Boosting the impact of knowledge management on innovation performance through Industry 4.0 adoption

TORTORELLA, GUILHERME LUZ; PRASHAR, ANUPAMA ; VASSOLO, R. S.; MAC CAWLEY VERGARA, ALEJANDRO; FILHO, M.; SAMSON, D.

Knowledge Management Research & Practice

Taylor & Francis, Palgrave Macmillan

Año: 2022

1477-8238

This paper aims at examining the role played by Industry 4.0 (I4.0) on the relationship between knowledge management (KM) practices (i.e., knowledge acquisition, knowledge dissemination, and responsiveness to knowledge) and innovation performance (represented by process and product innovation). For that, 153 practitioners from manufacturing firms in India and Brazil were surveyed. The data were analyzed through multivariate data techniques. This study was grounded on the concepts from the socio-technical systems theory. Our findings indicated that I4.0 design principles positively moderate the relationship between KM practices and innovation performance. In particular, this moderation seems to be more prominent for product innovation performance, although it was also found for process innovation performance. I4.0 design principles determine the expected mindset and behaviors in companies undergoing digital transformation. Our research showed that the effect of KM practices on innovation performance may be boosted when I4.0 design principles are extensively integrated into organizations. Although the separate implementation of I4.0 design principles and KM practices may yield improvements in the innovation performance, we evidenced that their joint implementation is likely to offer a balanced combination between socio and technical elements.