An Investigation to the Industry 4.0 Readiness of Manufacturing Enterprises: The Ongoing Problems of Information Systems Strategic Misalignment

The visions of what constitutes Industry 4.0 is an industry based on gains in efficiency and productivity enhancements supported by integrated, smart information systems. This has caused information systems strategic misalignment that present a severe barrier to national and organizational aspirations. This paper studies the readiness of manufacturing companies for Industry 4.0 by using a case study of Chinese multinational enterprise in the aluminum production sector. The research design follows a rigorous grounded theory approach, which consisted of 41 semi-structured interviews in 7 different company branches. Based on this case study, the paper proposes an IS strategic misalignment model that identifies three levels of misalignment that need to be resolved before the vision of the smart industry can be realized. Six main categories of causes and five main categories of consequences of IS strategic misalignment are presented. This study contributes to the IS alignment literature and provides important implications for the achievement of Industry 4.0 in practice.