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@PHDTHESIS{Schinner:847914,
author = {Schinner, Matthias Michael},
othercontributors = {Letmathe, Peter and Piller, Frank Thomas},
title = {{C}ompetency management and development in manufacturing
companies : results from survey and simulation studies},
school = {Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen},
type = {Dissertation},
address = {Aachen},
publisher = {RWTH Aachen University},
reportid = {RWTH-2022-05612},
pages = {1 Online-Ressource : Illustrationen},
year = {2022},
note = {Veröffentlicht auf dem Publikationsserver der RWTH Aachen
University; Dissertation, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische
Hochschule Aachen, 2022},
abstract = {Companies and their employees will have to adapt to a
changing working environment in the future. Global
megatrends are particularly responsible for this, and new
technologies are certainly an important factor. As a
consequence, some jobs will be replaced by automation, while
others will be enriched by more complex activities.
Additionally, a large part of the employees, particularly in
industrialized countries, will leave the labor market due to
progressing demographic effects. Therefore, companies will
be left without important competencies that they had relied
on for years. On the other hand, these technologies will
help to cushion the newly emerging complexity through
virtual assistance systems. However, it is expected that the
average older population will find it more challenging to
work with new technologies. Furthermore, globalization is
resulting in increased dynamics and competitive pressure
through global markets, which will also lead to a higher
volatility in business operations (e.g., in demand). These
trends will greatly change the world of work, especially
requirements for employees and their competencies.
Therefore, this dissertation addresses the increased
importance of managing employee competencies for
manufacturing companies. The decision to obtain the
appropriate employee competencies is an investment decision
for companies which enables them to survive under these
changed competitive conditions. On the one hand, companies
need to know which competencies they require. On the other
hand, they have to decide whether to train their existing
employees for these competencies or to look for new
employees who already possess them. Both are very
time-consuming and cost-intensive processes. This
dissertation contains two parts. First, a comprehensive
overview of this dissertation is provided. Within this
overview, the motivation of the topic, an overarching
research model, theoretical concepts, selected research
methods, key findings and contributions as well as a summary
of findings and the conclusion are outlined. Second, the
four Research Papers, based on simulation studies, as well
as a large survey with managerial participants are
presented. Both approaches propose solutions and insights
for competency management and development in manufacturing
companies in order to enrich the theoretical and practical
knowledge in this area. A short summary of each Research
Paper is given below. Research Paper 1 – Competence
management in the age of cyber-physical systems:The first
paper provides profound theoretical contributions to the
existing body of literature. The so-called cyber-physical
systems are one fundamental part of Industry 4.0
technologies. As the environment of manufacturing companies
is changing, the role of the employees, the content of their
tasks, and their duties are also changing. The automation
and connection of simple manufacturing processes will
increase the number of jobs with high technological and
contextual complexity. Within this article, the impact on
competency management of cyber-physical systems and how this
influence can be represented in a competency rating
instrument are elaborated. Research Paper 2 – The monetary
value of competencies: A novel method and case study for
smart manufacturing:Research Paper 2 also focuses on the
working world of production and its changes due to new
technologies. Therefore, the second article of this thesis
provides two substantial contributions for the valuation of
future competencies needed by mechatronic technicians in
manufacturing companies. The first contribution is a
monetary-based measurement method to determine the value of
future work-related competencies. The second contribution is
a case study. In this case study, the value of competencies
of mechatronic technicians is assessed. The aim is to
determine which competencies at which level bring additional
monetary benefits in order to master the challenges posed by
Industry 4.0 for this group of blue-collar workers.
Especially the competency “complex-problem solving” is
seen as very valuable. Several categories of knowledge also
get higher monetary values than other groups. Noteworthily,
different groups involved in the hiring and training process
of mechatronics value competencies significantly
differently. Research Paper 3 – Consequences of the
interplay between volatility and capacity for workforce
planning and employee learning: Demand fluctuations arising
from customer requirements, new technological developments,
individualization, shorter lifecycles etc. have an enormous
impact on business processes. These developments also lead
to an increasing number of production ramp-ups. For the
success of ramp-ups learning is crucial. Therefore, within
the third paper, the impact from demand volatility and the
interplay with employee capacity on learning-by-doing,
training, forgetting, achieved skill levels, and efficiency
gains of shop-floor employees are analyzed. It is shown that
demand volatility has a significant impact on skill
development. In several cases, the impact of demand
volatility on the learning behavior of employees depends on
the available employee capacity. Research Paper 4 –
Workforce planning in production with flexible or budgeted
employee training and volatile demand: Investments in
workforce learning and training measures are crucial for the
success of production ramp- ups. In this phase, new
requirements occur which often make the adaption of employee
competencies necessary. Traditional training approaches are
commonly limited to a defined period at the beginning of a
production ramp-up and are restricted to the respective
training units. Training concepts of a more flexible nature
can help to overcome challenges for skill development during
production ramp-ups. Therefore, budgeting and non-budgeting
of training measures are analyzed in the same production
scenario as in Research Paper 3. The budgeting of training
has a negative impact on skill development. The interactions
of budgeting with demand volatility and employee capacity
show further interesting implications for the decision to
implement employee training measures in shop-floor settings.
In summary, the present dissertation extends the existing
research in two thematic strands: competency ratings and
value (Research Papers 1 and 2) and competency development
(Research Papers 3 and 4) in manufacturing environments. It
provides theoretical as well as managerial implications on
how the employee’s competency development process is
impacted by demand volatility and restrictions from employee
capacity. Furthermore, it provides tools for organizations
to steer the synchronization between their current
organizational and employee competencies and the future
needs resulting from the impact of various megatrends that
will change how we work.},
cin = {812110},
ddc = {330},
cid = {$I:(DE-82)812110_20140620$},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)11},
doi = {10.18154/RWTH-2022-05612},
url = {https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/record/847914},
}
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