The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) poses several implications on manufacturers in terms of economic, ecological, and social aspects referring to the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) of sustainable value creation. Due to its technical core, the current research focused on its technical fundamentals, whereas the economic discussion is still in its infancy. This paper aims at painting a comprehensive and structured picture of IIoT-related economic, ecological, and social benefits and challenges. For this purpose, we employ an exploratory multiple case study approach based on semi-structured expert interviews in 46 manufacturing companies from three leading German industries. Our study contributes to the sparse body of scientific IIoT literature by analysing the IIoT’s implications according to the TBL. We show that, in order to qualify for sustainable industrial value creation, the IIoT requires an extension of the established TBL by three further dimensions, i.e., technical integration, data and information, and public context.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) poses large impacts on business models (BM) of established manufacturing companies within several industries. Thus, this paper aims at analyzing the influence of the IIoT on these BMs with particular respect to differences and similarities dependent on varying industry sectors. For this purpose, we employ an exploratory multiple case study approach based on semi-structured expert interviews in 69 manufacturing companies from the five most important German industries. Owing the lack of previous research, our study contributes to the current state of management literature by revealing the following valuable insights with regard to industry-specific BM changes: The machine and plant engineering companies are mainly facing changing workforce qualifications, the electrical engineering and information and communication technology companies are particularly concerned with the importance of novel key partner networks, and automotive suppliers predominantly exploit IIoT-inherent benefits in terms of an increasing cost efficiency.

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This study aims at examining factors that determine the adoption of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) by manufacturing companies applying the technology–organization–environment framework. Data of 197 German manufacturers are gathered by means of a survey questionnaire and tested using a logistic regression. This paper contributes to academic discussion by revealing determinants, which have a significant influence on the adoption of the IIoT: relative advantage associated with the IIoT, support by a company’s top management, high levels of competition, and environmental uncertainty. The study provides important implications, both for research and practitioners, related to technology management in the context of the IIoT.