Search results

While Digitalisation is gaining momentum among practitioners and the scientific world, there is still a struggle to embark on the digitalisation journey successfully. The struggles are more significant for SMEs compared to large companies. Such transformation could face internal resistance, which evokes the need to put it into a socio-technical perspective such as lean. This paper investigates how SMEs could implement digital tools and technologies in their operations.

We relied on a multiple case study design in three SME manufacturing companies in Italy. Based on the experience of those companies, the struggles in the implementation and the lessons learned, we formulate an implementation model of digital tools driven by lean thinking.

Companies tend to implement first digital tools that help with real-time data collection and stress that introducing digital tools becomes challenging without reducing waste in production. The model stresses top management commitment, middle-line involvement and operator training to resist change. All these factors coincide with socio-technical lean bundles developed by seminal works. In addition, the study highlights that financial incentives are not necessarily the common barrier to digital tools implementation in SMEs but rather the cultural aspect.

Our paper enriches the extant body of knowledge by deriving knowledge around digitalisation implementation through lessons learned and corrective actions. It allows managers to benchmark and compare the current state of the implementation process with that of other companies and the one proposed to make corrective actions when necessary.

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, this study characterises the current state of the bio-packaging market's development. Second, it identifies key factors influencing and possible scenarios of the bio-packaging market transition to increase the market share of compostable packaging.

The results of 29 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with representatives of the key groups of bio-packaging supply chains' (SCs') stakeholders were the input for the consideration of the research problem.

The main economic, legal, social and technological enablers and barriers to the bio-packaging regime transition are recognised, and their impact at the market level is explained. The authors recognised the hybrid transition scenario towards an increase in the market share of compostable packaging related to the three traditional pathways of transformation, reconfiguration and technological substitution.

This study contributes to a better understanding of the socio-technical system theory by examining interdependencies between landscape (external environment), market regime (bio-packaging market) and niche innovations (compostable packaging) as well as system transition pathways. The findings and conclusions on bio-packaging market developments can be important lessons learnt to be applied in different countries due to the same current development stage of the compostable packaging lifecycle worldwide.

Quality management practices (QMP) have stood as one of the critical strategic differentiators for enhancing firm performance. The production and manufacturing industry is the main driving force of economic growth and social development for any developed or developing country. This study aims to focus on two primary dimensions of QMP: soft quality management practices (SQMP) and hard quality management practices (HQMP) from the socio-technical system perspectives. Based on institutional theory perspectives, the study explores the impact of SQMP and HQMP on quality performance (QP), innovation performance (IVP) and financial performance (FP) in Indian oil processing organizations.

A proposed research model is validated using 289 cross-sectional survey data collected from the senior officials of oil processing firms in India. Covariance-based structural equation modeling is used to verify the proposed theoretical model.

SQMP, directly and indirectly, influenced QP and IVP while only indirectly to FP mediated through QP. HQMP directly impacted only QP while indirectly to IVP and FP mediated through QP.

Impact of organizational legitimacy in proper utilization or application of QMP in achieving the firm sustainable growth. The future study may address the following Research Question (RQ) also: How do QMP enhance the legitimacy of organizations operating in the oil processing industries? Are there specific mechanisms or pathways through which improved performance contributes to enhanced organizational legitimacy? How does legitimacy impact the success and sustainability of organizations, particularly, within the context of the oil processing industries? Are there regulatory requirements or industry certifications that organizations must adhere to in order to maintain legitimacy?

Similarly, manufacturing firms establish QMP of interaction and maintaining relationships with all the stakeholders, total employee empowerment and involvement, workforce commitment and workforce management, helping to control their reputations and maintain legitimacy (Li et al., 2023). Similarly, in the health industry, the health management information system (HMIS), which uses the DHIS2 platform, establishes that isomorphism legitimizes data QMP among health practitioners and, subsequently, data quality. Further, it was concluded that mimetic isomorphism led to moral and pragmatic legitimacy. In contrast, normative isomorphism led to cognitive legitimacy within the HMIS structure and helped to attain the correctness and timeliness of the data and reports, respectively (Msendema et al., 2023). Quality, flexibility and efficiency of Big Data Analytics through better storage, speed and significance can optimize the operational performance of a manufacturing firm (Verma et al., 2023).

The study provides the academician with the different dimensions of QMP. The study demonstrates how a firm develops multiple performance capabilities through proper QMP. Also, it shows how vital behavioral and managerial perspectives are to QMP and statistically solid tools and techniques. The study draws their importance to risk factors involved in the firms. Since the SQMP play a vital role, thus, emphasis on the behavioral dimension of quality requires more investigation and is in line with hard technological advancements in the quality field.

The study of the impact of HQMP and SQMP on performance is still not established. There are inconsistencies in the findings. The study of the impact of HQMP and SQMP in oil processing industries has not dealt with before. The effects of HQMP and SQMP on the firm’s FP have least been dealt. In context to the intended influence of QM implementation, QP has not been examined as a potential mediator between FP. Research carried out in the past is limited to American and European countries. However, a limited study was done in Asia, and no study has been conducted in the Indian context.

The study explores the factors affecting the use of smart human resource management 4.0 (SHRM 4.0) practices and its effect on dynamic capabilities and, consequently, on organizational performance.

The authors used socio-technical and dynamic capabilities theory to propose the notable research model. The authors explored the factors driving the use of SHRM 4.0 practices and their contribution to organizational performance through the development of dynamic capabilities. The authors collected data from 383 senior HR managers using a structured questionnaire, and PLS-SEM was used to analyze the data.

The results show that socio-technical factors such as top management support, HR readiness, competitive pressure, technology readiness and perceived usefulness influence the use of SHRM 4.0 practices, whereas security and privacy concerns negatively influence them. Furthermore, the authors also found the use of SHRM 4.0 practices influencing the dynamic capacities (build (learning), integration and reconfiguration) and, subsequently, its impact on organizational performance.

Its novelty lies in developing a model using dynamic capabilities and socio-technical theory to explore how SHRM 4.0 practices influence organizational performance through dynamic capabilities. This study extends the literature on SHRM 4.0 practices, HR technology use, HR and dynamic capabilities by contributing to socio-technical theory and dynamic capabilities and expanding the scope of these theories in the area of HRM. It provides crucial insights into HR and top managers to benchmark SHRM 4.0 practices for improved organizational performance.

This paper systematically reviewed research work on drivers of teamwork, which will reinforce construction work teams to enhance workers’ safety performance. This study adds to the existing but limited understanding of teamwork drivers on construction workers’ safety performance. This paper presents scholars and industry-based professionals with critical initiatives that have to be implemented in organisations to get positive results in safety while working in teams with an emphasis on systems drivers of teamwork on safety performance at the organisational level, which will help in providing information on the functioning of the teams and contribute towards improved safety performance of team workers.

This study aims to systematically examine the existing body of knowledge on drivers of teamwork by analysing 53 publications from the years 1997–2021. The Scopus search engine was used to conduct a systematic review and germane publications were collated.

According to the findings of the review, since 1997, there has been a burgeoning concern in the research of drivers of teamwork and its impact on workers’ safety performance. After performing a systematic review, 37 drivers of teamwork were identified. The top five drivers are effective communications, team workers’ relations, leadership, shared knowledge and information, and team training. Moreover, it was noted that the United States and Australia have been the international regions of focus for most of the research in the area of drivers of teamwork from the years 1997–2021. The 37 drivers of teamwork are distributed into six major socio-technical components: people drivers; culture drivers; metrics drivers; organisational and management practices and procedures drivers; infrastructure drivers and technology drivers.

The results reported present research scholars and professional practitioners with an overview of the drivers of teamwork that could be implemented in the construction industry to streamline potential implementations and improve safety performance of construction workers.

A list of teamwork drivers has been developed to ratify potential empirical research in the area of construction safety. The results would contribute to the existing but restricted understanding of drivers of teamwork in the construction industry.

This study aims to investigate whether Industry 4.0 digital technologies can enhance the effects of lean production on social performance.

Survey data collected from China’s manufacturing industry are used to test research hypotheses.

The results reveal that the three dimensions of lean production (internal, customer and supplier) have a significant positive effect on social performance and that digital technology advancement (DTA) positively moderates these relationships. DTA adds only a marginal contribution to social performance.

This study addresses a new challenging question from manufacturing firms: how to integrate lean, technology and people? The empirical findings provide timely and insightful practical guidance for managers to better understand the role of digital transformation in the traditional lean context.

While digitalization is known to complement lean production, this study shows digitalization also complements the effects of lean production on social performance.

This study aims at investigating how hybrid intelligence might enhance employee engagement in breakthrough innovation. Specifically, it empirically examines the mediating role of self-extinction and moderating role of social intelligence.

This study, using the lens of socio-technical system (STS) theory, collected data from 317 employees through cross-sectional survey. The hypotheses were tested using MPlus 8.3 by applying Structural Equation Modelling (SEM).

The results support the proposed model, suggesting that hybrid intelligence fosters employees' breakthrough innovation engagement and such a relationship is fully mediated by self-extinction. Besides, the findings provide support for the positive moderating impact of social intelligence on such indirect relationships in a way that high social intelligence will further strengthen the relationship.

As a pioneering contribution, the study uncovers the social mechanism that underlies hybrid intelligence–breakthrough innovation engagement relationship via self-extinction. The research suggests managers leveraging employees' social intelligence for playing a critical role in countering the negative impact of self-extinction by enhancing the employees' engagement in the breakthrough innovation process.

Industry 4.0 or I4.0 has transformed the manufacturing landscape by integrating social and technical factors by means of the sociotechnical framework. However, the sociotechnical aspects of digitalization of total quality management (TQM 4.0), especially in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) remain largely unexplored. This groundbreaking research endeavors to delve into the pivotal role played by social (soft) and technical (hard) TQM 4.0 in driving I4.0 readiness among SMEs.

A research framework has been developed by harnessing the principles of Socio-technical systems (STS) theory. Data collection from a sample of 310 randomly selected SMEs manufacturing in Malaysia through an online survey approach. The collected data is then subjected to analysis using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) through SmartPLS.

The study findings indicate that both hard and soft TQM 4.0 factors are vital to promoting I4.0 readiness (R² = 0.677) and actual implementation (R² = 0.216). Surprisingly, the findings highlight that customer-related construct has no impact on hard TQM 4.0 attributes. Furthermore, hard TQM 4.0 factors have played a partial mediating role on the relationship of soft TQM 4.0 and I4.0 attributes (20% = VAF = 80%).

This is a novel research as it explores the underexplored domain of sociotechnical aspects of TQM 4.0 within SMEs amid I4.0 transformation. The study distinctive contributes include revealing the pivotal role of both soft and hard TQM 4.0 factors in driving I4.0 readiness, emphasizing the primacy of people-related dimensions for successful implementation in manufacturing SMEs.

Modular construction is an innovative method that enhances the performance of building construction projects. However, the performance of steel modular construction has not been systematically understood, and the existing measurement methods exhibit limitations in effectively addressing the features of steel modular building construction. Therefore, this study aims to develop a new performance measurement framework for systematically examining the performance of steel modular construction in building projects.

This study was conducted through a mixed-method research design that combines a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art practices of construction performance measurement and a case study with a 17-story steel modular apartment building project in Hong Kong. The case project was measured with data collected from the project teams and other reliable channels, and the measurement practices and findings were referenced to establish a systematic performance measurement framework for steel modular construction.

Considering steel modular construction as a complex socio-technical system, a systematic performance measurement framework was developed, which considers the features of steel modular construction, focuses on the construction stage, incorporates the views of various stakeholders, integrates generic and specific key performance indicators and provides a benchmarking process. Multifaceted benefits of adopting steel modular construction were demonstrated with case study, including improved economic efficiency (e.g. nearly 10% cost savings), improved environmental friendliness (e.g. approximately 90% waste reduction) and enhanced social welfare (e.g. over 60% delivery trips reduction).

This paper extends the existing performance measurement methods with a new framework proposed and offers experience for future steel modular construction. The measured performance of the case project also contributes in-depth understanding on steel modular construction with benefits demonstrated. The study is expected to accelerate an effective uptake of steel modular construction in building projects.

This paper explores attempts to deliver socioeconomic benefit by developing social enterprise within the public sector supply chain.

A case study approach is adopted which focusses on the implementation of public procurement policy intended to support social entrepreneurs (SEs) in the delivery of social care in Scotland. Socio-technical systems theory (STST) is adopted as a lens through which to explore the case.

While acknowledging the contextual limits of the case study, the empirical findings recognise partial implementation of the measures intended to develop social entrepreneurship in the supply chain. The results, however, suggest that both the engagement levels of SEs and the expected socio economic benefits are yet to accrue fully.

The paper concludes that in order to achieve the expected social benefits further progress is required in engaging SEs in formal collaborations with larger, potentially for profit, organisations and also in their increased involvement in the design and commissioning of public services.

The innovative, cross-sectional research design uses a survey based, gap analysis to provide a nuanced comparison between the views of local authority procurement officers and the opinions prevalent within social enterprise care providers and thereby to assesses the effectiveness of public policy.