In search of a competency gap in the era of Industry 4.0 – the case of Manager 4.0 in Poland

Abstract

Purpose: The main objective of the research is to identify a competence gap in "Industry4.0" – the difference between the competencies currently acquired by students at universities with a technical and economic profile, and the competencies desired by companies from the industrial processing sector. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical material was obtained in two studies. The first survey was conducted among 120 companies in the industrial engineering sector, while the second was carried out among over a thousand students and graduates of economic and technical universities. Findings: This work contributes to an in-depth understanding of companies’ needs regarding “Manager 4.0” competencies, and enables the identification of existing educational gaps. Our research results show that there is a competence gap on the labour market in each of the analysed categories of competencies: social, personal, managerial, technical and professional. At the same time, some differences are visible between students of economic and technical universities. The findings of the study suggest the need to redesign student education programs at universities so as to provide interdisciplinary education taking into account key competencies for Industry 4.0. Research limitations/implications: We identified three limitations of our research, resulting both from the size of the research sample of the analyzed comapanies, the possible ambiguity of the respondents' understanding of the examined competences (ambiguity of their interpretations) and their mutual interdependencies, as well as the subjective assessment of the students themselves. Practical and social implications: The study indicated the need for specific employee competencies, the development of which requires interdisciplinary study programmes in areas including production engineering and management. Besieds, the results of our research are particularly important for adapting employee training systems. We assume that the development of new training programs best suited to the needs of the market (need for specific employee competencies) should be done through cooperation between companies in the industrial processing sector and the academic community. Originality/value: The conclusions of the research shed new light on requirements regarding managerial positions in companies from the industrial processing sector, by indicating the need to modify curricula at universities in selected areas of competence. Keywords: Industry 4.0, Manager 4.0, human resources, managerial competencies. Category of the paper: Research paper.