| dc.description.abstract | The emergence of Industry 4.0 is changing the competitive landscape, thus presumably
changing the resources commenced by Multinational Enterprises to sustain competitive
advantage. By reason of the Resource Based View, prior research has stressed the importance
of resources controlled by the firm as producers of sustained competitive advantage, which are
consequently assumed heterogenous (not available to competitors) and immobile
(nontransferable). However, additional stream of the Resource Based View recognize resources
that are not exclusively controlled by the firm. Through a holistic perspective, this research
study has evaluated a case study population in order to find eminent Industry 4.0 trends
addressed by Swedish Multinational Enterprises. Consequently, a multiple case study has been
chosen including Volvo, Ericsson, and H&M, where identified trends have been crossreferenced
to find shared meaning. The findings suggest that, beside internal resources,
Multinational Enterprises recognizes external resources and/or resources that do not entirely
satisfy the criteria of heterogeneity and immobility as producers of sustained competitive
advantage alike. The identified resources include Partnerships & collaborations, Synergies,
Employees, the Internet of Things, Big Data, and Artificial Intelligence. Likewise, variations
within the case study population suggest Multinational Enterprises address sustained
competitive advantage in Industry 4.0 by virtue of their technological density. Conclusively,
the purpose of this research study is to enhance the knowledge about MNE sustained
competitive advantage in the fourth industrial revolution, thus, yield contribution to Resource
Based View literature. | sv |
