Competencies as a Criterion for Assessing the Readiness of Organizations for Industry 4.0 - A Missing Dimension

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual model for the integration of employees’ competencies into the models for assessing the readiness of organizations for Industry 4.0. Transformative changes of the business environment and subsequently of the organizations caused by the adoption of Industry 4.0 principles, demand from employees to have new, better, and upgraded personal and professional competencies. A growing amount of literature indicates that increasingly multicultural and multidisciplinary business environment, which is also technologically advanced, will impact the aspects of personal and professional sides of employees’ competencies the most. However, with regards to the current models for assessing the readiness of organizations, their focus largely on the technological side of the transformation and subsequently the softer people-related aspects are understated. One of those understated aspects are competencies that are not considered as an independent criterion, which can help to more comprehensively determine organizations’ readiness for Industry 4.0.