A study on the interrelationships among Industry 4.0 technologies, circular economy practices and corporate social responsibility

This thesis investigates how the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies promotes corporate social responsibility (CSR) through circular economy practices (CEP) in the oil and gas sector. Despite growing attention to Industry 4.0 and circular economy (CE), the mechanisms among Industry 4.0 technologies, CEP and CSR remain underexplored, especially in high-emission industry facing complex supply chains, such as oil and gas sector. This thesis aims to fill this theoretical gap while offering practical insight for the industry. Drawing on a systematic literature review (SLR) of 60 included studies from Scopus and Web of Science and structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis method using survey data collected from the respondents across 155 Chinese oil and gas firms, this research applies the resource-based view (RBV) theory, moral responsibility theory of corporate sustainability (MRCS), and institutional theory to examine their relationships among the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies, CEP and CSR. The findings identify the increasing research interests and trends, the core Industry 4.0 technologies used in the industry to support CE, key factors and challenges influencing the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and point out future research directions. Meanwhile, it shows that the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies positively affects CSR, and CEP plays both mediating and suppressing roles in this relationship. Further analysis introduces sustainable strategies (SS) and institutional pressure (IP) as moderators, showing that in all aspects of CSR except for employees, SS can enhance CEP’s contribution to CSR, while IP indirectly strengthen this effect. This research provides theoretical contributions by integrating Industry 4.0, CE and CSR within a novel combined framework, and highlights the moderating roles of SS and IP. In practice, it provides managerial implications for firms to utilise advanced technologies and CEP to improve CSR, develop effective SS and promote responsibility to their employees.