Paper info

A case study on resources structures and digitalization strategies

Vincent Fremont , Jens Eklinder Frick, Lars-Johan Åge and Aihie Osarenkhoe

The paper was published at the 35th IMP-conference in Paris, France in 2019.

It has become difficult to find companies that have not initiated some form of digitalization project: a trend that is commonly referred to as Industry 4.0. In the manufacturing industry, the main goals have been to achieve greater efficiencies, to increase competitiveness, and to create more value. Industry 4.0 is articulated around the introduction of new information and communication technologies, such as internet of things, sensor technologies, blockchains and additive manufacturing. However, digitalization is a phenomenon which is not yet clearly understood or defined. The purpose of this article is to highlight the strategies that different organizations with different resource structures can adopt to address digitalization. Using the lens of the 4R model of resource interactions, this paper will analyse the case of a large manufacturing firm and its industrial network to investigate how the introduction of new digitalization resources translates into changes in ways of working, challenges and frictions.