“Exploring the effects of knowledge flows and intermediaries on the adoption of digital process technologies in the Dutch manufacturing industry”
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2024-10-01
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en
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This paper explores how internal and external knowledge flows (as part of a firm’s innovativeness) affect the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies, and how intermediaries play a role in facilitating these types of knowledge exchanges. The effects were investigated using a multiple regression analysis, with data from 186 Dutch manufacturing firms, previously taken in the European Manufacturing Survey 2022. It was observed that none of the hypotheses could be confirmed, and no significant effect of internal knowledge flows, external knowledge flows or intermediaries on the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies is present. Similarly, no significant moderating effect was found for the use of intermediaries in this process. However, significant effects were found for the control variables firm size, batch size, and product complexity, which indicate that these variables positively influence the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. Furthermore, the low average of implemented Industry 4.0 technologies, combined with a limited use of intermediaries, imply that firms can still benefit from better coordination and application of said technologies, and that intermediaries might still play a role in facilitating this exchange of knowledge as firms are further digitizing in the future.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen