IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i15p11891-d1209084.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Examining Digital Transformation Trends in Austrian and Hungarian Companies

Author

Listed:
  • Andrea Katona

    (Institute of Applied Management Sciences, University Center for Circular Economy, University of Pannonia Nagykanizsa, 8800 Nagykanizsa, Hungary)

  • Zoltán Birkner

    (Institute of Applied Management Sciences, University Center for Circular Economy, University of Pannonia Nagykanizsa, 8800 Nagykanizsa, Hungary)

  • Erzsébet Péter

    (Institute of Applied Management Sciences, University Center for Circular Economy, University of Pannonia Nagykanizsa, 8800 Nagykanizsa, Hungary)

Abstract

The contemporary discourse focuses on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its impact on companies. The research is based on a quantitative questionnaire survey of 101 business leaders in Hungary and on 54 in Austria. It was considered important to analyze these two neighboring countries, which have similar histories and cultures but different industrial and economic advantages in terms of labor costs/skills and technology. The aim of our study is to assess how ready companies are for Industry 4.0 and what key factors they take into account when implementing Industry 4.0 initiatives. To complement our quantitative analysis, we conducted four semi-structured interviews with two Hungarian and two Austrian CEOs. Based on both the quantitative and qualitative survey, we conclude that there are relevant differences in digital maturity between the two countries at both macro and micro levels, with Hungarian companies lagging behind Austrian companies in the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. Hungarian managers were most concerned with achieving higher profits from the adoption of an Industry 4.0 strategy, while Austrian companies were most concerned with improving their market position. Our analysis also revealed the main areas where Hungarian and Austrian companies show similar performance and improvements in line with Industry 4.0.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Katona & Zoltán Birkner & Erzsébet Péter, 2023. "Examining Digital Transformation Trends in Austrian and Hungarian Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-22, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:15:p:11891-:d:1209084
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/15/11891/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/15/11891/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ranjay Gulati, 1999. "Network location and learning: the influence of network resources and firm capabilities on alliance formation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(5), pages 397-420, May.
    2. Anjana Susarla & Jeong-Ha Oh & Yong Tan, 2012. "Social Networks and the Diffusion of User-Generated Content: Evidence from YouTube," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 23-41, March.
    3. Paul Schneider, 2018. "Managerial challenges of Industry 4.0: an empirically backed research agenda for a nascent field," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 803-848, July.
    4. David H. Autor, 2015. "Why Are There Still So Many Jobs? The History and Future of Workplace Automation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 29(3), pages 3-30, Summer.
    5. Judit Nagy & Judit Oláh & Edina Erdei & Domicián Máté & József Popp, 2018. "The Role and Impact of Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things on the Business Strategy of the Value Chain—The Case of Hungary," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-25, September.
    6. Burgelman, Robert A. & Grove, Andrew S., 2007. "Cross-Boundary Disruptors: Powerful Inter-Industry Entrepreneurial Change Agents," Research Papers 1978, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    7. Jean-Noël Barrot & Erik Loualiche & Matthew Plosser & Julien Sauvagnat, 2018. "Did Import Competition Boost Household Debt Demand?," Liberty Street Economics 20180117, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Christian Hoyer & Indra Gunawan & Carmen Haule Reaiche, 2020. "The Implementation of Industry 4.0 – A Systematic Literature Review of the Key Factors," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 557-578, July.
    2. Calabrese, Armando & Costa, Roberta & Tiburzi, Luigi & Brem, Alexander, 2023. "Merging two revolutions: A human-artificial intelligence method to study how sustainability and Industry 4.0 are intertwined," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    3. Christian Peukert, 2019. "The next wave of digital technological change and the cultural industries," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(2), pages 189-210, June.
    4. Mariani, Marcello & Borghi, Matteo, 2019. "Industry 4.0: A bibliometric review of its managerial intellectual structure and potential evolution in the service industries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    5. Davenport, Sally, 2005. "Exploring the role of proximity in SME knowledge-acquisition," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 683-701, June.
    6. Ashraf Elsafty & Ahmed Elzeftawy, 2023. "Towards Effective Mitigation of the Digital Transformation and COVID-19 Risk on Unemployment in Mobile Operators in Egypt," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 17(2), pages 123-123, February.
    7. Cette, Gilbert & Devillard, Aurélien & Spiezia, Vincenzo, 2021. "The contribution of robots to productivity growth in 30 OECD countries over 1975–2019," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    8. Jie Ren & Jar-Der Luo & Ke Rong, 2020. "How Do Venture Capitals Build Up Syndication Ecosystems for Sustainable Development?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-14, May.
    9. Najafi-Tavani, Zhaleh & Giroud, Axèle & Andersson, Ulf, 2014. "The interplay of networking activities and internal knowledge actions for subsidiary influence within MNCs," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 122-131.
    10. Yuliya Snihur & Llewellyn D. W. Thomas & Robert A. Burgelman, 2018. "An Ecosystem‐Level Process Model of Business Model Disruption: The Disruptor's Gambit," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(7), pages 1278-1316, November.
    11. Ayhan, Fatih & Elal, Onuray, 2023. "The IMPACTS of technological change on employment: Evidence from OECD countries with panel data analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    12. Ville-Veikko Pulkka, 2017. "A free lunch with robots – can a basic income stabilise the digital economy?," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 23(3), pages 295-311, August.
    13. Adrian Otoiu & Ramona Bere & Catalin Silvestru, 2017. "An Assessment of the First Round Impact of Innovation Industries on Europe’s Regional Economies," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 19(44), pages 289-289, February.
    14. Lütkenhorst, Wilfried, 2018. "Creating wealth without labour? Emerging contours of a new techno-economic landscape," IDOS Discussion Papers 11/2018, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    15. Barth, Erling & Davis, James C. & Freeman, Richard B. & McElheran, Kristina, 2023. "Twisting the demand curve: Digitalization and the older workforce," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 233(2), pages 443-467.
    16. Irina Heimbach & Oliver Hinz, 2018. "The Impact of Sharing Mechanism Design on Content Sharing in Online Social Networks," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 592-611, September.
    17. Kim, Jeeyeon & Kim, Mingyung & Choi, Jeonghye & Trivedi, Minakshi, 2019. "Offline social interactions and online shopping demand: Does the degree of social interactions matter?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 373-381.
    18. Böhm, Robert & Letmathe, Peter & Schinner, Matthias, 2023. "The monetary value of competencies: A novel method and case study in smart manufacturing," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    19. Caitlin Allen Whitehead & Haroon Bhorat & Robert Hill & Tim Köhler & François Steenkamp, 2021. "The Potential Employment Implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies: The Case of the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector," Working Papers 202106, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    20. Michele O’Dwyer & Raffaele Filieri & Lisa O’Malley, 2023. "Establishing successful university–industry collaborations: barriers and enablers deconstructed," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 900-931, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:15:p:11891-:d:1209084. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.