud”. Cloud-scale computing provides the ability to access supercomputing capability. There is an enabling cloud infrastructure comprising a common set of virtualized hardware, storage, and network assets that are pooled, which started as serving platforms to run specific tasks and fulfil various service-level agreements (SLAs) [141,142]. The cloud is made up of multiple entities including clients, computing servers, and shared hosts. It encompasses fault immunity, high levels of reliability, inherent ability to scale, agility, lower effort on the part of users, lower operational costs, and services on request [143,144,145,146]. Cloud-based manufacturing is an advanced manufacturing process in which cloud computing, IoT, and virtualization are incorporated. All these technologies transform the manufacturing process such that that the services involved can be shared and circulated, thereby improving the production process to drive organizations to success [147,148].

Cloud computing, together with its closely aligned IoT data management tools such as fog computing and edge computing, through enabling real-time data exchange through cloud, fog, and/or edge (data layers)-based platforms, has reshaped the way global enterprise networks connect and work together, creating an agile, more collaborative environment within (focal or cooperative) organizations [149,150,151,152,153]. The adoption of cloud computing facilitates a networked supply chain through enhancing real-time visibility, which makes supply chains more dynamic, safe, and collaborative [141,154]. Leveraging cloud-based supply-chain-management-related services results in certain monetary and managerial advantages [155,156]. Reduced costs in comparison to on-site inventory costs, transparency in the supply chain, the ability to scale the platform, and agility resulting from the cooperation of supply chain parties represent a few of its remarkable advantages [145,157]. Implementing cloud computing enables companies to execute their supply chain networks at a high velocity and perform effectively, despite ongoing levels of market volatility. Additionally, through the adoption of cloud computing, organizational flexibility is generated through plug-and-play digital solutions, which allow for a natural process of configuration and reconfiguration [141] of organizational resources and processes in a pursuit to cater to the varying customer preferences, thereby facilitating differentiation.

5.4. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence (AI) was established to design and build “thinking machines” including a range of enabling computing technologies that have been designed to recognize, learn, think, and act in an appropriate manner. Beginning from the late 1970s, AI contributed to enhancing the way humans make business decisions and the resulting levels of profitability across different business domains through its capability to identify business models, learn business behaviors, search for relevant information, and analyze data in smart ways [158,159,160,161]. Over the years, AI has been shown to augment our brains and increase our overall set of cognitive abilities to the unimagined levels [160,162]. When AI comes into play, the manufacturing process has reasoning, learning, and acting possibilities, which contribute significantly to intelligent production [163].

Technological advancements in mobile computing, the ability to save vast amounts of data stored on the internet, cloud-based machine learning, and information computing support strategies have enabled AI to become embedded into many business areas, with a proven ability to lower business unit operating costs, enhance sales, and improve equipment usage [162]. Eliasy and Przychodzen [164] accounted for the profound role of AI in enhancing corporate funding strategies. Moreover, the use of AI minimizes the number of human errors, enables robotic training, handles inventory management, increases precision, and ensures maximum responsiveness and adaptability to the external environment [42,165]. Saldivar et al. [166] discovered that established computational intelligence aids in handling consumer needs and aims to achieve the mass customization of products by smart design. They profoundly demonstrated how to manage large amounts of data for mass personalized output using a self- organized map (SOM). Finally, intelligent manufacturing, a self-regulatory and self-controlled process, facilitates the productions of goods according to the specified design requirements [163], enabling differentiation and enhanced customization.

5.5. Big Data Analytics (BDA)

Big Data is a technological trend that helps to better evaluate or explore the world and consequently streamline decision-making, communication, coordination, and action [167,168,169,170]. Huge volumes of structured and unstructured data may flow in from various sources, including social media, voice/video recordings, online consumer interactions, and open government data (OGD). Zhan et al. [171] indicated that both public and private organizations could extract significant value from Big Data. Many companies have invested large resources in gathering, integrating, analyzing, and using data to adapt and customize their operations. Recent advancements in Big Data analytics (BDA) have resulted in enhanced procedures, higher growth, and aggressive marketing methods that seek to enhance value for each consumer. According to Dai and Liang [172], and Hallikainen et al. [173], BDA is quite effective at enabling businesses to appropriately showcase their behavior and acquire value, particularly in sales, customer service, marketing, innovation, and promotion. Gupta et al. [174] demonstrated that combining Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and BDA results in the enhancement of firm output under dynamic conditions. Sodhi [175] discovered that by combining BDA and IoT techniques with LSS methodology, organizations can not only achieve efficiency and cost reduction through improved decision making, communication, and coordination, but could also deliver higher-quality solutions to customer needs. Consumer interactions are strengthened as Big Data supports easy interactivity, in addition to multi-way communication. The data encompassing online consumer actions could be retrieved by the (marketing) organizations to better comprehend the patterns of behavior of their clients, enabling them to exercise customization and differentiation by catering to the variation in their needs and preferences.

6. Prospects and Implications of I 4.0 for the Strategy

As can be seen in

Table 6. Distribution of articles in terms of strategy focus.

S. No.	Focus of Articles in Terms of Strategy	N	%
1	Digital transformation/digitalization/Industry 4.0	82	31
2	Business strategy (cost leadership and differentiation)	3	1
3	Directional strategy (growth, expansion, and internationalization)	20	8
4	Environmental/social sustainability	15	6
5	Governance	2	1
6	Reshoring/outsourcing/offshoring	3	1
7	Mass customization	4	2
8	Lean Six Sigma	3	1
9	Pandemics (COVID-19)	5	2
10	Supply chain management	70	27
11	Inter-organizational collaborations/relationships/alliances	2	1
12	Adoption of technology	43	16
13	Innovation	7	3
14	Challenges	3	1
	Total	262	100

, much of the literature discussed the role of I 4.0 technologies in maturing digital transformation (31%) and the dynamics of I 4.0 technology adoption (16%). Apart from its implications regarding business strategies, which account for only 1% of the literature, the research moderately accounted for the implications of I 4.0-enabled digital transformation for the various aspects of corporate strategy, with the main focus on supply chain management (27%), corporate (directional) strategies (8%), and technology and innovation (3%).

The digital trends observed today cover almost all spheres of life: from medicine and education to taxi call. These are characterized by “uberization” (a process characterized by the rejection of intermediaries) of the economy and are carried out on special digital platforms. Hallikainen et al. [173] revealed that the quantity of data gathered and processed by different organizations through technological or digital-based sensors, elements of communications, computing, and storage yielded information important to corporations, research, government, and society. Many researchers talk about the inevitable growth of digital processes based on the automation of different types of work, which can lead to different consequences, ranging from new horizons of human capital to deepening social inequality [176]. We expect that I 4.0 technologies such as blockchain will unite people, organizations, and countries together in the future by eliminating physical, spatial, and temporal distance. I 4.0 tools such as IoT, BCT, and BDA are widely used across several different industries [177], and their roles as drivers of efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness, especially in operational domains, have been quite rigorously documented [178,179,180]. Our focus in this section, however, is on reflecting upon I 4.0’s contributions and implications for strategy, beyond Porter’s generic business strategies discussed in the previous section. The following paragraphs shed light on the key prospects and implications for the (corporate and functional) strategies as observed repeatedly during our literature review.

6.1. I 4.0 as an Enabler of Environmental and Social Sustainability

The triple bottom line approach [181] urges the maximization of social and environmental gains in addition to the economic gains, and has become quite a customary concept and driver of strategy in modern times. The integration of I 4.0 technologies can boost environmental and social sustainability in many ways [182,183]. Keeping an accurate track of inferior quality products and helping to identify additional transactions of those products has the potential to decrease the need for rework and recalls, which in turn reduces the wastage of resources and greenhouse gas emissions [184]. While traditional energy systems rely on centralization, a peer-to-peer power system network built on blockchain technology may be able to alleviate the necessity to carry power across long distances, thus reducing much of the wasted energy associated with long-distance transfers. At the same time, the demand on energy accumulation is decreased, which in turn reduces the consumption of resource. Bag et al. [185], Liu and Chiu [186], and Luthra et al. [187] contended that integration of I 4.0 technologies adds to the sustainability of supply chains. By providing the foundation for supply chains to map and use reduced-carbon product design, manufacturing, and distribution, blockchain technology could contribute to the mitigation of carbon emissions along product pathways. Using blockchain technology, identifying the footprint of a specific company’s goods becomes easier and may help in identifying the appropriate level of carbon tax to be levied on companies so as to discourage carbon emissions. Similarly, when a product with a large carbon footprint tends to be pricier, buyers are likely to purchase a lower-carbon-footprint option. Maintaining a transparent and accurate record of the manufacturing process increases the trust of consumers to know that the products they are buying are ethically sourced. In addition, Bag and Pretoreous [188], Di Maria et al. [189], Pappas et al. [190], and Prieto-Sandoval et al. [191] contended that integrating BDA and AI could increase the circular economy capabilities of firms and the sustainability of the societies.

Keeping information secure and immutable helps to achieve social sustainability within the supply chain. As no information is alterable unless authorized actors agree, using blockchains may help to prevent corrupt individuals, governments, or entities from unfairly confiscating people’s wealth [192]. In addition, blockchain technology could stop rogue players from operating, as well as make guilty parties responsible and accountable for their misdeeds, both socially and individually. Backtracking the blockchain contributes to sustainability by improving compliance to human rights and ensuring fair and safe labor conditions [193,194].

Mourtzis, Angelopoulos, and Panopoulos [195] described the need for a transition from a machine-oriented I 4.0-enabled digital transformation to a human-centered digital transformation, termed as Society 5.0 (S 5.0). Furthermore, besides ensuring higher efficiency, productivity, and sustainability, digitally transformed organizations should seek to maximize human wellbeing and inclusivity by focusing on the social and human centric aspects of the I 4.0 digital technologies actualized through human-centric, resilient, and sustainable designs of products, processes, and digital environments. In S 5.0 and its industry constituent I 5.0, human and cobots would collaborate in shared environments for the simultaneous realization of superior economic, social, and environmental gains [195,196]. Human-centric action, sustainable development, and the physical to digital to physical loop would remain key issues in this profound amalgamation of I 4.0 and S 5.0., enabled by I 5.0 technologies such as digital twins, edge computing, cobots, extended reality (XR), and Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), over and above the existing I 4.0 technologies [195,197,198,199].

6.2. I 4.0 as an Enabler of Corporate Growth and Diversification

Kim [200] argued that businesses need to keep up with the pace of rapid technological evolution to actualize desired growth and expansion in the competitive marketplace, especially globally. Researchers such as Brouthers et al. [201], Castagnoli et al. [66], Neubert [67], and Santos-Pereira et al. [68] demonstrated the efficacy of digital transformation in enabling quick internationalization, which is vital in the highly dynamic global marketplace of this silicon age. Naglic, Tominic, and Logozar [70] also corroborated the efficacy of digitalization in boosting export performance. Industry 4.0 has played an integral role in the international expansion and growth of businesses in recent times. Enabled by the use of Industry 4.0, firms can effectively secure, maintain, leverage, and reshape their cross-border relationships, spanning across global production networks and/or global value chains [202]. A strong competence level helps businesses constantly develop in the global market after expansion [20,203]. With the integration of emerging technologies such as robotics, AI, and Big Data, firms can strengthen business process automation and market needs analysis, which are instrumental in the identification and realization of potent growth and expansion opportunities [147,204].

Kim [200] noted that the introduction of new technologies also enabled the acquisition of a new set of knowledge and skills within businesses, which further enhances businesses’ capability of posing strong competition within the international marketplace. The adoption of Industry 4.0 is useful for the diversification of business-oriented operations [205]. Richard et al. [206] observed that organizations are increasingly recognizing the significance of Industry 4.0 for enabling portfolio management and drafting suitable business strategies. Smuts et al. [207] asserted that portfolio management supports the formulation of a diversified business ecosystem, enforcement of technological convergence, linking the physical environment, drafting the virtual business model, and the introduction of effective innovation levels to the existing product portfolios. Industry 4.0 also supports the shift to digitized and innovative business models, optimizing the process of technology investment and the management of workforce-oriented challenges. However, the true potential of the Industrial Revolution through Industry 4.0 can only be harnessed with successful adaptation to the ever-surmounting environmental dynamism in the global marketplace.

6.3. I 4.0 and the Quality of Governance

Governance, whether in hierarchical or hybrid organizations, is all about who makes and applies the rules. The quality of any system of governance is generally ascertained through four pillars: transparency, accountability, fairness, and independence [208]. The integration of I 4.0 technologies such as blockchain may help improve the quality of governance, at both micro or macro-organizational levels, through enhancing transparency and accountability. In general, BCT offers two essential components in the form of transparency, via a verifiable means to trace transactions, and trust, through the immutability of such transactions to parties seeking to enter into another transactions or agreements. The effectiveness of (corporate) governance of smaller or larger enterprises greatly depends on the conduct of directors, which, at times, may not align well with the owner/shareholder interests, causing significant agency problems. Blockchain technologies will provide a remedy to the dilemma and associated costs of the agency. In fact, if intelligent contracts promote connections between shareholders and board members in a blockchain world, accountability and confidence will be created, lowering the agency cost. Blockchain radically affects the balance of power between directors, managers, and shareholders, resulting in improved quality of governance [209].

Vinodh et al. [210] discovered that conventional data collection, reporting, and analysis methods require more time and are more expensive. However, using Big Data tools, significant cost and time savings in decision making are possible. Moreover, the use of blockchain data generated for better, more intelligent, and responsive decisions may further enhance the quality of governance [211]. Blockchain has also proven to be the latest solution to the issue of end-to-end transparency in supply chains, a goal that is even more relevant now than before. Strengthened security provides a further advantage for the use of blockchains in supply chains, as they offer greater resistance to manipulation, fraud, and cybercrime [212]. As soon as the information enters the chain, it becomes unchangeable. What makes this immutability possible is the dispersed consensus characteristics of the technology, in which only one version of the data that are true and verified is saved among all participants within the chain [213,214,215]. Accuracy and immutability are not only technical innovations, but also a new mechanism of confidence in our economic system. Without a trusted intermediary, two parties that do not trust each other cannot build trust. At a macro-organizational level, as no information is alterable unless authorized actors agree, using blockchains may help to prevent corrupt individuals, governments, or entities from unfairly confiscating people’s wealth. In addition, blockchain technology has the ability to stop rogue players from operating, as well as to make the guilty parties responsible and accountable for their misdeeds, both socially and individually. Finally, blockchains can profoundly help in the recovery of stolen goods and the prevention of illegal or fraudulent financial activities [216].

6.4. I 4.0 as a Driver and/or Enabler of Reshoring

According to Gylling et al. [217], reshoring is the repatriation of operations or functions from another country for in-house execution by a corporation in its home country. Several drivers motivate companies to make reshoring decisions. These drivers are related to risks and uncertainties, infrastructure, costs, ease of doing business, and competitive priorities. Influenced by the outbreak of global pandemics, an increased need to reshore and the merits of I 4.0 in enabling reshoring in the context of these drivers has been a focus of debate in recent times. I 4.0 offers an alternative to labor costs minimization previously attained from operating offshore. Industry 4.0 technologies automate production processes and eliminate labor-related costs, which motivates firms to opt for reshoring [218]. Moreover, I 4.0 technologies could lead to he fast and seamless procurement and delivery of raw materials, the benefits of which could far outweigh low labor costs, thereby inducing firms to reshore their operations [219]. Furthermore, I 4.0 gives supply chain innovation capability, thereby minimizing supply-chain risks, which is a critical factor that motivates companies to make reshoring decisions because by reducing such risks, the benefits outweigh the need to reduce costs through offshoring business operations [220,221]. The use of I 4.0 technologies aims to lower the costs of internal supply chain coordination [222,223,224]. This is possible when these technologies facilitate the smooth integration of production processes with suppliers, which motivates these organizations to re-evaluate the incentives of offshoring. If these incentives are seen as obsolete compared with supply-chain streamlining in the home country, firms will be motivated to make reshoring decisions [15]. These relocation decisions are supported by I 4.0 technologies in that they give supply chain innovation capability, thereby minimizing supply-chain risks. In addition, they make it possible for the business to substitute labor for capital, motivate the firms to relocate home if quality improvement is a strong desire, and improve coordination to create efficiency.

6.5. I 4.0 as Enabler and/or Facilitator of Mass Customization

I 4.0 supports the convergence of products and processes, changing the manufacturing trend from large-scale production to customized production and marketing [116]. Such a customization of goods, services, and/or production is highly valued and is consequently more prevalent in developed nations. Internet of Things (IoT) enhances precision in analyzing and recognizing particular customer behaviors based on concealed analytics from interconnected products. Information gathered by sensors on products integrated into IoT relates to customers’ purchasing and usage patterns and can be analyzed to provide a much more accurate and comprehensive understanding of customers’ characteristics and their tastes [132]. Moreover, every day, search engine corporations acquire large amounts of data and share them with their clients [225]. Additionally, large volumes of structured and unstructured data may also flow in from social media, voice and video recordings, emails, open government data (OGD), online shopping, etc., eliciting useful insights into consumer behavior patterns. The use of Big Data analytics (BDA) may also lead to more personalized and tailored products, tools, techniques, and tactics for consumers and practitioners alike. For example, Netflix’s superior performance over its rivals, such as Amazon Prime, Hot star, and Disney, could partly be attributed to their investments and superior performance BDA-enabled customer relation management [225]. BDA may aid in garnering sustained customer loyalty through a deeper understanding of customer gained through Big Data about their changing needs, preferences, and behaviors through their life cycles [226,227]. Understanding a customer’s preferences and tastes regarding to a new to a product or service is essential as it helps ensure that communications and relationship management (RM) tools are perceived as relevant [171]. This data may also provide useful information to the top management and technical/operational teams to ensure that company operating processes are on budget and are more focused and targeted to the core needs of the company [167,228].

6.6. I 4.0 as a Complementor to Lean Six Sigma

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) combines the best of two of the most powerful operational excellence methodologies for improving business process performance and effectiveness. Six Sigma focuses on reducing variance within processes, while Lean focuses on reducing various types of waste within processes. The phenomenal success of LSS has resulted in its widespread application beyond manufacturing, to include service- and public-sector organizations. Fettermann et al. [229] and Tortorella and Fettermann [230] discovered that businesses that have thoroughly adopted Lean methods are more likely to embrace Industry 4.0 technologies, as the majority of LSS tools rely heavily on (real-time) data to detect and curb defects. The capabilities of Industry 4.0’s connectivity can facilitate the sharing of data and information in real time in all three dimensions of variety, length, and velocity. Numerous benefits have been reported as a result of combining Lean Six Sigma and Industry 4.0, including predicting process failures in complex systems, improving product and service quality, and significantly reducing costs [231]. By combining LSS and Industry 4.0, production processes can be made more flexible [232]. LSS and Industry 4.0 integration provides industry with additional and cutting-edge technology, as well as a world-class quality framework. The strength of advanced analytics offered by I 4.0 enhances the success of LSS processes through the acceleration of data collection, analysis, and deployment. Moreover, Industry 4.0 enables more accurate and timely decision-making through the elimination of human error in the data collection process. Big data analytics aids in the analysis of data through LSS softwares such as SafetyCulture, The Leanway, TRACtion etc. [233]. IoT can assist LSS tools in more efficiently and effectively evaluating and validating the root causes of problems. At an organizational level, performance and operational data measurements can be transmitted in real time through the cyber−physical system (CPS) network, enabling significant operational improvements.

6.7. I 4.0 as Driver of Innovation Performance

Industry 4.0 adoption has improved innovation in technological, economic, and commercial innovation at an organizational level. The combination of these factors has been integral for attaining competitive advantage for the businesses concerned [234]. Smuts et al. [207] argued that Industry 4.0 technologies can enhance business performance at a strategic level by enhancing value creation, agility, and competitive advantage. The technologies also enhance business capacity to create and deliver customized products. Implementers of Industry 4.0 technologies can generate higher quality products and services, as well as an improvement in the overall capacity to address consumer needs [37,235]. Industry 4.0 has also generated an increase in business competition, requiring company management to work diligently to identify the best approach to survive, while still meeting the company’s management objectives (profit, market share, and growth, among others) [236].

Qin et al. [25] maintained that Industry 4.0 is a significant source for inducing innovation, enhancing exports, and generating jobs. Strategy holds the utmost significance for Industry 4.0 as it helps in effectively re-framing business models, boosts competitiveness, and ensures a flexible work structure [237]. Dai and Liang [172], Marcon et al. [238], Nagy et al. [130], and Smuts et al. [207] demonstrated how I 4.0 technologies such as BDA may spark business model innovations, especially in digital business ecosystems. Smuts et al. [207] and Yang et al. [239] described the instrumentality of I 4.0 technologies in enabling product and process innovations. Frederico et al. [240], and Preindl, Nikolopoulos, and Litsiou [221] demonstrated how the integration of I 4.0 in the supply chain could lead to enhanced innovation performance. Ramadan et al. found that Industry 4.0 helped in integrating technological advancement into business strategies and in improving commercial innovation, economy, and technology at the organizational level. Bhuiyan et al. [241] found that Industry 4.0 helped with developing a strong link between business strategy and competitive position by incorporating technology into an existing business model and enhancing innovation and creativity, which help develop a distinctive image in the market. To summarize, technological innovations fostered by I 4.0 provide an opportunity to move economic processes to qualitatively new levels of management [20].

6.8. I 4.0 Supply Chain Integration and Firm Performance

Digitalization has increasingly transformed (global) production networks and supply chains into highly integrated end-to-end digital ecosystems, making them more efficient, resilient, and innovative by providing high quality solutions to customers’ dynamic requirements [242]. The integration of I 4.0 technologies is expected to galvanize operations and the (value-enhancing) performance of the supply chains [240,243,244,245,246,247]. For SCM, the importance of such technology is prompted in four areas: increased visibility and traceability, digitalization and disconnection of the supply chain, enhanced data protection, and smart business. BCT also boosts SC productivity by enabling the implementation of smart contracts between supply chain partners [76,248]. Many studies (e.g., Hald and Kinra [249]; Hofmann and Rüsch [250]; Hofmann et al. [251]; Kshetri, [252,253]; Mylrea and Gourisetti [254]; Queiroz, Telles, and Bonilla [255] mention that real-time information sharing is necessary if an organization seeks to take its supply chain to the next level, especially through nurturing good relationships with its SC partners, such as suppliers, customers, third party logistic 3 PL, subcontractors, and outsourcing, through just in time (JIT) and E-procurement. Moreover, reduced lead times, increased planning, and flexibility are all assisted by real-time information sharing [137]. Suppliers, consumers, 3PLs, subcontractors, outsourcing, and e-procurement benefit from the cybersecurity dimension, which offers a safe transaction platform and increases trust among supply-chain stakeholders [249,256,257,258]. Hence, secure information consistency and data immutability increase inter- and intra-organizational privacy and trust through a cost-effective technique [137]. Improved virtualization of supply-chain activities, by integrating emerging I 4.0 technologies, allows for smooth inter-company collaboration, as well as real-time accessibility to process or product details for all involved parties in the system [259].

6.9. I 4.0 Enhances Quality of Social Embeddedness

The relational exchange theory emphasizes that competitive advantage in contemporary times is gained by members interconnections, from which they draw specific capabilities [163,260]. BCT encourages better cooperation among key stakeholders, including suppliers, buyers, and influences [211]. I 4.0 technologies, through enhancing visibility, transparency, and fairness, could lead to the culmination of trust-inspired inter-organizational commitments, which is an important precursor to relationship longevity and performance [202,213,261,262]. Specifically, blockchain could improve collaboration among focal firms, partners, and individuals, making it easier for each to see what happens inside the overall business and records [137] as blockchain is the best traceability technology. It can also prove to be an effective instrument to deter fraud within complex networks of relationships [177]. For example, BCT increases the transparency and auditability of materials, products, and knowledge in SCM practices, for example through suppliers, customers, 3 PL, outsourcing, strategic planning, JIT, and subcontracting, which makes it difficult for the partners to behave opportunistically by taking advantage of any information asymmetries [213,263,264]. BDA may also aid in developing, nurturing, and amending long-term partnerships with various stakeholders by providing a deeper understanding and yielding an adaptive response to the varying needs, requirements, preference, and behaviors of those stakeholders along their life cycles [59,227]. Finally, real-time decisions can be taken at the planning and implementation stages because of the high transparency, which can cement (competence-based) trust among business partners and enhance the quality of social embeddedness in a relational space.

6.10. I 4.0 Technologies as a Savior during Pandemics

During COVID-19, companies, especially MNEs, suffered extensively due to supply chain failures; Almeida, Duarte Santos, and Augusto Monteiro [265] noted that firms who failed to move/deliver goods along the entire supply chain on time suffered particularly heavy losses. Kayikci et al. [266], Kittipanya-Ngam and Tan [267], and Tasnim [268] proposed the integration of I 4.0 technologies such as blockchain technologies into the global supply chains as a means to avert such losses, as it could profoundly enhance firms’ ability to quickly manage logistics and track all violations in a timely manner. Through the blockchain phase, it is possible to monitor logistic status in real time and reduce cash backlog costs. Moreover, companies that implement the digitalization of logistics systems will gain a competitive advantage, as they will always be able to ensure the timely delivery of their products to customers [269].

7. Key Challenges in the Adoption and Implementation of I 4.0

The emerging technological developments and consequent widespread adoption and implementation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies (I 4.0) are radically transforming traditional business processes and routines into virtual value chains empowered by digitalization [32,74,270,271,272,273,274,275,276,277,278,279] and have proven to be an important precursor to organizational competitiveness in contemporary times. However, DePietro, Wiarda, and Fleischer [280], and Manninen and Hujkonen [281] identified that the decision to successfully implement any technological innovation at an organizational level is affected by various environmental and organizational conditions, in addition to technical factors. Strandhagen et al. [282] contended that companies with repetitive production systems normally have an easier time transitioning to Industry 4.0 than companies with non-repetitive production systems. Consistent with the abovementioned assertions, Ghobakhloo and Ching [85], Ghobakhloo and Fathi [283], and Moktadir et al. [284] found that various technical, operational, and environmental factors may influence the success of I 4.0 adoption, at times questioning the appropriateness of businesses’ decision to implement I 4.0 technologies. Even though the integration of I 4.0 makes business systems more robust and resistant to changes and more absorbent to environmental disruptions [285], unfortunately, there are examples where businesses have failed to successfully adapt to the digital reality and have failed to harness the true potential of I 4.0 [286,287,288]. Failure to adquately adopt and implement I 4.0 is likely to make an enterprise less attractive and desirable for both upstream (suppliers) and downstream (customers) value chain partners. Therefore, organizations must carefully understand the uncertainties, difficulties, and challenges inherent when adopting technology [289,290,291], as the digitalization and consequent adoption of I 4.0 can have unequal consequences for business [292,293].

Table 7. Key challenges and remedies.

S. No.	Challenge	Description	Notable Studies	Remedies
1	Paradigm change	* I 4.0 necessitates a paradigm change regarding how services and goods are developed, supplied/distributed, marketed, and utilized. * Welcoming stakeholders on board is important to enhance readiness for change.	Marcon, Le Dain, and Frank [238]; Weiner [294]; Zineb, Brahim, and Houdaifa [295]	* Create an organization-wide realization about the neccessity of digital transformation, including key internal and external stakeholders. * Ensure an alignment of interests among the stakeholders, including collaborative partners, regarding this change.
2	Lack of resources	* Many digital transformation initiatives fail due to a lack of financial resources. * Higher set up and/or transition costs are a large hindrance. * Problems are more acute at SME levels.	Pfeifer [288]; Prause [296,297]; Premkumar and Roberts [298]; Stentoft et al. [299]; Turkes et al. [300]	* Top management and board commitment are needed to champion such initiatives. * Resources could be generated through effective collaboration. * Precision could curtail unnecessary costs.
3	ICT infrastructure	Sophisticated information and communication (ICT) infrastructure and technologies are critical in the I 4.0 environment.	Gupta [301]; Leyh et al. [302]; Pirola et al. [303]	* Governments should create a facilitative environment. * Governments and industries alike must seize all opportunities provided by the availability of data in terms of knowledge development, and support decision-making by investing in human capital and expertise, as well as in an infrastructure capable of supporting data collection, processing, and sharing.
4	Digital readiness	The extent to how “digitally ready” an organization is to benefit from the ever-surmounting capacity of emerging digital technologies is important.	Antony, Sony, and McDermott [304]; Barreto et al. [23]; Cimini, Pirola, and Cavalieri [305]; Haddara and Elragal [306]; Pacchini et al. [307]	* Digital readiness must be considered as an important precursor to the adoption and implementation of I 4.0 technologies. * Besides technological readiness, human and organizational involvement should also be adequately considered as key constituents of organizational readiness.
5	Supportive ecosystem	It is important to create a favorable ecosystem in which digital transformation could not only effectively be anchored, but also preserved.	Schein [308]; Sony and Naik [32]; Wamba et al. [52,54]	* Management must make the necessary structural and cultural adjustments to support digital transformation. * Management must gather and deploy adequate amounts of physical and virtual resources to enable the change.
6	The human factor	It is important for the success of I 4.0-enabled digital transformation that employees are positively predisposed to the change and feature great readiness for such a transformation.	Blanka, Krumay, and Rueckelb [309]; Riege [310]; Zsifkovits, Woschank, and Pacher [311]	* Management must invest in employee development to enhance their digital intelligence. * The needs and goals of employees need to be aligned with the intended goals of digital transformation so as to create greater acceptance of the intended change.
7	The organizational factors	Meaningful engagement and contributions from key stakeholders in vertical and hybrid organizations are important enablers of digital transformation.	Mofokeng and Chinomona [312]; Taylor et al. [313]; Yaqub et al. [202]	* When attempting to create the right organization for digital transformation efforts, strong internal and external integration with key stakeholders must be secured.

summarizes key challenges along with suggested remedies in the wake of the effective adoption and implementation of I 4.0 technologies.

The following paragraphs highlight some important preconditions and challenges inherent when effectively adopting and implementing I 4.0 technologies.

A Paradigm change: While the main enablers and characteristics of I 4.0 are transforming the essence of global value chains, it is crucial to emphasize that managing digitalization requires more than only keeping the same manner of running traditional processes in place and digitizing all the flows of materials, knowledge, and information. I 4.0 necessitates a paradigm change regarding how services and goods are developed, supplied and distributed, marketed, and utilized [238]. However, one of the significant challenges of I 4.0 research is describing the fundamental I 4.0 paradigms (e.g., I 4.0 readiness and I 4.0 adoption) and validating them empirically. These obstacles are not easily overcome, as the technical environment and possible applications of I 4.0 are still developing at breakneck pace. According to Hizam-Hanafiah et al. [314], Khin and Hung Kee [315], and Soomro et al. [316], organizational readiness for change is a vital for adopting I 4.0 and is among the most critical success factors for such initiatives. According to Weiner [294], an organization’s readiness for change is significant when participants are more likely to promote change (e.g., implement policy changes, processes, or strategies), exert more significant effort in favor of a change, demonstrate greater persistence in overcoming any challenges or obstacles, and show more supportive behavior. Risks and disturbances should be viewed as opportunities to adapt and develop in the face of interconnected networks, advanced cyber challenges, increasingly competitive markets, and evolving consumer preferences, all of which contribute to successfully adopting and implementing I 4.0 [317,318]. Even if the emergence of I 4.0 technology requires an individual effort, it can only increase competitiveness if all partners in collaborative structural arrangements adapt and align their production and business processes all along the entire value chain [295].

Resources: Gray and Rumpe [319] argued that large-scale digitalization of business processes is quite difficult to carry out if there are not many resources. One of the key economic aspects that determine the development of digitalization is the cost of investing in the development of digital products for companies. Long-term investments of companies reflect their commitment towards financing the integration of digital technologies in their activities. Horváth and Szabó [320] and Sommer [321] asserted that only large businesses can profit significantly from I 4.0, whereas small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) rapidly become victims [296,299,300]. Pfeifer [288] presented the case of a manufacturing SME from Czech Republic that had to abort it digitalization project due to a lack of financial, technical, and human resources. Premkumar and Roberts [298] also found that smaller businesses suffer as a result of the high investment required. On the contrary, the increased flexibility offered by I 4.0 allows larger businesses to steal market share for personalized goods, which is a market segment that is currently dominated by SMEs [322,323,324,325]. However, even for larger firms, there needs to be greater precision regarding which processes need to be digitized and their intended effects at different levels; more is not always better.

ICT Infrastructure: Afonasova et al. [326] analyzed the development of digitalization of the world’s economies using the digitalization index. They pointed out that the digitalization of enterprises is impossible when separated from the rest of the economy. If a country has access to high-speed internet and digital technologies are widespread, then companies will gain a positive effect from digitalization. According to Gupta [301] and Leyh et al. [302], sophisticated information and communication (ICT) infrastructure and technologies are critical for the I 4.0 environment. Governments and industries alike must seize all opportunities provided by the available data in terms of knowledge development and decision-making by investing in human capital and expertise, as well as in an infrastructure capable of supporting data collection, processing, and sharing [303].

Digital Readiness: Many firms have successfully leveraged emerging I 4.0 technologies, including digital products, digital architecture, and digital platforms connected to Industry 4.0, to cope with manufacturing problems and delivery slowdowns caused by workforce and material supply chain problems [327,328]. However, in the increasingly digital world, the extent to how “digitally ready” an organization is to benefit from the increasing capability of emerging digital technologies becomes quite pertinent [304,306,307]. Businesses that actively pursue advancing their I 4.0 status should start by understanding their recent digital readiness level, which would help in developing a workable adoption roadmap [329]. It is becoming more essential to assess businesses’ digital readiness to enable a successful journey towards digitalization [305]. Brozzi, Riedel, and Matta [330] created a collection of Key Readiness Indicators to supplement the emerging DR level of organizations, which is the key element of most current evaluation tools. Barreto et al. [23] also highlighted the relevance of digital readiness while examining the criteria needed by companies to be more effective in implementing I 4.0 technologies.

Digital readiness is a necessary (though not sufficient) condition for the effective adoption of I 4.0 and for a transition towards digitization-driven models. Nasution et al. [331] described digital readiness as the capacity and readiness to turn to and embrace digital technology, as well as the willingness to create new creative opportunities through the use of this technology in order to help employees, organizations, markets, and countries meet their goals more quickly and effectively. This involves both internal technological infrastructure and external innovations that are already available in the market and are relevant to the organization. When digital readiness for change is substantial, organizational people are much more likely to promote change (e.g., implement new policies, processes, or practices), make great efforts to support change, demonstrate remarkable persistence in the face of barriers or challenges, and show more cooperative actions [332]. The outcome is profound actualization of the desired outcomes from efficiently adopting and implementing I 4.0 [294,297].

Supportive Ecosystem: According to Schein [308], for any change or transformation to consistently produce its desired outcomes, it is important to create a favorable ecosystem in which such a change could not only effectively be anchored, but could be preserved. Likewise, the process of any digital transformation, including I 4.0, is difficult to carry out without appropriate conditions. Consequently, creating a supportive ecosystem, architecture, and culture (collectively ecosystem) is an important prerequisite for the successful adoption and implementation of I 4.0. Therefore, organizations need to institute favorable conditions that could facilitate the successful adoption and implementation of processes [52,54]. Unfortunately, several businesses fail to recognize that various preparations are needed to use digital technology, and thus fail to achieve success in such initiatives [32].

The Human factor is just as important as technology in business (including digital) transformation [333]. Many of these technologies can only support such transformations if they are closely aligned with the needs of employees [310]. The acceptance of digitalization among employees is key to digital transformation [309]. It is important to understand that within companies, especially among small- and medium-sized enterprises, there may be problems when preparing employees for such changes. In this regard, it is necessary to take appropriate measures for training and education to foster an openness within personnel to I 4.0-enabled digital transformation. Zsifkovits., Woschank, and Pacher (2021) reveal how Precision Machine Products (PMP), a Colorado-based company serving a wide variety of clients in Satellite Industry, successfully overcame mental barriers to enable an effective adaptation of their organization (specifically, the human factor) to align better with the changing internal environment attributable to an integrating I 4.0 technologies. Besides, a digital transformation and automation of production processes requires employees to have a wider scope of the process and an understanding of the relationships between the flows of information and processes including collaborations with external partners [334,335].

The Organizational factors: Meaningful engagement with strategic intent, equitable contributions from all stakeholders and fair appropriation of roles and rewards could profoundly enhance the co-created value through digital transformation [202,312,313]. In terms of collaborative structural arrangements, even if the emergence of I 4.0 technology is primarily centered on individual efforts, it can only increase the overall competitiveness if all partners adapt and align their business needs, interests, and processes, and if the digital transformation is actualized along the entire value chain [234,336]. While the network partners’ data are available to all due to increased transparency and visibility enabled by I 4.0 technologies, confidence problems may persist because partners may still intentionally or unknowingly be deceitful. Organizations involved in the supply chain are less likely to exchange data if information is sensitive, and partners cannot be fully trusted. Some may even have privacy fears or concerns about their personal information. Without adequate trust, the system might not produce the desired performance. So, the quality of social embeddedness among the entire network needs to be ascertained.

8. Conclusions

As means to adapt to the challenges originating from increasing environmental dynamism, uncertainty, complexity, and hostility in this silicon age, the efficacy of automation and digitalization technologies (including I 4.0, I 5.0, and S 5.0) is a cornerstone of the contemporary scholarly discourse in all socio-economic domains of life. Although many organizations have launched various initiatives to leverage digital technologies to cope with unexpected exogenous shocks and many studies have investigated their impact on (operational) performance, there has been limited study into the role of specific aspects of I 4.0 technologies as antecedents and/or enablers of strategic shift through digital transformation. Through this literature review, the authors aimed to contribute to the scholarly discourse in (corporate and business) strategy domains by presenting a detailed account of the instrumentality of digital transformation supported by leading I 4.0 technologies such as AI, BDA, IoT, CC, and BCT in enabling, supporting, and/or driving strategic choice. These technologies have strong implications for both types of business strategies i.e., cost leadership and differentiation, with BDA and IoT exhibiting greater potential to affect the latter. This extensive review, encompassing 272 papers published in scholarly journals augmented with some edited volumes, conference proceeding, and online publications, reveals significant implications of I 4.0-enabled digital transformation for affecting sustainability, growth, governance, outsourcing/reshoring, mass customization, lean management, and quality of social embeddedness aspects of (corporate) strategy. Moreover, besides detailing prospects and implications of I 4.0 technologies for businesses and corporate strategies, key challenges in effectively adopting and instituting these technologies along with possible remedies have also been highlighted. The existing literature discusses the lack of strategic intent, paradigm shifts, lack of resources and capabilities, inadequate ICT infrastructure, supportive ecosystem, and human and organizational impediments as key challenges in harnessing the true potential of digital transformation. The novelty of this literature review lies in its exclusive focus on the corporate and business strategy dimensions in contrast with much of the available literature, which mainly centers on the implications of I 4.0 technologies as a functional strategy in production, marketing, human resources, finance, or information management domains.

Technological (or more specifically digital) transformations can enhance or impede competitiveness, depending on how they are implemented. Organizations need to develop adequate levels of digital readiness and organizational capacity before they prepare to institute any I 4.0 initiatives. Moreover, to boost efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness, environmental risks and disturbances should be viewed as opportunities to adapt and develop in the presence of hyper-connected systems, evolving cyber threats, increasingly competitive markets, and altering consumer prospects. Capacitated companies must leverage technological advances in automation, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, robotics, and machine learning to improve collaboration and cooperation at all levels—horizontally and vertically, as well as externally and internally. However, these technologies may produce varying effects on the various processes; some technologies may have effects on all processes, others may concentrate solely on a specific process. Without a strategic intent, top management commitment, trust-inspired commitment, availability of adequate resources, ICT capabilities, digital readiness, and a supportive ecosystem, digital transformation through I 4.0 integration cannot be effective.

In the future, only companies with significant integration of digital technologies in their business processes will be competitive [337]. While I 4.0 technologies claim to revolutionize business processes, redefine logistics, and produce magical effects on productivity and competitiveness, it must be remembered that not all organizations have been able to equally harness the true potential of digital transformation through I 4.0 integration, with many having failed. Moreover, the integration of I 4.0 technologies cannot be achieved overnight, but must instead be actualized gradually. In the short term, the introduction of 3D printing, intelligent IoTs, and digital performance evaluation should be considered. In the medium term, cooperation between humans and robots should be considered [338]. The long-term period should encompass the entire value chain, taking creativity, exploration, and simulation into account. From this, we conclude that the sooner the digitalization is implemented, the more a company will gain competitiveness, and thus the resulting economic, social, and ecological gains [339]. However, it needs to be kept in mind that digitalization is a means to an end, not an end itself.

While explaining the potential and prospects of I 4.0 digital technologies, we focused on the five leading technologies highlighted by Maxwell and Khalid [42], while accounting for their contributions to corporate- and business-level strategies. Future research should focus on the role of contemporary technologies such as industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIOT), digital twins, and fog and edge computing in enabling, supporting, and driving business and corporate strategies in both vertically integrated and collaborative structural arrangements in domestic, regional, and global geographical domains.