The Use of PLS-SEM in Engineering: A Tool to Apply the Design Science

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter was to make the methodological connections between PLS-SEM and Engineering through Design Science. The adaptability of the PLS-SEM method to different contexts demonstrates its flexibility in different knowledge areas positioning it as a “border” tool, once it can consolidate different science fields, becoming useful in contexts where the limits between one science field and another are not well known, as Industry 4.0, or even in the large data volume, as Big Data. This was exploratory research with a qualitative-quantitative approach. It was conducted in three steps: first, describing the principles of Design Science and PLS-SEM; second, presenting the principles of Design Science and PLS-SEM to 15 professionals and professors from different engineering fields to opine about the principles’ adhesion; and third, conducting a systematic review through an adaptation of the theory of the consolidated meta-analytical approach. It can be perceived that the studies involving the use of PLS-SEM in Engineering have been growing in the literature and that Design Science as an area research approach has an adhesion of the partial least square structural equation modeling concepts. Thus, the PLS-SEM is a tool that can contribute relevantly to the interaction challenges between distinct areas.