Blockchain technology and the circular economy: Implications for sustainability and social responsibility

Industry 4.0 involves innovations with upcoming digital technologies, and blockchain is one of them. Blockchain can be incorporated to improve security, privacy, and data transparency both for small and large enterprises. Industry 4.0 is a synthesis of the new production methods that allow manufacturers to achieve their target more rapidly. Research has been conducted on various Industry 4.0 technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Big data, and Blockchain, and how they could create significant interruptions in recent years. These technologies provide various possibilities in the world of manufacturing and supply chain. Blockchain is a technology that has gained much recognition and can enhance the manufacturing and supply chain environment. Various fields now have fascinating insights into the advantages of blockchain. Several research articles on “Blockchain” and “Industry 4.0″ from Google Scholar, Scopus, and other relevant sources are identified and reviewed for this study. This paper discusses the major potential of Blockchain in Industry 4.0. Various drivers, enablers, and associated capabilities of Blockchain technology for Industry 4.0 are discussed for insights. Different Industry 4.0 spheres/sub-domains for Blockchain technology realisation are also discussed. Finally, we have identified and studied fourteen significant applications of Blockchain in Industry 4.0. It is a range of new developments and hope for immense opportunities that are changing Industry 4.0. This technology would work to achieve amplified outcomes and work individually to enhance the process.

Blockchain technology applications for Industry 4.0: A literature-based review

Exploring barriers and drivers to the implementation of circular economy practices in the mining industry

Introducing an application of an industry 4.0 solution for circular supply chain management

Industry 4.0 technology and circular economy practices: business management strategies for environmental sustainability

Research on sustainable development is significantly influenced by the trade-off between the economic, social and environmental performance of businesses. Industry 4.0 development is a key business priority due to the promise of exponential increase in productivity, time efficiencies and cost reduction. However, Industry 4.0 development has been slow. Notably, human actors remain central to Industry 4.0, while the social responsibility component of sustainable development is a key prerogative for industry, championed through the UN sustainable development goals and European Commission. Therefore, we evaluate human-related impediments for Industry 4.0 and critically explore how human resource management (HRM) can overcome these barriers using a socially responsible orientation. First, we analyse the human-related challenges to Industry 4.0 through a thematic literature review. Thereafter, through an integrative literature review of different research streams (Industry 4.0, HRM and social responsibility), we critically argue novel perspectives on how human resource practices can enable sustainable development of Industry 4.0 in a socially responsible manner. Herein, we address a crucial literature gap. Our findings reveal numerous people-related barriers, including change resistance, digital skills gap, employment threats widening socio-economic inequalities, lack of industry-wide collaboration, leadership and organisational culture challenges. We show that HRM can be a crucial enabler for sustainable Industry 4.0 development through socially responsible human resource practices. These include strategic multistakeholder collaborations, holistic talent management, change leadership, inclusive knowledge sharing, sponsoring education research and codesigning curricula, smart technology for upskilling and retention and rewarding inclusive Industry 4.0 ideas. We conclude with future research directions. 

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Strategic sustainable development of Industry 4.0 through the lens of social responsibility: The role of human resource practices

Disasters have quadrupled over the last two decades leading to unprecedented loss of life. The objective of disaster-focussed humanitarian supply chains (HSCs) is to ensure saving maximum lives wit...

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A review of lean and agile management in humanitarian supply chains: analysing the pre-disaster and post-disaster phases and future directions

Entrepreneurship Skills: Literature and Policy Review

Background: The infantry accounts for more than a quarter of the British Army but there is a lack of data about the social and educational background of its recruits population. Aims: The current study uses biographical data tTo provide an insight into British Army Iinfantry rRecruits’ personal, social and educational background prior to enlistment. Methods: The study sample consisted of 1000 Iinfantry recruits who enlisted into the British Army School of Infantry. Each recruit completed a 95 item biographical questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the whole study sample in terms of demographics, physical, personal, social, and educational attributes. Results: The study sample consisted of 1000 male recruits. Over half of the recruits were consuming alcohol at a hazardous or harmful level prior to enlistment and 60% of recruits had used cannabis prior to joining the Army. Academic attainment was low, with the majority of recruits achieving GCSE grade C and below in most subjects, with 15% not taking any examinations. Over half the recruits had been in trouble with the police and either been suspended or expelled from school. Conclusions: Substance misuse and poor behaviour are highly prevalent among recruits prior to enlistment. Taken alongside existing evidence that some of these problems are commonplace among personnel in regular service, the assumption that the British Army iInfantry is, in itself, a cause of these behaviours should be questioned.

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Sumona Mukhuty

Papers

Blockchain technology and the circular economy: Implications for sustainability and social responsibility

Strategic sustainable development of Industry 4.0 through the lens of social responsibility: The role of human resource practices

A review of lean and agile management in humanitarian supply chains: analysing the pre-disaster and post-disaster phases and future directions

Entrepreneurship Skills: Literature and Policy Review

Identifying British Army infantry recruit population characteristics using biographical data