Role of Organizational Learning on Industry 4.0 Awareness and Adoption for Business Performance Improvement

By Vijaya Sunder M, Anupama Prashar, Guilherme Tortorella, Raja Sreedharan
IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management Journal | January 2023

Citation

Sunder M, Vijaya., Prashar, Anupama., Tortorella, Guilherme., Sreedharan, Raja. Role of Organizational Learning on Industry 4.0 Awareness and Adoption for Business Performance Improvement IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management Journal .

IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management Journal, 2023

Abstract

In this article, we examine the role of organizational learning on Industry 4.0 (I4.0) deployments for enhancing business performance within the manufacturing industries of developing countries. Based on a survey of 246 manufacturers from 12 developing countries recognized by Deloitte's global manufacturing competitiveness index report, a theoretically derived model was verified using structural equation modeling. This study's results show that I4.0 adoption mediates the impact of I4.0 awareness on organizational learning, and I4.0 adoption and organizational learning serially mediate I4.0 awareness and business performance toward creating smart factories. This study contributes: first, by conceptualization and operationalization of the constructs to clarify the role of organizational learning in I4.0 deployments; second, through an organizational learning hierarchy, it presents I4.0 awareness or familiarity as first-order learning, the experience of adopting I4.0 as the second-order learning, and learning that emerges from cycles of awareness and adoption together (cumulatively) as third-order or meta-learning. This study extends the microfoundations of learning capability in the I4.0 context and opens new agendas for future research and practice. It guides managers to consciously develop higher order learning in I4.0 deployments to safeguard I4.0 investments and enable competitive advantage in digitization.

Vijaya Sunder M is an Assistant Professor of Operations Management (Practice) and Programme Director of the Operational Excellence for Leaders Programme at the Indian School of Business (ISB). He also serves on the advisory board of ISB’s Executive Fellow Programme in Management and Executive Education. Previously, he was Chair of the Experiential Learning Programme (2022-2025), Academic Director of the Centre for Business Innovation (2023–2024), and a BAT Research Fellow (2021–2023).

He holds a PhD in Operational Excellence from IIT Madras and brings over 18 years of industry experience from global corporations. He has served as Head of Business Process Excellence at the World Bank Group, Assistant Vice President at Barclays, and Quality Leader at American Express and Citi.

Professor Sunder’s research focuses on operational excellence, project management, behavioural operations, and human-AI collaboration. He has authored three books and published scholarly research in leading journals, including Production and Operations Management, Journal of Operations Management, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, International Journal of Production Economics, International Journal of Production Research, Journal of Business Research, and IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. His articles have also appeared in Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Management and Business Review, and Rotman Management. His teaching case studies, published by Harvard Business Publishing, are among the bestsellers.
Professor Sunder has received several prestigious honours, including ASQ’s Global Crosby Award, IAQ’s

Walter E. Masing Award, and recognition as one of PEX Network’s (IQPC) Top 50 Operational Excellence Thought Leaders worldwide. In 2025, he was featured in Business Mint’s 50 Under 50 Brightest Minds of India for his contributions to the field of Operational Excellence. He is also a recipient of IIT Madras Best Researcher Award in 2018, the Quality Champion Award (Gold category) by the Quality Control of India (QCI), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India in 2022, and the Financial Times Responsible Business Education Award (Runner-up) in 2022.

At ISB, he teaches PGP, Executive MBA, and PhD courses such as Business Process Excellence, Operational Excellence, Digital Transformation in Services, Project Management, and Operations Management. He has won multiple “Professor of the Year” – Best Teacher: Teaching Excellence Awards for the PGP core and elective courses for the Class of 2021 (one award), Class of 2023 (two awards), Class of 2024 (one award), Class of 2025 (three awards), and the AMPH Class of 2024 (one award).

A TEDx speaker and sought-after keynote presenter, Professor Sunder has trained over 10,000 business executives worldwide and is widely known for his innovative and experiential pedagogies.

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