Dwelling within the fourth industrial revolution: organizational learning for new competences, processes and work cultures

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to address the relevance and impact of the fourth industrial revolution through a theoretical and practical perspective. The authors present both the results of a literature review, highlighting the new competences required in innovative workplaces and a pivotal case, which explores challenges and skill models diffused in industry 4.0, describing the role of proper organizational learning processes in shaping new work cultures. Design/methodology/approach The paper aims to enhance the discussion around the 4.0 industrial revolution addressing both a theoretical framework, valorizing the existing scientific contributes and the situated knowledge, embedded in a concrete organizational context in which the fourth industrial revolution is experienced and practiced. Findings The findings acquired through the case study endorse what the scientific literature highlights about the impact, the new competences and the organizational learning paths. The conclusions address the agile approach to work as the more suitable way to place humans at the center of technological progress. Research limitations/implications The paper explores a specific organizational context, related to a high-tech multinational company, whose results illustrate the empirical evidence sustaining transformations in the working, professional and organizational cultures necessary to face the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution. The research was conducted with the managers of an international company and this a specific and limited target, even though relevant and interesting. Practical implications The paper connects the case with the general scenario, this study currently faces, to suggest hints and coordinates for crossing the unfolding situation and finding suitable matching between technological evolution and the development of new work and professional cultures and competences. Social implications Due to the acceleration that the COVID-19 has impressed to the use of digital technologies and remote connexion, the paper highlights some ambivalences that the quick evolution of the new technologies entails in relation to work and social conditions. Originality/value The opportunity to match both a literature analysis and an in-depth situated case study enhances the possibility to achieve a more articulated and complex view of the viral changes generated in the current context by the digitalization process.

New Working Capabilities for Coping With COVID Time Challenges

“…Seeking to explore how to dwell within the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Ivaldi et al (2021) highlight the need to link new technologies and sustainability, pointing out the challenge to deal with the spreading digital revolution. Hecklau et al (2016) underpin four categories of new skills:…”

“…In order to explore a relevant example of the capabilities required to face the current scenario, deeply transformed by the digital revolution and the pandemic that made clear the need for their application to the workplace, accelerating a process that was still in its infancy, this article refers to a situated organizational case: Comau, an Italian multinational leading company operating in the automotive sector whose activities are strictly connected to the innovative promotion of new capabilities and organizational culture. The Comau experience ( Fregnan et al, 2020 ; Ivaldi et al, 2021 ) identified a set of seven capabilities as a contextualized interpretation of the theoretical framework ( Hecklau et al, 2016 ) and as a transfer into practice of the new culture of work, essential elements to fill the gap that has emerged since the pandemic outbreak:…”

Organisational learning in complex epistemic environments: reflections from studies of professional work in Norway

“…When digitalisation is a driver of epistemic complexity, it often comes with an emphasis on standardisation, which may restrict spaces for action on the ground floor. Internationally, studies have argued that there is an increasing gap between the high and low skilled regarding how the "digital revolution" affects their work, where it is claimed that groups of high-skilled workers experience increased autonomy, decision-making power and creative forms of work, whereas lower skilled workers may find work more precarious and subject to stricter standards and control (Ivaldi et al, 2022). At the same time, the way in which digitalisation initiatives bring about a need to reconfigure roles and responsibilities in health services will imply that practices are changed and need to be (re) stabilised on many layers in the organisation, and therefore, they affect most workers.…”

“…Whether the characteristics of Nordic working life provide specific conditions for professional learning is an interesting question that cannot be fully answered based on the above described studies. Granting more responsibility and autonomy to workers is seen as important for generating continual learning and organisational improvement in the wake of technological and social change (Ivaldi et al , 2022; Simons and Ruijters, 2014). The examples provided above suggest that many professionals in the Norwegian education and health sectors are granted such opportunities.…”

Threats and opportunities for learning organizations – Nordic perspective and experience

“…However, not everyone is affected equally. High-skilled workers may benefit from greater autonomy and decision-making power, especially in terms of creative work in developing existing work practices, procedures and policies, while low-skilled workers may face greater formalization, standardization and thus tighter control (Ivaldi, Scaratti, & Fregnan, 2021). However, it is important to also give more autonomy to low-skilled workers who are responsible for following certain policies and procedures, as they can serve as a great source of information for future learning and improvement.…”