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

Muhammad Zafar Yaqub () and Abdullah Alsabban
Additional contact information
Muhammad Zafar Yaqub: Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administration, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 23589, Saudi Arabia
Abdullah Alsabban: Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administration, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 23589, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 11, 1-33

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.

Keywords: digital transformation; digital technologies; Industry 4.0; business strategy; competitiveness; blockchain technology; Big Data analytics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/8553/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/8553/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:11:p:8553-:d:1155099

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().