Managing European R&D projects in the Industry 4.0 context: the perspective of a small consulting firm

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the processes and key factors that characterize the management of European projects related to Industry 4.0 (I4.0) by small consulting firms. The topics small firms, European projects and I4.0 are inter-related at the light of the growing interest of both towards a broader understanding of the role of small consulting firms in helping industrial clients in I4.0 related projects and, of the European Framework Programmes (FPs) for Research and Development which fund projects related to Industry 4.0 enabling technologies. Therefore, the motivation for this study stems from a research gap in literature on projects regards the role played by other key business actors, such as small consulting firms, in I4.0 projects funded by the European community, also considering the challenging scenario in which they have to develop their competencies. Notably, given the explorative nature of the research project, this study used a qualitative methodology based on longitudinal single case study (Chapter III) aimed to investigate the resource development process implemented by consulting firms in order to offer their services to customers in the I4.0 domain and, a multiple case study (Chapter IV) in order to gain a deeper understanding of the development process of European funding projects related to Industry 4.0 enabling technologies. Notably, the empirical analysis relies on the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) approach as the main conceptual framework and in particular on the 4Rs and ARA models as they can guide research on both the processes of resource development and assembly, offering a useful perspective in understanding the process of combining different organizational, knowledge and technological resources in the development of new offerings, as well as exploring the nature of multiple networks and the interactive processes in which the focal firm is embedded. This thesis takes the form of a collection of papers and is structured into five chapters. Chapter I introduce the topics, sets the theoretical framework, and describe the research methodology. Chapter II analyzes the state of art of research on topic “Project management and SMEs” with the aim of map the knowledge base, the conceptual structure, and the main themes for outline future lines of investigation. Chapter III is aimed to investigate the resource development processes implemented by consulting firms pursuing the innovation path to develop solutions within I4.0 domain. Chapter IV investigates how interaction SMEs – small consulting firm affected the development process of Industry 4.0 related EU funding project focusing on projects undertaken between SMEs and a consulting firm as they cooperate to get funds from FPs. Chapter V summarizes the findings of the chapters and discusses them by relating them to each other and then concluding with observations, managerial and policy implications, and finally highlighting the limitations of the study. This study contributes to a) literature on innovation processes related to I4.0 considering the case of the small consulting firm trying to reposition itself as a solution provider by undertaking innovative projects; b) IMP research tradition on projects trying to conceptualize the phenomenon of interaction within projects; c) the literature on SMEs and European Projects showing as the limits to innovation could be overcome leveraging the ad hoc calls for proposals.