Integration of ISM and System Dynamics to portray the antecedents and consequences of implementation of IoT in manufacturing firms

Using the Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and System Dynamics (SD) approaches, this study examines implementation of Internet of Things (IoT), its antecedents, and consequences in the context of the Indian manufacturing firms. While contemporary literature has studied implementation of IoT, its antecedents, and consequences in isolation, our endeavour to capture and highlight the interdependencies between the factors is presented below. Based on expert opinions, twelve factors linking to IoT implementation are chosen for the study. ISM is adopted to clearly demarcate the driving and dependent factors. The key cause and effect relationships between the factors are visualized using a Causal Loop Diagram (CLD). The CLD suggests that management focus (MG), Competition (CM), and the Market requirements (MK) are the key drivers of IoT, thereby leading to associated benefits like improvised partnership (PT), Technology standardization (TS), Compatibility and Reliability (CR), Product quality (PQ), and Customer Focus (CF), thereby leading to Purchase intention (PI) and Actual Purchase (AP). It’s possibly the first study of its kind in the IoT implementation literature combining ISM with SD.