Achieving market performance via Industry 4.0 enabled dynamic marketing capability, sustainable human resource management, and circular product design

Abstract

Business-to-business (B2B) firms are striving to sustain market growth and share in dynamic marketing environment with an increasing need to protect natural resources in era of sustainability and industry 4.0. Although many firms have adapted industry 4.0 technologies, circular economy and sustainability practices in their business activities, but to sustain market growth is still a challenge. They need dynamic capabilities to face the current dynamic market instead of just resources and their capabilities. This study empirically examines whether Industry 4.0-enabled dynamic marketing capabilities and sustainable human resource management (SHRM) can enable firms to implement circular product design strategies and further improve market performance. The proposed framework is based on a dynamic capability view (DCV) and tested by structural equation modeling using survey data from 424 Indian B2B manufacturing firms. The findings show that SHRM promotes Industry 4.0-enabled dynamic marketing capabilities (IDMC); IDMC and SHRM both support implementation of circular product design strategies. Circular product design is supposed to facilitate IDMC to expand market performance. But, IDMC alone is also enough to significantly enhance market performance, despite the combined positive effect of circular product design and SHRM on market performance. These findings contribute to better understanding on what type of dynamic capabilities of organizational resources should be developed and utilized to improve market performance. The study helps firms to develop dynamic marketing capabilities such as circular product design strategies, SHRM and IDMC for helping them in improving market performance while also growing sustainably.