Study Of Role Of Digitization In Sustainable Business In Auto Industry In India Using Thematic Content Analysis, Spearman Analysis And Review Of Literature

Progress in digital technologies and Cyber physical technologies in last one decade has created immense opportunities for business firms and companies to adopt sustainable practices in their end to end business cycle. This is helping business to conserve the various resources like energy, material ,manual efforts, water and contributing to lower cost of goods sold ,ultimately making the balance sheet and profit and loss account green and healthy. The consumer and NGO pressures , Government rules and regulations and depleting resources is also acting as a trigger for businesses to adopt sustainability. Digitization is helping companies in achieving the sustainability aspect in their operations ,supply chain and other parts of the business. This paper is based on the interaction and interviews with 40 business leaders from Automobile industry in India during the last 2 years and literature study of digitization and sustainability goals and other related research articles. The interview output was analyzed using thematic sematic analysis (TMC) and collaborated with finding from review of literate. The study concluded that there is enough positive and significant relationship between Digitization and sustainability ( Sustainable business) in Auto industry in India.

We consider this Hybrid methodology to be unique in analyzing the unstructured interview data , thematic analysis shows the prominent variables with relationship probability while Spearman Co-efficient establishes statistically the relationship. This leaves no doubt on outcomes or conclusion as thematic analysis is supported by statistical analysis .
The subject size for unstructured interview was 40 and consisted of : Randomness in this unstructured discussion and interviewed helped to remove the bias and typical safeguarded answers from client executives. Moreover, most of these visits in last 2 year to client place /office/Factories were for Presales ,client relationship and proposals not related to sustainability. The visits were more related to ERP implementation, but this opportunity was used to gauge the sustainability initiatives going on in the organization from strategy to execution.
The input from these unstructured reviews were followed by review of literature on digitalization and sustainability. The qualitative study was done with the sole aim of checking the importance businesses are giving to sustainability angles and the various initiave goings in sustainability areas using digitization.

Thematic content analysis (TCA) Methodology
TCA as it is known in qualitative data analysis is a well-known technique for converting the open interview /unstructured interview from the participants into logical and structural analysis. While the process of labelling ,coding and themes can be achieved using simple tools like excel , there are special software's like Altos and freeware to analyses and interpreted the Thematic control analysis.
Irrespective of the tools used , the TCA provides common themes by identifying the patterns from the data collected. The researcher analyses and principates the details from selected list of common themes to give credentials to the participants of view across various interviewed. The coding by the researchers make very reasonable attempt to directly capture the view of the respondent .While coding and labelling by the researchers have some flexibility in terms of "Interpretation" . it is bare minimum so as to not to deviate from the input received. The Spearman's rank coefficient of correlation is a nonparametric measure of rank correlation (statistical dependence of ranking between two variables).
For the calculation and significance testing of the ranking variable, it requires the following data assumption to hold true: • Interval or ratio level • Linearly related • Bivariant distributed If your data doesn't meet the above assumptions, then you would need Spearman's Coefficient. It is necessary to know what monotonic function is to understand Spearman correlation coefficient. A monotonic function is one that either never decreases or never increases as it is an independent variable increase. A monotonic function can be explained using the image below: The image explains three concepts in monotonic function: 1. Monotonically increasing: When the 'x' variable increases and the 'y' variable never decreases. 2. Monotonically decreasing: When the 'x' variable increases but the 'y' variable never increases 3. Not monotonic: When the 'x' variable increases and the 'y' variable sometimes increases and sometimes decreases. Monotonic relation is less restrictive when compared to a linear relationship that is used in Pearson's coefficient. Although monotonicity is not the ultimate requirement for Spearman correlation coefficient, it will not be meaningful to pursue Spearman's correlation without actually determining the strength and direction of a monotonic relationship if it was already known that the relationship between the variable is non-monotonic.
Spearman correlation coefficient: Formula n= number of data points of the two variables di= difference in ranks of the "ith" element The Spearman Coefficient,⍴, can take a value between +1 to -1 where, • A ⍴ value of +1 means a perfect association of rank Study Of Role Of Digitization In Sustainable Business In Auto Industry In India Using Thematic Content Analysis, Spearman Analysis And Review Of Literature.
• A ⍴ value of 0 means no association of ranks • A ⍴ value of -1 means a perfect negative association between rank Literature review :

Vinit Parida ,David Sjödin & Wiebke Reim
(2019) in their study tried to come out with a framework for communicating and setting the direction for digitization ,Business models and sustainability. The article points out that the amount of productivity gains and savings using digital technology is significant and at the same time it is contributing to Sustainability by conserving the resources using the digital technology stride.
Carmen Isensee et tal (2020) in their reasrch could found ten links among business culture ,Sustainability and digitization. They have contributed a new concept of Green digitalization tools emphasizing the importance of digitization in sustainability adoption in Mid and SME companies. Marlen Gabriele Arnold $ Anne Fischer (2019) in their research article do agree that in current years the duo of digitization and sustainability has emerged as one of the key initiave. However, they also caution that there are both opportunities and threats connected with this approach. They found comprehensive analysis of strength ,opportunities ,weakness and threats is not clearly available. Only positive side of digitization and sustainability is studies but there is scope to complete the entire four quadrants in a quest to understand the overall picture. There attempt to show two examples of digitization and sustainability going hand and hands shows both a progressive pattern as well as some form of tensions in certain areas.
Yasanur Kayikci,(2018) in his research article has emphasized that digitization in the supply chain not only brings benefits of productivity ,agility ,transparency and speed but also the sustainability impact of digitization on supply chain or logistics. He has highlighted that the digitization has helped in reduction of CO2 emission, air and noise pollution, less fuel consumption , less land for transportation as well as social factors of sustainability got benefited through lesser impact of health hazards ,safety on the road ,fuel efficient vehicles ;Labour pattern changes and types of work. (2019) in their reasrch article stress that entire logistics chain or supply chain have a very high impact on sustainability as it can make the company's entire logistics chain green or sustainable. They also mention that digitization has come handy to achieve this "Green" part of logistics chain for companies. They cite examples of various digital technologies including digital applications , Process automation ,AI ,Blockchain and big data as some of the digital technologies which are helping to make the business supply chain a sustainable and greener one.

Nada R. Sanders et tal
Morteza Ghobakhloo (2020) in his research paper tried to construct structural model which could interpret the contextual relationship between industry 4.0 sustainability aspects. The study found a very significant relationship exists among various sustainability elements of industry 4.0 adoption. He has pointed out that industry 4.0 is defiantly contributing to sustainability by outcomes such as energy efficiency , emission reduction and social welfare and social improvements.

Middleton, K.
(2005) shares his experience which is not an industry one but related to the institutions like libraries , reference archives ,Heritage material which was carried out in USA during 2005. The vast amount of physical papers was converted into digital one using scanning ,digital metadata , various digital formats and software applications. This has helped to create a digital ,paperless knowledge base which was easy to use ,search was better , organization was easy. The study points out that this was a ,type of sustainability initiative as it has reduced the efforts ,resources, easy access to learners ,student and professors ,long term durability ,creating a sustainable digital repository. It may seem an odd example in this paper , but I thought of including this to demonstrate the outreach of digital and sustainability connection. However study also pointed out that this context changes with the industry and the viability and future also changes due to various hurdles in strategizing and implementing these initiatives. The article clearly points to the advantages which industry 4.0 can bring in sustainability area for the business which crosses economical benefits and enters ecology ,social and environmental domain. (2019) in their article has opposed the very basic fundamental that digitization and sustainability goes hand in hand and given a new perspective. This is exactly opposite to the widely accepted idea of digitalization helping sustainable operations. They call for a more pragmatic and innovative shift in sustainability study in the context of digitization. The digitization according to their study also results in substantial environmental damage to produce the digital devices , e-waste generation and use of increasing electricity. This inbuilt carbon footprint of digital needs to be considered while assessing the role of digitization in sustainability. According to me this is a fair assumption and the total carbon footprint also needs to include these components while arriving at net carbon footprint under an initiative.

Adi Kuntsman & Imogen Rattle
Ang Liu ,Qinghai Zhu and setfan seuring (2020) in a special issue on new technology and implication of the same on sustainability in business ,factory and supply chain found that the new technologies are playing important role in business as well as having a god impact on sustainability. They also found that the new digital technology research is often limited to one or two technology and their effect on sustainability of the business. They have suggested a comprehensive approach wherein all the related new digital technologies are evaluated with respect it impacts and correlation with sustainability in manufacturing and logistics. They also pinpointed that the approach should consider all the three tenants of sustainability environmental ,social and financials and a need to balance all these three. Here they are also hinting at weighing Pros and cons as well as ROI (Rate of return).The editors of this articles also found that many researchers use different conceptual model to come out with valuable finding. The suggestion is to have a framework which can accommodate multiple technologies related to manufacturing .logistics ,SCM and sales and apply it for a more comprehensive study where generalizations can become much simpler. The authors call for new models of research including simulations and game theory for realistic and pragmatic studies in these areas/ Stefan Seidel, Jan Recker and Jan vom Brocke (2013) in their article shared experience of a software solutions who has helped customer to implement business processes and practices which were sustainable in nature. The solution provided took care of conservation aspects of the sustainability in the day today operations in designing and implementing the system. Based on this the authors developed a structured framework while using information or digital systems which can help companies to adopt sustainable practices in most of their operations. The suggested framework included awareness and understanding of the current and incoming environmental requirements , developing ecofriendly and employee friendly standard practices or operating processes , Conceptualize, design and implement any digital information systems on the basis of above two requirements and last point was regarding successful execution of these software's to adopt sustainability Parida V, Sjödin D & Reim W.(2019) in their article acknowledge that any digital initiative execution is a challenging one and requires commitment which is ongoing and extend to continuous improvement even after implementation. The authors point out that sustainable industry is one of the objective or goal in this long journey wherein success depends on careful planning and aiming on economic ,social and sustainable benefits over a period. The digitization helps in automation; elimination of error prone tasks ,increases efficiency ,reduces waste and conserve resources leading to gains in quality and optimum usage of resources , thus increasing the sustainability of operations. Author suggest that sustainability should be addressed from product design to end of product Lifecyle taking care of health and safety of all the stakeholders

Opazo-Basáez M, Vendrell-Herrero F, Justina .(2018)
. Their article emphasize that automobile is one of the primary industries which casts critical impact on environment and as such digitization and sustainability agenda has been on radar of automotive companies for a long time. The authors points out that alogwith servitization ,automotive companies are widely adopting green practices using digital platforms and digital software's to monitor and control the sustainable projects or programs which helps in reduction in waste ,emission ,energy conservation ,water management and health and safety at workplace.
Review of selected literature on Digitization and sustainability clearly establishes a significant correlation between these two. Considering the importance of conservations of resources , stringent government regulation , consumer pressure ,brand image and to have competitive edge , more and more companies are adopting twin strategy of digitization and sustainability.

Analysis of Open interviews Data
The 40 unstructured open interviews of Automotive business leaders consisted of following questions and labels to codify the response.  The Responses from 40 random auto leaders were analyzed using labelling

L Purchasing
Combining review of literature findings as well as qualitative analysis based on 40 Automobile leaders unstructured review & analysis clearly indicates a positive and significant relationship between sustainability and digitalization. However, this needs statistical backing. We have decided to back this using Spearman Nonparametric Co-relation coefficient. Though the thematic analysis shows the corresponding changes (Up/down) with the help of graphical and numerical representation , it is not considered enough from reasrch point to define the direction and degree of relationship between the variables under study.
Based on extensive discussions and review of literature , we have decided to go for Spearman Nonparametric correlation estimation for establishing a statistically significant relationship between 1. Digitization and sustainability 2. Industry 4.0 and sustainability

Spearman Nonparametric Co-relation Coefficient
Spearman's correlation measures the strength and direction of monotonic association between two variables. Monotonicity is "less restrictive" than that of a linear relationship.
A monotonic relationship is not strictly an assumption of Spearman's correlation. That is, you can run a Spearman's correlation on a non-monotonic relationship to determine if there is a monotonic component to the association. However, you would normally pick a measure of association, such as Spearman's correlation, that fits the pattern of the observed data. That is, if a scatterplot shows that the relationship between your two variables looks monotonic you would run a Spearman's correlation because this will then measure the strength and direction of this monotonic relationship. On the other hand if, for example, the relationship appears linear (assessed via scatterplot) you would run a Pearson's correlation because this will measure the strength and direction of any linear relationship.
We have analyzed the interview data for Digitization initiave ,Sustainability and Industry 4.0. The paired data comparison for 40 interviews for these variables is done. First step in this was to plat the trend diagrams. The trends diagrams for the paired variables are given below: Based on the trend pattern , it was decided to use Spearman's Co-efficient rather than Pearson co-efficient for analysis as the trend diagrams shows a Monotonic and uniform patterns.

Findings and observations from interviews with Business leaders
The interviews and discussions with 40 business leaders' overs a span of 2 years bought about significant insights with respect to digitization and sustainability initiatives in Automobile industry in India.
• There is significant positive relationship between digitization ans sustainability (68 to77%) after removing the biases in interview reposes.

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There is significant positive relationship between Industry 4.0n and sustainability (78 to 69 %) after removing the biases in interview reposes. • Almost all those interviewed agreed that sustainability has become one of the strategic points alogwith business growth in last 10 years. • Almost 100 % of the companies have CSR (Corporate social responsibility) initiatives in one or the other from and they are getting reported in company's annual report. • Almost 90 % of the interviewed informed that digitization coupled with sustainability goals are going on in their organization and they are in various stages of implementation. • Shop floor automation ,Supply chain & Green purchasing , these 3 areas are found to be under implementation in at least 60% of the respondent. Balance respondent did not elaborate much on these but nodded it is on their agenda. • Many leaders still found connecting digitization and sustainability clearly as the software and physical actions part of sustainability often confuse them. • Most of the leaders are aware of different standards for sustainability , however they could not elaborate much on the details. • Some of the leaders suggested , that this is focus area but requires expert guidance and lot of investment.
( which is not true if we weigh the Pros and cons). • Business leaders were found to be more aware of benefits due to sustainability than the IT leaders interviewed. • 80% of the leaders say that industry 4.0 and IOT are still far away as currently only proof of concept or some sample projects are going on.

Limitation of the study :
• The answers during the interview sometimes were found to be influenced by their position ,company's image and sharing of confidential information. • Sample size of the interview was 40 but it was a random sample and considering that there are only 10 major OEM manufacturers n India , we thought it to be representative. • No detail elaboration on sustainability initiave was shared. It was brief answers on a high level.(Probability not to divulge details due to confidentiality) Future Scope : • A full-blown study on digitization and sustainability in various industries including Automobile can help further to understand the correlation ,impact and Return on investment in detail. Full blown study here means multiple technology and entire product value chain study and not an isolated part to get a clear picture. • Sustainability benchmarking for the current state of the business is still an issue and there are no industry specific frameworks available to calculate the current state and plan for the further steps in digitization and sustainability. • Though there are certain measures like CO2 emission ,Carbon footprint ,waste generated amount available , a detailed scorecard covering design to end of lifecycle needs to be put in place. Complete Key performance indicators for sustainability is the need of the hour. • Digitization itself is creating some environmental issues like e-waste ,consumption of more electricity , these also needs to be factored in research on digitization and sustainability.