Variegated digitalisation Comparing digital trajectories in two I4.0 manufactures in Northern Italy

This paper explores empirically the digital trajectories implemented by two German owned manufacture plants in Northern Italy Both firms, global leaders sports cars and high-tech room air conditioners, respectively, are inspired by lean principles and the I4 0 paradigm, but characterized by different industrial relations, business models, type of product and broader industrial environment Results suggest that, while a predominance of digital shadow can be found in both cases, the reasons leading to that outcome differ sensibly: in one case participation of unions to decision making processes seems to be a key element; in the other, the degree of automatization is constrained by production volumes and product type These findings make the case for a “varieties of digitalisation” argument, where digital trajectories are not determined by the technological potential of innovations, but can be seen as the outcome of different dynamic and polymorphic “variegated” process, involving different sets of rationales.