A research on the link between industry 4.0 implementation of firms and competitive priorities: Multiple case study in white goods enterprises

It is seen that the new industrial revolution trend that occurred globally is an important step for countries to increase their development levels. The development process that Industry 4.0 shows in our country is similar to the development process in the world. In order to achieve integration in the context of adaptation to the Industry 4.0 process, it is necessary for domestic enterprises to adapt their activities to innovative, progressive, adapting to new technologies. This is the study of how businesses are linked to the adaptation process to the industry 4.0 revolution and competitive priorities. In this study, in order to find the answers to this main question, 3 enterprises operating in the Turkish white goods sector are examined with a qualitative approach using the case study method and comparatively analyzed with descriptive analysis. The purpose of the study is to examine how white goods businesses establish a link between industry 4.0 and their competitive priorities in the process of adapting to industry 4.0, and which competitive priorities are linked to current industry 4.0 applications. It is aimed to contribute to the literature and practitioners with the findings obtained by examining the change in the process with the approach of gaining competitive advantage of the sector. Sample of the study is 3 white goods enterprises, one of which is of foreign origin and two of them are domestic, selected intentionally on purpose from among the 7 enterprises which are members of the Association of Turkey White Goods Industrialists (TÜRKBESD, 2019). The adaptation of the sample businesses to the industry 4.0 process, how the process currently works, how the connection between industry 4.0 and competitive priorities is established, and which competitive priorities of industry 4.0 applications currently used are analyzed separately, and then the analysis findings of the enterprises are compared with each other. At the end of the research, how the enterprises operating in the white goods sector adapt to industry 4.0 in the context of their competitive priorities, how they establish a link between current industry 4.0 applications and competitive priorities such as quality, efficiency, innovation, flexibility, cycle time and cost effectiveness presented.