Organizational E-learning
Readiness for Technology
Enhanced Competence initiatives
in the Manufacturing Industry
Monika Hattinger
PhD student in Informatics and Work-Integrated Learning
Supervisor: Professor in Informatics Lars Svensson
University West, Sweden
Department of Engineering Science
Production Technology West, www.ptw.hv.se
Research context
I work at a Production technology center, www.ptw.hv.se
View competence needs among employed practitioners
in the field of production technology
Manufacturing
industry
Employed
engineers
WIL
Engineering
knowledge on
advanced level
Learning
processes
2
Technology
Enhanced
Learning (TEL)
Courses
Problem domain
Competence development initiatives in industry organizations have
widely been researched and reported as success stories
BUT
many initiatives fail due to companies lacking capabilities to absorb new
knowledge through learning initiatives
E-learning initiatives within educational contexts are often more
successful than in the workplace.
BECAUSE
conditions in the work organization can cause dilemmas on management
levels, in the user interface and in the system development process
Problem domain
RETHINK learning conditions…
A shift from traditional educational models into
technology enhanced learning (TEL) in the workplace
What are the companies’ abilities to gain new
knowledge to sustain a competitive and innovative
advantage?
Viewing the workplace as a learning arena implies a
knowledge-based view of the company and also
capabilities to manage information and knowledge
throughout the whole organization
Industry dilemma
Complexity in the production –
continuous need for competence development and
continuous learning for employees
Project MERIT –
Manufacturing Education and Research
with Information Technology
Manufacturing industries in the region
(16-20 companies)
Project time: 2013-2015, with aim of
continuation
Tailor-made flexible courses of 2-3
ECTS (automation, manufacturing, robotics,
applied simulation, etc.)
Co-creation of course content
University level, aiming for master
level
7
E-learning framework for courses
• Teacher developed films, short instructional
lectures, 5-10 minutes
• Web conference systems, Adobe Connect, Lync,
Skype
• Learning platform
• OER – Open Educational Resources
• Virtual labs in production technology
• Seminars on-line
Aim in the paper
The aim is to get a wider understanding of
manufacturing industry readiness for e-learning and
work-integrated learning initiatives by combining
constructs based on theoretical concepts from
absorptive capacity and e-learning readiness
categories in relation to a study of 15 manufacturing
companies located in the western part of Sweden.
Absorptive capacity
To clarify the relationship between knowledge
acquisition and firm innovation, the concept of
absorptive capacity can be used to define the ability
of a firm “to recognize the value of new, external
information, assimilate it, and apply it to commercial
ends” as critical to its innovative capacity.
Cohen and Levinthal, 1990
10
Qualitative approach on AC
• Generally AC is based on statistical data to
measure organizations capabilities
• We use a practice-based approach in a case
study and apply AC to grasp organizational
processes of knowledge sharing, informal
promotion of new ideas and feedback between
partners
E-learning Readiness
• E-learning instruments that assess organizations
readiness for e-learning investments and ITadoption
• Examples of categories according to Haney (2002)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Human resource
Learning management systems (LMS)
Learners
Content
IT
Finance and vendor
Qualitative data analysis
• Semi-structured interview guide (5 themes)
• 16 interviews with 15 companies
• Production managers and HR managers in same
sessions, in total 27 informants, approx. 25 hours
• Constructs from the managers´ interpretations
and knowledge of their company competence
work
• Analysis influenced by concepts from AC and
e-learning readiness categories
Basic company facts
Facts
Firm type/nr of firms
In the 15 firms a total of approx. 7 200.
Two firms with approx. 2 000 (one in aerospace and one in
Nr of employees in the automotive)
manufacturing plants Two firms with approx. 500
Ten firms with approx. 130-300
One firm with 26
Nr of engineers with
an academic degree
In the 15 firms a total of 950, among these approx. 430 are
employed by the largest aerospace industry
Three in aerospace
Six in automotive
Three in consulting (in both aerospace and automotive)
Branch of industry
One in medicine
Two in other areas
Ten international corporate firms
Local or global
Three Scandinavian firms
international industry
Two Swedish firms
Own R&D department Seven firms
FRAMEWORK - TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED
COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT
Construct
Awareness
E-learning maturity
Dynamic capability
Co-creativity
Dimensions
 Internal competence mapping (GAP-analysis by HR
department)
 Define general competence need
….
Experience with use of:
 IT tools for learning situations
 Web conference systems
….
 To adapt to changes outside the firm like competition and
knowledge demands
 To customize the firm needs to external requirements
 To capture organizational learning, both experience based
and developmental learning
 Through collaborative competence initiatives absorb and
integrate industrial and new knowledge
 Through networking with higher education institutions and
other companies
 Through co-production of knowledge with external partners
and use it for effective production and innovation
Awareness
• Identification and descriptions of internal
knowledge needs and knowledge content
• All companies have routines for competence mapping
• Only six can define expert knowledge
• High level; “…we engage in something called critical
and functional competencies… thus we have a
mapping within each function... we also work with
competence challenges, and continuously we
managers request for information internally to strategic
goals.” (Manufacturing firm in aerospace, 2 200 employees)
E-learning maturity
• IT and e-learning usability and maturity
• Three companies have high level of e-learning use including
their own e-learning system.
• Five companies use some e-learning system but do not have
their own system.
• Seven firms do not use e-learning tools at all
Low level; ”… we bring in the teacher, have a center that
we use for training, mostly we go away and have
education… very little on the web...” (Manufacturing firm in other
branches, 320 employees)
Dynamic capability
• To adapt to changes outside the firm as external
requirements
• To customize the firm needs to external requirements
• To capture organizational learning, both experience
based and developmental learning
• Early results show that the automotive sector is more dynamic
than the aerospace sector
• Only four firms show dynamic capability
Developmental learning, high level; “…we discuss a lot
about creating innovation and create the right products
and production processes...” (Manufacturing firm in automotive,
2000 employees)
Co-creativity
• Through collaborative competence initiatives
absorb and integrate industrial and new knowledge
• Co-creation with higher education, research
centers/institutes and other industry sectors
• Seven firms show high level of interest to collaborate with
higher education
• They are also participating in MERIT for co-creation of course
content in the first Automation course, running April-May 2014
High level; “yes last year we lowered production cost with onethird by last year's thesis on bachelor level. This year, we the
lowered the cost of 450 000 SEK (71 000 US dollars)…”
(Manufacturing firm in other branches, 190 employees)
Thanks for your attention!
Monika Hattinger
monika.hattinger@hv.se