Purpose

A positive outlook on the impact of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) on sustainability prevails in the literature. However, some studies have highlighted potential areas of concern that have not yet been systematically addressed. The goal of this study is to challenge the assumption of a sustainable Fourth Industrial Revolution by (1) identifying the possible unintended negative impacts of I4.0 technologies on sustainability; (2) highlighting the underlying motivations and potential actions to mitigate such impacts; and (3) developing and evaluating alternative assumptions on the impacts of I4.0 technologies on sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on a problematization approach, a systematic literature review was conducted to develop potential alternative assumptions about the negative impacts of I4.0 on sustainability. Then, a Delphi study was carried out with 43 experts from academia and practice to evaluate the alternative assumptions. Two rounds of data collection were performed until reaching the convergence or stability of the responses.

Findings

The results highlight various unintended negative effects on environmental and social aspects that challenge the literature. The reasons behind the high/low probability of occurrence, the severity of each impact in the next five years and corrective actions are also identified. Unintended negative environmental effects are less controversial than social effects and are therefore more likely to generate widely accepted theoretical propositions. Finally, the alternative hypothesis ground is partially accepted by the panel, indicating that the problematization process has effectively opened up new perspectives for analysis.

Originality/value

This study is one of the few to systematically problematize the assumptions of the I4.0 and sustainability literature, generating research propositions that reveal several avenues for future research.

中文翻译：

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工业4.0的“阴暗面”：如何使技术更具可持续性？

目的

文献中普遍对工业 4.0 (I4.0) 对可持续发展的影响持积极看法。然而，一些研究强调了尚未系统解决的潜在关注领域。本研究的目标是通过以下方式挑战可持续第四次工业革命的假设：(1) 确定 I4.0 技术对可持续性可能产生的意外负面影响；(2) 强调减轻此类影响的潜在动机和潜在行动；(3) 制定和评估 I4.0 技术对可持续性影响的替代假设。

设计/方法论/途径

基于问题化方法，进行了系统的文献综述，以制定有关 I4.0 对可持续性负面影响的潜在替代假设。然后，由来自学术界和实践界的 43 名专家进行了德尔菲研究，以评估替代假设。进行两轮数据收集，直到达到响应的收敛或稳定性。

发现

结果强调了对环境和社会方面的各种意想不到的负面影响，这对文献提出了挑战。还确定了发生的高/低概率背后的原因、未来五年内每种影响的严重程度以及纠正措施。与社会影响相比，意外的负面环境影响争议较小，因此更有可能产生广泛接受的理论命题。最后，替代假设基础被专家组部分接受，表明问题化过程有效地开辟了新的分析视角。

原创性/价值

这项研究是系统地对 I4.0 和可持续性文献的假设提出问题的少数研究之一，提出了揭示未来研究的几种途径的研究命题。