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PurposeThe aim of this paper is to identify and analyse workforce development challenges in the digital age by first, presenting these challenges and relationship between them, and then proposing a structural model that categorizes these challenges and proposes suggestions for managers to improve human resources practices and firm performance.Design/methodology/approachFuzzy total interpretive structural modelling (TISM) is used as the methodology, which gives an interpretive structural model by presenting direct and transitive relationship between workforce development challenges and categorizes them under autonomous, dependent, independent and linkage groups.FindingsIn total, 13 different workforce development challenges are presented in this study. Results showed that lack of IT/digital skills has a critical role in workforce development in terms of affecting other challenges. Dependent group includes requirements for longer learning time and specialized training, lack of analytical thinking and dealing with complexity, and lack of interdisciplinary thinking and acting. On the other hand, lack of ability in decentralized decision-making and shortage of workforce with adequate skillset within the labour market have more macro-impacts on others. Most of the challenges located in the linkage group, which means that most of the challenges are interrelated with each other.Originality/valueOriginality of this paper is presenting a systematic structure for workforce development in Industry 4.0 that considers challenges systematically.

The new industrial revolution, namely Industry 4.0 (I4.0) can be seen as the new industrial stage, where an integration between traditional manufacturing processes and information and communication technologies occur. The term “Industry 4.0” was initially used in 2011 in the Hannover Fair, and announced officially in 2013 as the beginning of Fourth Industrial Revolution. Although the economic benefits of I4.0 are highly accepted in terms of increasing efficiency, productivity, quality, and speed; effects on environment and society are still questioning and there are different views. Nowadays, I4.0 and sustainability are two major topics in the field. In line with this view, de Sousa Jabbour et al. suggested that these two terms cannot be considered as industrial revolutions individually, however, synergy between them is going to change the worldwide production system in a revolutionary way. The descriptive results indicated that “industry 4.0” was the most commonly emphasized concept among hundred papers.

Technological innovations are critical for businesses to sustain a competitive advantage in an increasingly competitive globalised environment. Amongst other advances, Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies are having a growing impact on society; they have become a significant part of family business resources to create more sustainable environments and exploit new opportunities. However, few studies have analysed the impacts of I4.0 on responsible environmental management and society in the context of a family business. To take a step toward filling this gap, this study has employed a system dynamics model to evaluate the impacts of I4.0 on the clean production processes of family businesses in an emerging economy and to describe I4.0 practices on determinants of ethical behaviour and environmental management. Implementation is conducted in the packaging sector to analyse the impacts of I4.0 on CO2 emissions, total packaging waste recovery and societal responsibilities on family businesses in Turkey. The results show that ethical business development contributes toward enhancing corporate social responsibility and environmental management systems in an I4.0 context. The findings can inform the efforts of managers, governments and decision-makers to analyse and manage the societal and environmental impacts of their activities to create a more sustainable environment for family businesses.

This study focuses on the transformation of logistics centers in Industry 4.0. Aim is to reveal the important criteria for logistics centers in Industry 4.0 by considering link to traditional logistics centers practices and proposing a framework for new logistics centers. Initially, literature review to reveal criteria for logistics centers in Industry 4.0 is conducted. Secondly, fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making methodology is used to present the importance order, and the causal relationship between criteria to make recommendations for future implications. The results may be useful for logistics center’s professionals in transition process, and new research topics may be derived for academics.

Transition from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0, in other words Industry 3.5 stage, and moving to a circular economy are two significant concepts for organizations that need to make wholesale alterations to their current systems. In order to stay competitive, both these transitions need to follow sustainable resource management and digital transformation principles. However, there are barriers to these changes that organizations should consider. Both Industry 4.0 transition, in other words Industry 3.5, and circularity transition require great efforts to deal with these barriers; in the current environment, organizations need to deal with these barriers simultaneously for more sustainable resource management. This study focuses in particular on circular supply chains in the Industry 3.5 stage. There are some studies that suggest barriers to Industry 4.0 and circular supply chains separately, none of these studies consider them together. From this point of view, this study contributes to existing literature by presenting synchronized barriers that integrate circular supply chain and Industry 4.0 barriers. Firstly, pillars of circular supply chains in Industry 4.0 are explained; synchronized barriers are then presented. A decision-making method, Fuzzy Analytical Network Process, is used to prioritize the synchronized barriers, with theoretical and practical implications proposed according to the result of the implementation.

Transition from a linear to a circular economy (CE) is a challenging process for a sustainable supply chain, and innovative process approaches and technologies are needed to deal with the risks involved. Industry 4.0 principles have great potential to achieve optimal sustainable supply chain solutions and are expected to add value to sustainable supply chain operations by increasing efficiency and resource utilisation. Therefore, Industry 4.0 supports companies transitioning to a CE through improving the efficiency and sustainability of their supply chain management. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential risks of the transition from a linear to a CE, with proposed Industry 4.0-based responses from an operations management perspective within the sustainable supply chain. Implementation of the study was conducted in a logistics company in Turkey. An integrated MCDM (Multi-criteria Decision Making) approach was based on Fuzzy AHP, and TODIM was used to analyse the association between risks and responses. According to the findings, the most important Industry 4.0-based responses are the integrated business processes for cross-functional collaboration, modular processes for simplification and standardisation, and continuous monitoring of the cost and performance throughout the supply chain by big data and analytics. This study may assist managers in managing risks in supply chain operations during the transition from a linear to a CE through Industry 4.0 based responses. The main contribution of this study is a greater understanding of the risks related to the transition from a linear to a circular economy, and proposals for Industry 4.0-based responses as a means of overcoming these risks in a sustainable supply chain context.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to present a structural competency model; second, to remark new criteria for personnel selection in Industry 4.0 environment; and third, to contribute to the operations management literature by focusing on recruitment process in Industry 4.0 environment and supporting human resources activities with Industry 4.0 related criteria and point out a new research field in Industry 4.0. Design/methodology/approach Fuzzy DEMATEL has been used in the implementation. The study is conducted in a high-tech firm, which has started to modify its processes according to Industry 4.0, and introduces a new specific department that is responsible of this transformation. In total, 11 personnel selection criteria were presented and then assessed by experts through a fuzzy linguistic scale. Both importance order and causal relation between criteria are presented at the end of the study. Findings According to the results, the most important criteria in the selected firm are the ability of dealing with complexity and problem solving, thinking in overlapping process, and flexibility to adapt new roles and work environments. While cause group includes criteria such as knowledge on IT and production technologies, awareness of IT security and data protection, and ability of fault and error recovery, effect group includes flexibility to adapt new roles and work environments, organizational and processual understanding, and the ability to interact with modern interfaces. Practical implications Analytical thinking and system approach are the key topics for new supporting personnel selection criteria, which lead to the need for the skills and qualifications in decision making and process management. Results of the cause group criteria also indicate the importance of technical abilities such as coding, IT security and human-machine interfaces. On the other hand, effect group of the study emphasizes on the flexibility and interdisciplinary working structure that suggests the suitability of matrix organization in the companies which follow the Industry 4.0 trends. Moreover, team work comes forward as another key concept for organizations transforming to Industry 4.0. Originality/value The originality of this study appears on modeling of a competency structural model for Workforce 4.0 which is proposed as a road map, including the suggested set of related criteria and the fuzzy MCDM-based methodology for companies which alter their organizations according to Industry 4.0.