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Sustainable Human Resource Management in Industry 4.0

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2022) | Viewed by 15422

Image courtesy of Kristína Ondrúšková

Special Issue Editors

Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Corporate Strategy, The Institute of Technology and Business in Ceske Budejovice, 37001 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Interests: HRM; management; Industry 4.0; transport and logistics
Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communications, University of Žilina in Žilina, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia
Interests: management; human resource management; lean management; transport; rail transport
Faculty of Wood Sciences and Technology, Technical University in Zvolen, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia
Interests: management; human resource management; motivation; wood industry
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Currently, businesses are reaching a point where their activities are being affected by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the associated digitalization. Digitization also affects all transport sectors: road, rail, air, and sea transport of people and goods. The corona crisis has increased the pressure to accelerate the digitization process and has focused attention on this goal in unison among economic operators, the public, and government, where all participants in logistics chains have been forced to respond to this situation. Digitization, as a megatrend of the 21st century, supported by the interests of the European Commission, has the potential to significantly modify various sectors. The advent of the digital age is causing changes in human resource management systems. Digitization of the socio-economic space provides management with new opportunities, streamlines the management process by reducing routine work, and saves time and money, while also having several risks and dangers for business and work resources. The advent of the digital economy is a challenge that encourages management to capture scientific, technical, and organizational innovations, to evaluate and assimilate them, and delegate them to subordinates. The management mechanism acquires new functions and leaders begin to act in new directions, communicate with each other through new forms, use new techniques, and methods of managing subordinates.

This Special Issue will enrich the current published knowledge in the field of human resources management in the context of Industry 4.0 with an emphasis on solving problems in transport and logistics. According to the published literature searches of contemporary academics, the published knowledge in the field of Management Science makes up about 4% of the knowledge of digital transformation solutions. The need for more in-depth research is highlighted, because innovations related to the industrial environment 4.0 transform expectations towards workers, especially in human–machine interactions. Great hopes are placed in the automation and use of technological innovations to address the enormous shortage of human resources in the areas of production, transport, and logistics. However, this is only a partial solution to the problem. Digital transformation is an urgent and relevant topic in which the development of knowledge based on empirical research is a knowledge gap. For this reason, empirical research in this area has high potential. On the other hand, the academic community faces a challenge because the transformation process is ongoing and presents several unanswered questions for all. Therefore, current knowledge in this area is a building block for further research, as previous research may not have identified all the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation affected by current crisis management during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Dr. Lenka Ližbetinová
Dr. Eva Nedeliaková
Dr. Miloš Hitka
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • human resource management
  • Industry 4.0
  • HRM 4.0
  • transport and logistics

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 953 KiB  
Article
The Role of Policy Perceptions and Entrepreneurs’ Preferences in Firms’ Response to Industry 4.0: The Case of Chinese Firms
by Chenguang Li, Zhenjun Qiu and Tao Fu
Sustainability 2021, 13(20), 11352; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132011352 - 14 Oct 2021
Viewed by 1403
Abstract
Favorable policy implementation results are due not only to policy makers’ abilities but also to the behavior of those responding to the policies. For example, a CEO’s understanding of a government policy’s content and his or her willingness to respond to it, based [...] Read more.
Favorable policy implementation results are due not only to policy makers’ abilities but also to the behavior of those responding to the policies. For example, a CEO’s understanding of a government policy’s content and his or her willingness to respond to it, based on the expectation of profits, plays a vital role. To understand the relationship between how policies are perceived and how enterprises behave in response to innovation policies in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), in this study, we use structural equation modeling to investigate the roles of various factors and examine the response mechanisms in enterprises through which entrepreneurs react to Industry 4.0 innovation policies. The hypothesized model is validated empirically using a sample collected from 337 domestic Chinese high-tech firms. The modeling results indicate that positive perceptions of policies have a positive effect on entrepreneurs’ preferences which, in turn, motivate positive behavior toward innovation. Moreover, testing the model showed partial and complete mediation effects, indicating that the perceived practicability of a policy is a factor with a strong impact on response behavior that sometimes exerts its influence by altering the mediator of entrepreneurs’ responsive preferences. The empirical results and management implications of this study can serve as a reference for the effective implementation of and response to government development plans. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Human Resource Management in Industry 4.0)
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14 pages, 1116 KiB  
Article
A Machine-Learning Classification Tree Model of Perceived Organizational Performance in U.S. Federal Government Health Agencies
by In-Gu Kang, Nayoung Kim, Wei-Yin Loh and Barbara A. Bichelmeyer
Sustainability 2021, 13(18), 10329; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su131810329 - 16 Sep 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2570
Abstract
Perceived organizational performance (POP) is an important factor that influences employees’ attitudes and behaviors such as retention and turnover, which in turn improve or impede organizational sustainability. The current study aims to identify interaction patterns of risk factors that differentiate public health and [...] Read more.
Perceived organizational performance (POP) is an important factor that influences employees’ attitudes and behaviors such as retention and turnover, which in turn improve or impede organizational sustainability. The current study aims to identify interaction patterns of risk factors that differentiate public health and human services employees who perceived their agency performance as low. The 2018 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), a nationally representative sample of U.S. federal government employees, was used for this study. The study included 43,029 federal employees (weighted n = 75,706) among 10 sub-agencies in the public health and human services sector. The machine-learning classification decision-tree modeling identified several tree-splitting variables and classified 33 subgroups of employees with 2 high-risk, 6 moderate-risk and 25 low-risk subgroups of POP. The important variables predicting POP included performance-oriented culture, organizational satisfaction, organizational procedural justice, task-oriented leadership, work security and safety, and employees’ commitment to their agency, and important variables interacted with one another in predicting risks of POP. Complex interaction patterns in high- and moderate-risk subgroups, the importance of a machine-learning approach to sustainable human resource management in industry 4.0, and the limitations and future research are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Human Resource Management in Industry 4.0)
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17 pages, 322 KiB  
Article
Intrinsic Motivation Sources as Pillars of Sustainable Internal Marketing Communication in Turbulent Post-Pandemic Times
by Jana Majerova, Lubica Gajanova, Margareta Nadanyiova and Anita Kolnhofer Derecskei
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 8799; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13168799 - 06 Aug 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3267
Abstract
The main aim of the article is to identify the changes in employees’ sources of intrinsic motivation caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to discuss prospective modifications to formulated patterns of internal marketing communication. The novelty of the research lies [...] Read more.
The main aim of the article is to identify the changes in employees’ sources of intrinsic motivation caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to discuss prospective modifications to formulated patterns of internal marketing communication. The novelty of the research lies in two main aspects: (1) the necessity to revise the traditional concept of motivation caused by the pandemic and (2) own methodological approach. While the first aspect reflects the lack of appropriate scientific attention paid to this issue, the second aspect develops methodological approaches applied so far in the research of intrinsic motivation sources. The goal of the paper has been achieved via own questionnaire research of the traditional quadratic structure of the intrinsic motivation sources of employees. The data from socio-demographically representative sample of 2000 respondents have been in accordance with contemporary trends in managerial analytics analysed via factor analysis and relevant statistic tests. It has been found that the ranking of intrinsic motivation sources before the COVID-19 pandemic was the following: (1) sense of choice; (2) sense of meaningfulness; (3) sense of progress and (4) sense of competence. The ranking of intrinsic motivation sources during the COVID-19 pandemic was the following: (1) sense of choice; (2) sense of progress; (3) sense of meaningfulness; and (4) sense of competence. Based on the identified changes in intrinsic motivation sources and their components, it can be stated that the pandemic has significantly influenced the existing principles and patterns of internal marketing communication. These should be critically reconsidered, and motivation systems should be revised to contribute to the optimal performance of the company on the market and its sustainable development by focusing on the financial situation of the company, significant for the economic pillar; the change in individual value scales, significant for the environmental pillar; and the phenomenon of millennials, significant for the social pillar. By intersecting these pillars, sustainability can be reached based on finding optimum motivation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Human Resource Management in Industry 4.0)
25 pages, 2546 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Waste Management for a City Multifloor Manufacturing Cluster: A Framework for Designing a Smart Supply Chain
by Tygran Dzhuguryan and Agnieszka Deja
Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1540; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13031540 - 01 Feb 2021
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 4053
Abstract
This study focuses on integrated sustainable waste management (ISWM) within a city multifloor manufacturing (MFM) cluster. Manufacturing activities in residential areas of the urban environment and the associated generation of municipal production waste (MPW) are serious problems. The primary goal of this study [...] Read more.
This study focuses on integrated sustainable waste management (ISWM) within a city multifloor manufacturing (MFM) cluster. Manufacturing activities in residential areas of the urban environment and the associated generation of municipal production waste (MPW) are serious problems. The primary goal of this study is to design smart supply chain (SSC) scenarios for the shipment of MPW from a city MFM cluster under uncertainty. This paper presents a new model of the finite MPW generation capacity for a city MFM cluster on the basis of an analysis of its finite production capacity using the material flow analysis (MFA) methodology. The proposed model allows us to determine the number of transport fleet units needed for the implementation of various supply chain (SC) scenarios of MPW. To select the best scenario for MPW shipment in real time, the application of SSC and SSC management (SSCM) technologies is proposed. SSCM performance indicators are proposed which allow us to evaluate the efficiency of using vehicles for cluster MPW transportation. The numerical values of the SSCM performance indicators for various options regarding the handling of city MFM buildings using trucks are obtained. These evaluations form the basis for the decision-making and planning associated with the SSCs of MPW. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Human Resource Management in Industry 4.0)
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18 pages, 2049 KiB  
Article
The Design of Sustainable City Multi-Floor Manufacturing Processes Under Uncertainty in Supply Chains
by Tygran Dzhuguryan, Agnieszka Deja, Bogusz Wiśnicki and Zofia Jóźwiak
Sustainability 2020, 12(22), 9439; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12229439 - 13 Nov 2020
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2389
Abstract
The application of multi-floor manufacturing (MFM) in huge cities is related to the rational use of urban areas and the solution to traffic problems. The operation of the city MFM clusters depends on the efficiency of production and transport management considering technical, economic, [...] Read more.
The application of multi-floor manufacturing (MFM) in huge cities is related to the rational use of urban areas and the solution to traffic problems. The operation of the city MFM clusters depends on the efficiency of production and transport management considering technical, economic, environmental, and other factors. The primary goal of this paper was to identify and analyze the drivers of sustainable supply chains (SSCs) that influence or encourage the design of sustainable processes in city MFM clusters under uncertainty in supply chains. This paper presents an SSC performance model for city MFM clusters under uncertainty. The proposed model is universal and is based on material flow analysis (MFA) methodology. The presented analysis helps to determine the conditions for rhythmic deliveries with the use of the multi-IRTs. The coefficients of rhythmic deliveries for multiple intelligent reconfigurable trolleys (IRTs) and the capacity loss of freight elevators allow us to periodically assess the sustainability processes in city MFM clusters related to the flow materials. These assessments are the basis for the decision-making and planning of SSCs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Human Resource Management in Industry 4.0)
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