“…Vertical integration denotes connecting and integrating all micro‐components of an organization, establishing seamless data interchange across various business units, from warehousing to smart production systems (Tabim et al, 2021). While the enabling role of vertical integration remains unchanged for Industry 5.0, the scope and implication of horizontal integration extend to stakeholder integration under this phenomenon (Alexa et al, 2022). Contrary to Industry 4.0 that focuses on horizontal integration of all supply chain modules, Industry 5.0 entails the horizontal integration of the underlying smart components and stakeholders for a given value network, including smart business units (e.g., adaptive smart factories), customers, distributors, suppliers, technology providers, government bodies, local communities, and labor unions (Akundi et al, 2022; Renda et al, 2022).…”