Human Behavior in the Context of Continuous Change - An Exploratory Analysis in a Research and Application Center Industry 4.0

Abstract

The modern world of work is characterized by discontinuity and innovation. Organizations must adapt to continuous change, which makes it crucial to manage organizational knowledge. Learning and forgetting processes are necessary to react successfully to the changes. On the individual level, this means that individuals have to adapt their behavior, which is often well-learned and routinized. This study aims to take a first step toward a more detailed understanding of human behavior in the context of continuous change. For this purpose, an exploratory analysis was conducted on data collected in a Research and Application Center Industry 4.0. The participants had to deal with the continuous change of routine actions in a simulated production environment, which enabled us to measure their adaptation errors. The occurrence of adaptation errors, their dependency on the type of change, and the behavioral patterns are discussed in detail. Implications for further research are derived.