Economic Growth as a Consequence of the Industry 4.0 Concept

A special issue of Economies (ISSN 2227-7099).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2018) | Viewed by 81200

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Chief Guest Editor
Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Kralove, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Interests: information and communication technology; strategic management and planning; financial analysis; innovation; business management; business development
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Co-Guest Editor
Department of Construction Management and Real Estate, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Saulėtekio al. 11, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
Interests: energy efficiency of buildings; sustainable construction; multiple criteria decision making; building construction technology and organisation
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Co-Guest Editor
Faculty of Engineering and Economics, Wroclaw University of Economics, Wroclaw, Poland

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MBA Economic Faculty, TU in Kosice, Kosice, Slovakia

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Co-Guest Editor
Department of Economics and Organization of Food Economy, Faculty of Economy and Finance, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, 53-345 Wrocław, Poland
Interests: sustainable economic development; green economy; renewable energy sources; sustainability; low-carbon agriculture
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Co-Guest Editor
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Interests: cloud based software engineering; software agents; information retrievals; pattern recognition; genetic algorithms; neural networks; soft computing; knowledge management; key performance indicators
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Companies, households and the public sector are facing a big challenge in the next generation. These are changes brought about by the introduction of information technology into production, services, and all sectors of the economy. The impact of change is so crucial that it is referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution—Industry 4.0. The center of attention is industrial production with a fundamental over-all-society overlap. Industry 4.0 opens the possibility to adjust products more swiftly. In addition, it allows for predictive maintenance, extending life cycles, reducing waste and thus, cooperating with sustainability.

Industry 4.0 also raises the need for changes in the labor market, education and skills. It puts more pressure on companies that, through the involvement of modern technologies, must adapt their approaches to managing operational processes. In order to succeed, Industry 4.0 has to deliver economic growth fueled by renewable energy sources and discard coal and other fossil fuels, which served humanity since the original industrial revolution. After centuries of mining, stocks of fossil fuels are seriously degraded, rapidly losing its former qualities. The change to renewable sources of energy is then an obligatory one. However, it is still unclear at what extent Industry 4.0 will impact on long-term sustainable growth since only 7%  of  the  studies  in  Industry  4.0  are  concerned  with  sustainability.

To remain efficiency, it is essential for public and private sector to adopt new methodologies of public sector management, process management, manufacturing, and innovation.  Suggested topics, which should highlight the economic consequences, are as follows:

  • Influence of Industry 4.0 on the financial sector and economic development
  • Global, regional and investment consequences of Industry 4.0, investments in the high-tech fields
  • Labour market changes, education, qualification and human capital
  • Renewable sources of energy and their role in production economics
  • Infrastructure of knowledge-based economy
  • Implications of society digitalization, e-Government,  E-Health
  • Innovative approaches for managing operational processes of companies

Prof. Dr. Petra Maresova
Prof. Dr. Jonas Saparauskas
Prof. Dr. Anna Cierniak-Emerych
Prof. Dr. Beata Gavurova
Dr. Arkadiusz Piwowar
Prof. Dr. Ali Selamat
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 1797 KiB  
Article
Open Innovation Session as a Tool Supporting Innovativeness in Strategies for High-Tech Companies in the Czech Republic
by Pavla Matulova, Petra Maresova, Mohammad Ali Tareq and Kamil Kuča
Economies 2018, 6(4), 69; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies6040069 - 18 Dec 2018
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 5582
Abstract
Open innovation has developed over several decades from a small pool of innovation pioneers, mostly active in high-tech industries, to be widely discussed and implemented in innovation strategy. The primary objective of the Open Innovation Session (OIS) is to create a platform where [...] Read more.
Open innovation has developed over several decades from a small pool of innovation pioneers, mostly active in high-tech industries, to be widely discussed and implemented in innovation strategy. The primary objective of the Open Innovation Session (OIS) is to create a platform where firms are able to facilitate knowledge transfer. This paper focuses on the contribution of OIS, implemented by regional government, in formulating companies’ strategic management and to overcome barriers to innovation for high-tech companies in the South Moravian region of the Czech Republic. The methodology adopted for this paper includes monitoring and analysing the activities of this programme over seven years, followed by a quantitative study using both primary and secondary data. The primary data for the research were gathered through questionnaires, where the respondents were general managers of companies that had at least some experience of an innovation process. Secondary data were taken from the Czech Statistical Office. This paper has found that the association between an aspiration for innovation leadership and expenditure for research and development is high, further that participation in OIS led to a shift in the perception of the objectives, needs and conditions of the business and finally the major barriers to the innovation process are a lack of highly motivated people with the necessary technical and business experience. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Growth as a Consequence of the Industry 4.0 Concept)
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15 pages, 4080 KiB  
Article
The Selected Topics for Comparison in Visegrad Four Countries
by Anna Kowalska, Jaroslav Kovarnik, Eva Hamplova and Pavel Prazak
Economies 2018, 6(3), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies6030050 - 17 Sep 2018
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 6863
Abstract
Visegrad Group is a group of four countries in Central Europe, namely the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary. These countries share not only a similar history, but also similar economic development (measured for example by Gross Domestic Product (GDP)) and geo-political ideas. [...] Read more.
Visegrad Group is a group of four countries in Central Europe, namely the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary. These countries share not only a similar history, but also similar economic development (measured for example by Gross Domestic Product (GDP)) and geo-political ideas. Nowadays, the economic development of every country and its competitiveness on the world market is supported by the creation of innovation (knowledge-based economy), especially from an Industry 4.0 point of view. The aim of this article is to compare the Visegrad Four (V4) from different perspectives. Firstly, the comparison of GPD development is done, next the analysis of foreign trade. The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of changes in innovativeness and competitiveness of the V4 economies over a period of 5 years. The Global Innovation Index (GII) shows the level of innovation of most countries in the world. Reports publishing GII were established thanks to the cooperation of Cornwall University with INSEAD (fr. Institut européen d'administration des affaires) Business School and World Intellectual Property Organization. The Summary Innovation Index (SII) was used in the European Innovation Scoreboard, as well as the Global Competitiveness Report and Global Competitiveness Index (GCI). The analysis shows that all members of V4 are so called moderate innovators. The Czech Republic begins to diverge from other member states in terms of SII, GII and it has been increasing its GCI as well. Poland occupies one of the last positions in the V4 innovation ranking, where Hungary was the weakest in terms of competitiveness in 2016. However, the mutual connection between GDP and above mentioned indexes shows relatively surprising results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Growth as a Consequence of the Industry 4.0 Concept)
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15 pages, 1541 KiB  
Article
Information and Communication Technology in the Role of Information System of Healthcare Facility in the Slovak Republic
by Beáta Gavurová, Antonio José Balloni, Miriama Tarhaničová and Viliam Kováč
Economies 2018, 6(3), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies6030047 - 17 Aug 2018
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 6288
Abstract
The study presents a general overview of the healthcare facility system of the Slovak Republic, especially in a field of the innovation process of the management information system, with a purpose of analysing the consistency and a unity of the system. The data [...] Read more.
The study presents a general overview of the healthcare facility system of the Slovak Republic, especially in a field of the innovation process of the management information system, with a purpose of analysing the consistency and a unity of the system. The data applied in this analysis is collected as a part of the Gesiti research project. This project is developed for mapping out the management of an information system and information technology in healthcare facilities around the whole world. The main goal of the project is to identify the needs and the demands of the healthcare facilities and to create an integrated research report with a focus on a report research roadmap. The information and communication technologies that are applied are partially unsuitable in the healthcare facilities in the Slovak Republic. Information systems are used without exact plans of their future development. This makes it almost impossible to develop them according to the modern needs and to join them with the other systems that are currently used. The big issues also lie in financing these systems and the personnel responsible for them. The outcome of the analysis should create a direction for financial decision making support and for better management of the healthcare facilities, both in the public and the private sector. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Growth as a Consequence of the Industry 4.0 Concept)
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13 pages, 4150 KiB  
Article
Effects of Industry 4.0 on the Labor Markets of Iran and Japan
by Majid Ziaei Nafchi and Hana Mohelská
Economies 2018, 6(3), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies6030039 - 11 Jul 2018
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 10399
Abstract
Industry 4.0 is the essence of the fourth Industrial revolution and is happening right now in manufacturing by using cyber-physical systems (CPS) to reach high levels of automation. Industry 4.0 is especially beneficial in highly developed countries in terms of competitive advantage, but [...] Read more.
Industry 4.0 is the essence of the fourth Industrial revolution and is happening right now in manufacturing by using cyber-physical systems (CPS) to reach high levels of automation. Industry 4.0 is especially beneficial in highly developed countries in terms of competitive advantage, but causes unemployment because of high levels of automation. The aim of this paper is to find out if the impact of adopting Industry 4.0 on the labor markets of Iran and Japan would be the same, and to make analysis to find out whether this change is possible for Iran and Japan with their current infrastructures, economy, and policies. With the present situation of Iran in science, technology, and economy, it will be years before Iran could, or better say should, implement Industry 4.0. Japan is able to adopt Industry 4.0 much earlier than Iran and with less challenges ahead; this does not mean that the Japanese labor market would not be affected by this change but it means that those effects would not cause as many difficulties as they would for Iran. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Growth as a Consequence of the Industry 4.0 Concept)
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13 pages, 274 KiB  
Article
The Energy Industry in the Czech Republic: On the Way to the Internet of Things
by Milos Maryska, Petr Doucek, Lea Nedomova and Pavel Sladek
Economies 2018, 6(2), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies6020036 - 11 Jun 2018
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 6357
Abstract
This article describes and discusses research into the perspectives for deploying the IoT (Internet of Things) within the Czech energy industry. Our conclusions are based on empirical research performed among 50 energy-industry experts in 2016 and 2017. This was two-stage research in which [...] Read more.
This article describes and discusses research into the perspectives for deploying the IoT (Internet of Things) within the Czech energy industry. Our conclusions are based on empirical research performed among 50 energy-industry experts in 2016 and 2017. This was two-stage research in which we held interviews with these experts in order to select the set of the most acceptable IoT technologies for deployment in the energy industry, and then used the TOPSIS method to select the most suitable technologies among them for deployment in the Czech environment. For use in determining the most suitable technologies, we also defined—with the help of the mentioned experts—individual selection parameters and weightings for them, enabling us to apply the TOPSIS method to the selected set of technologies. Our result was the selection of the SIGFOX IoT technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Growth as a Consequence of the Industry 4.0 Concept)
12 pages, 390 KiB  
Article
Implementation of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Framework in Enhancing Business Performances in Oil and Gas Sector
by Sanmugam Annamalah, Murali Raman, Govindan Marthandan and Aravindan Kalisri Logeswaran
Economies 2018, 6(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies6010004 - 15 Jan 2018
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 15583
Abstract
This study empirically investigated the ERM Implementation model and proposed framework to identify and manage risks in Oil and Gas Sector in Malaysia. The study examined the role of ERM framework implementation in improving business performance by utilizing Economic Value Added as a [...] Read more.
This study empirically investigated the ERM Implementation model and proposed framework to identify and manage risks in Oil and Gas Sector in Malaysia. The study examined the role of ERM framework implementation in improving business performance by utilizing Economic Value Added as a measurement tool. The study also provides insights to the Oil and Gas Sector to gain higher profit returns, reduce cost of capital, and improve shareholders value. Moreover, it contributes significantly in the field of Enterprise risk management in Malaysia. The identification and management of risk is significant to organizations in managing risks efficiently. Expectations of stakeholders of the organization are high from executives and board of directors in managing the risk effectively. Linear regression analysis is utilized in analyzing the data obtained from the data collection performed for this paper. Purposive sampling has been employed in order to select the firms that are operating in Malaysian oil and gas sector. Primary data has been utilized to collect data with the help of structured questions and interview techniques that involve semi structured questions. The results of the regression analysis conducted for in this study suggested that a significant and positive relationship between Enterprise Risk Management with operational risk; market risk; political risk; health, safety and environmental risk; and, also business performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Growth as a Consequence of the Industry 4.0 Concept)
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Review

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14 pages, 772 KiB  
Review
Consequences of Industry 4.0 in Business and Economics
by Petra Maresova, Ivan Soukal, Libuse Svobodova, Martina Hedvicakova, Ehsan Javanmardi, Ali Selamat and Ondrej Krejcar
Economies 2018, 6(3), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies6030046 - 9 Aug 2018
Cited by 134 | Viewed by 27486
Abstract
The introduction of information technology into all aspects of our lives has brought forth qualitative and quantitative changes on such a large scale that this process has come to be known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0. The aim of this [...] Read more.
The introduction of information technology into all aspects of our lives has brought forth qualitative and quantitative changes on such a large scale that this process has come to be known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0. The aim of this paper is to fill in the gaps and provide an overview of studies dealing with Industry 4.0 from the business and economic perspectives. A scoping review is performed regarding business, microeconomic and macroeconomic economic problems. Four investigators performed a literature search of the Web of Science, Scopus, and Science Direct. The selected period spanned from 2014 to 2018, and the following keywords were used for the search: Industry 4.0, economics, economic development, production economics, and financial sector. A total of 2275 results were returned. In all, 67 full papers were screened. Results obtained from the relevant studies were, furthermore, divided into the following categories: work and skills development; economy growth and macroeconomic aspect; sustainability; intelligent manufacturing; policy; and change in business processes. Findings show that the aspects of work and skills development, smart technology adoption, intelligent manufacturing, and digitalization are very well described. The government and its policies usually play the role of a needed supportive element. Usually studies lack a coherent view of the topic in question and solve partial questions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Growth as a Consequence of the Industry 4.0 Concept)
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