Assessing the impact of Industry 4.0 technologies on the social sustainability of agrifood companies

Abstract

Industry 4.0 technologies present new opportunities for the sustainable development of companies in the agrifood industry. The extant literature on this topic suggests that innovative technologies can support agrifood companies in addressing environmental, economic and social sustainability issues. While the environmental and economic benefits of technological innovations in the agrifood industry have been widely investigated, few studies sought to explore the impact of the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies on long‐standing social issues. This research addresses this knowledge gap, the data were gathered from 116 Italian agrifood companies that utilized Industry 4.0 technologies. The findings from structural equations modelling partial least squares (SEM‐PLS) show that adopting Industry 4.0 technologies helps agrifood companies to improve human resources management, supply chain management and stakeholder relationships. Finally, this contribution puts forward implications for practitioners, as it raises awareness on the benefits of using technological innovations to promote social sustainability outcomes.