Rethinking process management for the I4.0 era: a theoretical framework for technological and organisational integration

Purpose – This article examines how five process-management paradigms - Reengineering, Total Quality Management (TQM), Lean Manufacturing (LM), Six Sigma (SS) and Lean Six Sigma (LSS) - interact with and enable Industry 4.0 (I4.0), reconceptualising process management (PM) as a strategic lever by mapping technological and organisational variables for its adoption. Design/methodology/approach – Following PRISMA guidelines for a systematic literature review (SLR), we used Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) and conducted backward snowballing, analysing 120 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2015 and 2025. Findings – The results reveal an I4.0 implementation gap due to limited integration between process-management paradigms and socio-technical variables. We identify and systematise these variables in a structured multidimensional input-process-output (IPO) framework. Research limitations/implications – The inclusion-exclusion criteria excluded grey literature and non-English publications, and framework applicability may differ by sector and firm size, requiring further empirical validation. The IPO framework clarifies the components and interactions between social and technical variables, and provides a roadmap for managing the socio-technical complexity of I4.0 toward holistic integration. Originality/value – This review integrates PM paradigms within a unified socio-technical IPO framework, which goes beyond existing classifications by revealing paradigm-specific contributions, misalignments and complementarities across organisational and technological dimensions of I4.0 adoption.