La industria 4.0 y la transformación digitalel efecto sinérgico de la responsabilidad social corporativa y el capital humano en el marco de los objetivos de desarrollo del milenio

Abstract

During the 1970s, profound transformations began to take place, driven by process automation and based on advanced electricity and information technologies. This period of transformation was called the "Digital Revolution," associated with the Third Industrial Revolution. Due to increased research and development, new technologies have been invented at a faster pace, accelerating change and, in order to improve productivity in companies, education, health, etc. This has led to a new period of transformation, characterized by the full adoption of digitization and the capacity for machines to operate autonomously and behave independently, a period of the current era, related to the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution or the so-called Industry 4.0. These transformations have been carried out thanks to Digital transformation, since through the evolution of digital tools that enable transformation processes, the last two revolutions have been able to take place. However, Digital transformation is not only the implementation of technologies such as Blockchain, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, the Internet of Things, and Cloud Computing, it requires a profound change in organizational thinking so that it can be embraced internally from top management to employees, suppliers, and customers. Another concept of interest for this Doctoral Thesis is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). According to some academics, the concept emerged in the 1930s and 1940s when the social performance of corporations began to be taken into account. CSR is becoming increasingly important, as it includes different aspects of relevance for different stakeholder, such as the environment, human rights, and the country's economy. Regarding the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), they were established by the member countries of the United Nations (UN) at the beginning of the 2000s, with the aim of jointly combating extreme poverty, inequality, infant and maternal mortality, and striving for the improvement of universal health and education through a global alliance for development. In order to achieve this, the business sector was included as a key actor with direct participation. That is why, through CSR, companies can help to achieve the different MDGs. Implementing the different concepts explained requires a greater Human capital, which was defined in the 1950s as a set of skills, abilities, experience, know-how, and knowledge of the personnel working in an organization. In this research study, the types of human capital are analyzed, specifically the Value of Human capital and the Uniqueness of Human capital, and their benefit in achieving competitive advantages in companies, which are ultimately the essential resource for implementing organizational changes to adapt to the current environment. Therefore, this study proposes a hypothesis model that analyzes the relationships between the achievement of the MDGs, CSR, Digital transformation, Industry 4.0, Human capital, and the Firm performance generated as benefits from the implementation and development of the specified variables within companies. The hypothesis model was tested with a sample of 150 executives in positions such as Operations/Production Director, HR Director, CSR Director, Logistics Director, and Technology Director, as they are the individuals with knowledge in the different areas of interest in the topic of this thesis. As additional characteristics, the companies come from different sectors of the economy and are of diverse sizes, in order to include in the study perceptions from different organizational characteristics. The methodology used to test the hypothesis is Partial Least Squares (PLS), which employs Structural Equations, for which SmartPLS 3.0 software was used. With regard to the results obtained, a positive relationship was observed between the following variables: achievement of the MDGs, CSR, Digital transformation, Industry 4.0, and Human capital. However, the relationships that showed negative direct effects in the empirical study were between Digital Transformation and Industry 4.0, Digital Transformation and Firm performance, achievement of the MDGs and Firm performance, Human Capital and Industry 4.0, and Human Capital and Firm performance. Notwithstanding, these relationships achieved positive effects through CSR intermediation. In the specific case of the relationship between achievement of the MDGs and CSR, the Human capital variable was necessary to achieve positive effects. At the end of the study, the conclusions of the research are related, including the conclusions of the Literature Review and the conclusions of the empirical study. Then, the contributions of the research work and its implications for managers are highlighted. In addition, the main limitations of the study and future lines of research have been identified.