Business relationships in digital transformation

Purpose This paper aims to clarify the relationship between typical Industry 4.0 technologies and the relationships between companies and their business networks to understand the relevance of this connection. The central point of this study is to verify the influence that existing digital technologies in the industrial segment exert on business relations. Design/methodology/approach The research opted for an exploratory study in nature and adopted a quantitative approach in a sample of companies in the Brazilian automation and robotics segment. A bibliographical research was also carried out with searches in the Scopus (Elsevier) database. Findings The paper provides empirical insights about digital technologies, typical of I4.0, can exert a significant influence on companies’ relationships with their business network. It was observed that the increase in the use of technology in the company contributes to an increase in the intensity of its economic and social relationships, and that there is a certain prevalence of each type of relationship in technological maturity. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of the article was the sample size (18 companies in the automation and robotics segment). Despite being a small number, it should be considered that there are few industrial segments that intensively use digital technologies from Industry 4.0, notably in emerging countries. Another important limitation is the impossibility of generalizing its results to the entire industrial sector. Practical implications The subject is promising because it allows the administrator of a manufacturing company to conveniently deal with the technological level of the companies in their business network and allows the manager a strategic vision of the analysis of Relationship Marketing in the business network. Originality/value This article meets a need to study how modern technology influences relationships between companies. The article is original because it manages to associate three areas of management, that is, Social Capital, Relationship Marketing and Strategic Management, and point out the coherences between them.