Examining Industry 4.0 through the lens of human resource and knowledge management: Implications for SMEs

The change caused by Industry 4.0 (I4.0) has fundamentally changed our lives and operations of organisations. The objective of the article is to reveal whether I4.0 implementation supports human workforces, knowledge sharing and knowledge storage in case of Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The data were obtained from 122 completed questionnaires out of 152 requests. The analysis is based on quantitative methodology, relationship analyses (Cramer’s V) were used. The study was conducted in 2021 with the participation of Hungarian SMEs’ leaders. Based on the results it can be concluded that the implementation of I4.0 technologies supports human workforces in SMEs. In addition, our study reveals that collaborative technologies and social media were implemented to support knowledge sharing in SMEs. At the same time, knowledge storage is not the primary purpose of implementing I4.0 technologies in SMEs. From a theoretical perspective, it contributes to enriching the empirical evidence on implementing I4.0 technologies and their impact on supporting human resources. From a practical point of view, the research identifies those I4.0 technologies that support SMEs in knowledge sharing. Collaborative technologies and social media can be implemented in order to advance the fields of Collaboration, Communication and Connecting. The originality of our research is given by the fact that, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that examines the aspects of I4.0 technologies in terms of human resource and knowledge sharing and storage in Hungarian SMEs.