Leveraging on quality management and Industry 4.0 capabilities to promote industrial decarbonization practices: a review and novel framework

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how important and correlated organizational capabilities are around the three subject areas of Quality Management (QM), Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and industrial decarbonization (ID). In addition, to support decision-makers with the creation of interdisciplinary frameworks for sustainable operations management. Design/methodology/approach This research develops a basis from a comprehensive literature review. Furthermore, the methodology applies structured data assessment grounded on quantitative analysis, coding, synthesis and interpretation, to propose a novel taxonomy and a framework. Findings Initially, 68 QM, 49 I4.0 and 30 ID capabilities are identified, spanning across categories that touch several spheres, such as leadership, technical, financial, cultural and human. Consequently, there is a potential in leveraging I4.0 technologies to achieve substantial advantages in operational performance and decarbonization, while advocating for a shift toward Sustainable Development Goals. Subsequently, a unified framework is created containing 49 unified capabilities, promoting the nexus between the three subject areas and underscoring the critical enablers in operational performance and carbon reduction strategies. Originality/value There is a limited number of empirical studies on capability interdependencies over the three pillars of operational excellence, I4.0 and decarbonization. Moreover, their influence on long-term competitiveness and the company’s subsistence is quite unexplored. The uniqueness of this research lies in offering decision-makers and experts a tool for the identification of one, two or three-directional capabilities that not only provide the given operational benefits but could lead to other potential gains in decarbonization and sustainable performance.