Adoption of Design Thinking in Industry 4.0 Project Management

Abstract

Management of Industry 4.0 projects needs to have a distinct discourse, be flexible, iterative and creative. These projects are tightly linked with the way people work which is directly related to both their capabilities and their ways of thinking. Challenging Industry 4.0 projects entail out-of-the-box thinking. The basic premise of this research is that the complex transformation accompanying Industry 4.0, which involves various dimensions, requires extensive and effective project management that can leverage novel approaches and techniques such as design thinking. This new approach may overcome the limitations of the dominant model of standard project management and has the potential to bridge the gap between a refreshed project management perspective and the tools/techniques in practical use. Deciding whether, and to what extent, design thinking needs to be adopted in practice in Industry 4.0 project management is a challenge. However, it is time to start exploring the challenges governing the interface between agile approaches such as design thinking and Industry 4.0 project management. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.