Abstract
This doctoral thesis investigates how social sustainability can be operationalized and integrated
within the digital transformation of Italian manufacturing firms, aligning with the Industry 5.0
paradigm. Building on a Resource-Based View (RBV) perspective, the research identifies and
classifies Social Sustainability Practices (SSPs) through a Systematic Literature Review, empirically tests the impact of Industry 4.0 technologies on employee well-being and performance using a quantitative model, and explores, through qualitative methods, the tangible and intangible organizational assets that enable or hinder the shift toward human-centricity. The findings
demonstrate that social sustainability and technological innovation are not mutually exclusive but
can reinforce each other when supported by strategic HRM and organizational design. The thesis
provides theoretical contributions to the RBV by framing intangible assets-such as trust, well-being,
and participative leadership-as key resources for sustaining competitive advantage in Industry 5.0,
and offers practical guidelines for managers to embed human-centric values into digital strategies.