Innovation ecosystems for industry 4.0 : a collaborative perspective for the provision of digital technologies and platforms

Abstract

Industry 4.0 considers complex interrelated IoT-based technologies for the provision of digital solutions. This complexity demands a vast set of capabilities that are hard to be found in a single technology provider, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Innovation ecosystems allow SMEs to integrate resources and cocreate Industry 4.0 solutions. This thesis investigates the role of collaboration for the development of technologies and solutions in the Industry 4.0 context. To this end, this thesis was organized into three papers, which objectives are: (i) to verify if collaboration through inbound Open Innovation activities with different actors in the supply chain positively moderates the relationship between Industry 4.0 technologies and their expected benefits; (ii) to identify how the characteristics of an innovation ecosystem focused on solutions for Industry 4.0 change at each evolutionary lifecycle stage using elements from social exchange theory; and (iii) to identify which technologies can be configured as platforms through boundary-spanning activities and how they operate collaboratively to develop solutions for Industry 4.0. As a result, this thesis proposes a model that explains the role of collaboration at different levels (supply chains, ecosystems, and platforms) for the development of solutions in the Industry 4.0 context. This research approach combines both qualitative (i.e., focus group, interviews, and case studies) and quantitative (i.e., survey research with multivariate data analysis) aspects. The main results obtained are: (i) we show how collaboration with different actors in the supply chain through Open Innovation strategy has both positive and negative impacts on three strategies associated with product development (cost reduction, focalization, and innovation); (ii) we define the main characteristics of innovation ecosystems focused on the provision of Industry 4.0 solutions, considering an evolutionary lifecycles perspective and a Social Exchange view (iii) we define which are the different technology platforms of the Industry 4.0 context at different operation levels using Boundary-Spanning view. As remarking conclusions, from an academic perspective, these results help to understand how collaboration for the development of new solutions in Industry 4.0 can be analyzed under different perspectives (Open Innovation, Social Exchange Theory, and Boundary-Spanning) and in different contexts of integration (supply chains, ecosystems, and platforms). From a practical perspective, the results help to enlighten a trending business topic by showing how the collaboration among technology providers for Industry 4.0 should be fostered and developed.