Lean–Industry 4.0 Synergy in the Moroccan Automotive Sector: A PLS-SEM Analysis of Organisational and Competitive Performance
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Nedra SALEM National School of Commerce and Management, Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Tangier, Morocco
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Youssef AL MERIOUH National School of Commerce and Management, Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Tangier, Morocco
This study examines Lean Management–Industry 4.0 integration in the Moroccan automotive sector using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and survey data from 263 managers and professionals involved in Lean and/or Industry 4.0 implementation. The results show that Lean–Industry 4.0 integration is not directly associated with significantly higher continuous process improvement and production flexibility. Organisational and cultural challenges are negatively associated with these outcomes, whereas training and change-management capabilities are positively associated with them. Continuous process improvement and production flexibility are, in turn, positively associated with competitive advantage. Complementary structural relationships further show that technological integration, implementation complexity, training, and organisational challenges coexist within the broader transformation process. These findings support a socio-technical interpretation in which organisational and human capabilities accompany technological integration and are associated with continuous-improvement outcomes.
From an applied economic perspective, the findings suggest that capability development and continuous improvement may contribute to more efficient use of labour and installed capital and, when diffused across firms and suppliers, may support productivity upgrading, regional value creation, and the attractiveness of Moroccan automotive industrial zones to foreign direct investment. These broader economic effects are interpreted as implications of the firm-level results rather than as directly estimated macroeconomic effects. Policy implications therefore emphasize combining Industry 4.0 investment incentives with workforce training, organisational-readiness measures, supplier development, and measurable productivity targets.
Copyright© 2026 The Author(s). This article is distributed under the terms of the license CC-BY 4.0., which permits any further distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article’s History: Received 9th of July, 2026; Revised 24th of August, 2026; Accepted 12th of September; Available online: 30th of September, 2026. Published as an article in Volume XXI, Fall, Issue 4(94), 2026.
Salem, N., & Al Meriouh, Y. (2026). Lean–Industry 4.0 Synergy in the Moroccan Automotive Sector: A PLS-SEM Analysis of Organisational and Competitive Performance. Journal of Applied Economic Sciences, Volume XXI, Fall, 4(94), 1267-1296. https://doi.org/10.57017/jaes.v21.4(94).09
CRediT Authorship Contribution Statement: Salem, N.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Al Meriouh, Y.: Supervision, Validation, Methodological guidance, Writing – review & editing.
Acknowledgments/Funding: The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Data Availability Statement: The statistical outputs supporting the measurement-model, structural-model, bootstrapping, indirect-effect, and predictive-performance analyses are available in a supplementary workbook accompanying the online version of this article. The respondent-level dataset is not publicly deposited because public data sharing was not documented as part of the participant consent process. Anonymized data may be available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, subject to applicable confidentiality and ethical considerations.
Ethical Approval Statement: The study involved a voluntary questionnaire survey of professional respondents and did not collect sensitive personal or medical information. Participation was voluntary, and informed consent was obtained from all respondents. The authors report that, under the institutional requirements applicable to this study, formal ethical approval was not required.
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