Defining a research agenda for Industry 4.0 technologies in corporate strategies: insights from complex networks and machine learning

Abstract

While there is broad consensus on the importance of incorporating Industry 4.0 technologies into companies’ present and future strategies, establishing a common conceptual framework in manufacturing research remains challenging. This paper addresses whether such a framework exists and explores the potential of Industry 4.0 technologies to enhance managerial strategies for companies. The paper then organises the diverse literature on Industry 4.0 technologies to achieve two objectives: identifying a common conceptual framework across various approaches and proposing a research agenda for integrating these technologies into managerial strategies. To achieve these objectives, we employ novel methodologies to identify relevant emerging topics: scientometric analysis, network analysis, and Structural Topic Model (STM). The results reveal a greater alignment in the conceptual framework and in the identification of the most important technologies within it in recent years. Additionally, manufacturing research is increasingly exploring the intersection of Industry 4.0, managerial strategies and sustainability, opening a promising research agenda focused on applications and implications for technological transition and value creation.