ABSTRACT

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is paving the way for new and disruptive approaches to managing operations, innovation, and supply chains. Africa cannot ignore this revolution and afford to stand by while the rest of the world moves forward. In this paper, I invite scholars in the broader field of operations management and innovation to take part in the dialogue, undertake research to advance Africa in the 4IR era, publish their work to ensure that what happens in Africa does not remain in Africa, and inspire or be inspired by others around the world. Consequently, I provide an overview of four papers that were presented at the second African Operations Management Conference in 2019. The conference was hosted by the University of South Africa in partnership with the Africa Automation Fair. These papers focus on the readiness of academic institutions to produce graduates that possess 4IR skill sets, the options available to firms to manage their dependency on suppliers’ supply chain innovation, the design dimensions that impact a supply chain network to perform effectively and operate with resilience while facing disruptions, and the individual components of contractor commitment to incorporate into the decision-making process to deliver road infrastructure projects in a sustainable and socially responsible manner.

摘要

第四次工业革命 (4IR) 正在为管理运营、创新和供应链的全新颠覆性方法铺平道路。非洲不能忽视这场革命，也不能在世界其他地区向前发展时袖手旁观。在本文中，我邀请运营管理和创新更广泛领域的学者参与对话，开展研究以推动 4IR 时代的非洲发展，发表他们的工作以确保在非洲发生的事情不会留在非洲，以及启发或受到世界各地其他人的启发。因此，我概述了在 2019 年第二届非洲运营管理会议上发表的四篇论文。 该会议由南非大学与非洲自动化博览会合作主办。