Industry 4.0 in purchasing and supply management: Defining Future Roles and Skills

Industry 4.0 will majorly affect the required professional roles and skills in a business context. This dissertation focuses on the purchasing and supply management domain, where these new requirements will lead to radical change. Thus, this study elaborates on professionals’ competence gaps, providing evidence of altering skill requirements. In addition, a smart Industry 4.0 model is developed that covers the impact of technology on business, society, and people. From a micro foundation perspective, an increased focus on specialisation and technology-enabled working is expected. Therefore, this research defines future purchasing and supply management roles and skills, resulting in an outcome that nurtures the field’s understanding of harnessing the benefit of digitalisation. In addition, the research addresses experiential and game-based learning to provide scaffolding to teach business skills. Finally, ideas on the challenges of lifelong learning in the purchasing and supply management context are discussed.