Awareness, Motivation and Leadership in Production Systems: A Socio-Technical Perspective

Abstract

With the remarkable structural changes that many sectors of the industry arecurrently experiencing with the advent and introduction of new digital technologiesand the push that they are receiving from assorted agendas concerningindustrial developments – as those connected with digital transformation andthe so-called Industry 5.0 – it sensible to think that different aspects concerningcooperative work will be subject to changes, especially when it comes to issuesassociated with the use and appropriation of digital technologies. In this contribution,we address the concept of awareness and how it has been impacted by thecontinuous process of digitalisation and digital transformation within the industryunder a practice-centred computing perspective. The study is based on anin-depth interview study featuring 19 participants across 11 different-sized manufacturingcompanies from the metalworking industry and other related sectors.The data was transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis. Subsequently, wediscuss how not only awareness, but also motivation and leadership in productionsystems have been continuously impacted by these structural changes, at timesin a negative way. We elaborate on our findings and reflect upon how existingCSCW notions, as coordination mechanisms, common information spaces and articulation spaces can be used to inform the design of new technologies thatcould enhance awareness and mitigate potentially negative impacts. In particular,we extend the notion of articulation spaces to include the role of a group mediator,which has been found relevant to support cooperation in industrial settingsundergoing digital transformation.