On the evolution of regional efficiency potentials

In the presented article, business organizations are regarded as knowledge processing socio-technical systems being confronted with challenges stemming from digitization. These systems involve both physical entities and social relations, and most of the current approaches on Industry 4.0 are putting emphasis on the technical side while neglecting the process of decision making. This article offers a perspective on efficiency potentials within a region (i.e. the transfer of effective management decisions), drawing on an evolution metaphor in order to argue for the need of a new management framework. This framework is to be based on a technological platform in order to facilitate coordination. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.