The value at the industry 4.0 and the digital transformation process: evidence from brazilian small enterprises

Abstract

Objective: We use an approach that merge aspects from the literature of Value and the literature of Business Models, thus exploring aspects related to value proposition, value creation and value capture. More specifically, we analyze how these aspects were affected by in four small Brazilian organizations that were attending to the industry 4.0. Methodology: To explore the relationship between the aspects of value and the industry 4.0/digital transformation, we conducted four case studies on small Brazilian enterprises. Our study is classified as being exploratory, with a cross-sectional perspective merged with a longitudinal approximation. Originality / relevance: The origin of digital transformation is present in the areas of engineering and computer science and, therefore, resulting in technical studies, while the perspectives of economic and business management are still little explored in academia. Results: The results demonstrate that all three aspects of value were affected by the industry 4.0, but with a greater level at the organizations classified as providers of digital technologies. Apart from that, we also identified that the organizations relied mainly on partnerships and organizational ecosystems to successfully address and overcome the changes created by Industry 4.0. Theoretical / methodological contributions: We used a combination of the literature stream related to business model and the literature stream related to value. Thus, we provide an extension to these two streams of literature. Thus, expanding our understanding about the relationship between value and the industry 4.0/digital transformation by validating which items were qualitatively identified in these four organizations.