David Roubaud

Industry 4.0 and the circular economy: a proposed research agenda and original roadmap for sustainable operations

This work makes a case for the integration of the increasingly popular and largely separate topics of Industry 4.0 and the circular economy (CE). The paper extends the state-of-the-art literature by proposing a pioneering roadmap to enhance the application of CE principles in organisations by means of Industry 4.0 approaches. Advanced and digital manufacturing technologies are able to unlock the circularity of resources within supply chains; however, the connection between CE and Industry 4.0 has not so far been explored. This article therefore contributes to the literature by unveiling how different Industry 4.0 technologies could underpin CE strategies, and to organisations by addressing those technologies as a basis for sustainable operations management decision-making. The main results of this work are: (a) a discussion on the mutually beneficial relationship between Industry 4.0 and the CE; (b) an in-depth understanding of the potential contributions of smart production technologies to the ReSOLVE model of CE business models; (c) a research agenda for future studies on the integration between Industry 4.0 and CE principles based on the most relevant management theories.

Examining Top Management Commitment to TQM Diffusion using Institutional and Upper Echelon Theories

Total Quality Management (TQM) is an enduring approach for enhancing firm competitiveness. Still, there is dearth of research regarding organisational diffusion (post-adoption) of TQM. To address this gap, this research proposes a theoretical model rooted in institutional and upper echelon theories that explain TQM diffusion via top management commitment. We surveyed 300 senior quality managers representing 300 auto-components manufacturers in India to collect data to test the proposed model using variance based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings suggest that institutional pressures significantly influence top management commitment to TQM. Subsequently, top management commitment influences organisational diffusion of TQM via acceptance, routinisation and assimilation. Managers can use the findings of this research to better understand how to assimilate TQM so that anticipated benefits can be fully realised.

Organizational, technological and extrinsic factors in the implementation of cloud ERP in SMEs

Purpose n n n n nUse of cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) services equips an SME to forego the requirements of high financial budget, IT infrastructure, and trained IT personnel as it is required for on-premise ERP solution. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the organizational and technological factors as well as the factors that concern the performance of cloud service provider. These concerns are known as extrinsic factors and they are compliance, network, and information security. This study links the organizational and technological factors of SMEs and the extrinsic factors of cloud vendor for the successful implementation of cloud ERP. n n n n nDesign/methodology/approach n n n n nResource dependence theory (RDT) was used to understand the relationship of SMEs and cloud service provider. Structural equation modeling was employed in analyzing the data of 208 SMEs that were collected through a survey. n n n n nFindings n n n n nThe empirical analysis supports the RDT as the critical success factors of the SMEs have a positive relationship with the extrinsic factors (compliance, network, and information security) during the cloud ERP implementation. n n n n nResearch limitations/implications n n n n nThe data collected in this study is from India and this acts as a limitation as the result might not hold true for other countries and regions. Also, the data collected are cross-sectional and only represent the perspective of the respondents at the time of filling the questionnaire. n n n n nOriginality/value n n n n nThis paper attempts to bring out a relationship between SMEs and cloud service provider for the successful implementation of cloud ERP.

Frugal Innovation for Supply Chain Sustainability in SMEs: Multi-method Research Design

Abstract In this study, we attempt to establish the missing links between supply chain sustainability and frugal innovation. Our study motivations stem from two facets of the emerging markets: first, the institutional barriers and, second, the resource constraints. We argue that there is a synergy in the concepts of frugal innovation and sustainability in supply chains and there is a need to further explore this synergy. Furthermore, we claim that even in the wake of many success stories in the frugal innovative supply chain management practices from emerging markets such as India, there are very few, if any, attempts made to understand the implications of a sustainability oriented frugal innovations in the particular context. To address this gap, we develop a model to establish the linkage between sustainable supply chains and frugal innovations. Our proposed conceptual framework depicts the hierarchy and interlinks of the identified enablers in developing sustainability oriented frugal innovative capabilities in supply chains. Furthermore, we have empirically validated our theoretical framework using survey data. We observed that most of the interpretive links are supported. These findings extend the understanding of frugal innovation for supply chain sustainability using multi-method research design, while also providing theoretically guidance to managers in the development of frugal innovation capability to achieve sustainability in supply chain in resource constrained environment.