Zbigniew Wisniewski

The Role of the Lifelong Learning in Logistics 4.0

Technological advances and information technologies, which accelerate quickly, affect the continually changing shape of the modern economy. Changes in the technosphere and infosphere implicate the changes in social sphere. Therefore, logistics will need highly skilled workers. Moreover, exchange of roles in logistic systems is being predicted, which leads to the transfer of part of the executive work to the computer systems. This causes the necessity of lifelong learning and adapting to a new situation. The objective of this paper is to present the analysis of the role of the lifelong learning in the logistics 4.0. The paper presents the results of the analysis of the key competences needed by all groups of employees: blue-collar workers, specialist and managers.

Physical Work Intensity of In-Plant Milk Run Operator. Part I - Guidelines for Assessment

In European norms and standards, information about maximum weight and maximum force can be found, but there is lack of unified regulations about maximum admissible energy expenditure during work. The paper presents the intensity of physical work, especially physiological guidelines for energy expenditure assessment. Moreover, there are presented polish legal requirements for energy expenditure assessment, which can be treated as general good practices for energy expenditure assessment for blue-collar jobs in logistics sector. The goal of the paper is to present the guidelines for the energy expenditure assessment for in-plant milk run operator.

Modelling Formation of Attitudes to Change

The article presents the results of analyses the objective of which was to determine a method of description of employee attitudes to change. The analyses were conducted during the process of implementation of changes to the organization of workstations in order to improve their ergonomics. Such a model is prerequisite for analyzing the dynamics of change implementation in the organization and should have the following characteristics: it should be unambiguous, adequate, complete and disjunctive. The phenomena analyzed in the study had not been thoroughly researched or described in literature. Neither engineering assumptions nor the possibility of controlling social phenomena during the implementation process is taken into account in the currently existing theories of organizational change in the social and management sciences. Therefore, sociological exploration appeared to be the only way to discover the specific character and regularity of the examined processes. The research and analysis strategy is based on the methodology of the grounded theory. Estimations of individual factors and their subsequent comparison make it possible to identify the direction and the pace of the formation of employee commitment to organizational change.

To Grow or Not to Grow - The Strategic Plan for Acquisition and Integration

The paper provides a comparison of two growth strategies for businesses, based on case studies. Both refer to organisations that have been merged into a multinational corporation that applies multiple approaches in investment proceedings. Such acquisitions result in expansion of corporate activities, nevertheless, they produce a number of social, financial and market risks for the acquired companies. The companies mentioned are based in Germany and the production is relocated to Poland and Croatia. Some of the processes are moved to these new locations while others remain within the acquiring group. Thus social aspects seem to play a significant role.

The Relationship between Knowledge Security and the Propagation of Innovation

The paper discusses the issues of knowledge creation, knowledge security management and the impact it has on the generation of innovative ideas in an organisational environment. Knowledge security seems to be the key factor in building competitive advantage for businesses. In order to be competitive these days, one has to be constantly implementing innovative products and solutions. A number of companies that are involved in innovative activities yet do not always provide sufficient knowledge resources, which lay the foundations to further growth. The aim of this paper is to recognize the security gap that opens up during the dynamic, knowledge-based and innovation-driven development of a company. This gap can be created if a company fails to identify appropriately the stakeholders and their needs or their intentions when time is scarce. The reflections are based on research conducted on a group of companies developing a pro innovative approach with a focus on knowledge management.

The Concept of Teaching Modeling and Simulation of Manufacturing Systems

The paper describes advantages of teaching and application of modeling manufacturing systems. Two paradigms of modeling: Discrete Event (DE) and System Dynamics (SD) are briefly presented and compared. A few possibilities of teaching these approaches worldwide are presented. Furthermore, a combined way of teaching these two methods, with a focus on the modeling and simulating selected basic processes of manufacturing systems, is proposed in briefly described exercises. The concept provides division of this method depending on student’s education level.

Requirements for IT Systems of Maintenance Management

The maintenance function is becoming increasingly important for the industrial enterprises nowadays. The waste elimination required by the Lean Manufacturing methodology, which spread in various industries, emphasizes the importance of failure or incorrect operations of the machines on the plant’s production capacity. The maintenance management includes several activities, such as preventive maintenance planning, task scheduling, spare parts management, and data analysis to reduce the amount of downtime and increase the performance, which is supported by the information systems. There are many solutions on the market, which the main disadvantage is a poor adjustment to the requirements of enterprises. This article will present the research on the functionalities of IT systems for the maintenance management in the manufacturing companies.

Strategy and Structure in Public Organization

The functioning of the organization is related to the implementation of its mission and vision and the pursuit of specific goals set in the strategy. Regardless of the branch of production, sector of service or public administration, the strategy defining aims to be achieved and indicating the manner of their implementation it determines the path of development and survival in the turbulent times of change. The formal structure of the organization is also related to the functioning of the organization, regulating the level of dependence between the units inside it, creating a network of mutual connections in the form of an organizational scheme. The publication covers the features of the strategy as an obligatory document for public higher education institutions and the types and functions of the organizational structure specific to the sector of higher education in Poland. The article will present the relationships that occur between the organization’s strategy and its structure in the area of higher education in Poland. The authors will seek answers to the question which of the two-factor system in public universities is an element that is more often subject to changes and whether the change of one of them always involves updating the other.

Dynamics of Resistance in the Change Process

The article presents the results of identification of dynamics of behaviour in response to introducing changes. The aim of the considerations was to determine the strength of resistance to changes. Identification of dynamics was performed through analysis of reaction of a given subsystem to implementation (extortion) of changes. A set of extortions applied upon realising processes of implementing changes in the studied organisations is presented in the article. Observation of effects achieved by a given object was the basis for determining dynamic parameters of the analysed object. The resistance was identified as a decrease in effectiveness of work of a given part of the organisation in the form of a significant decline of the curve illustrating a reaction of the system to change.

Methods for Assessing the Effectiveness of Language Learning – A Comparative Study

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the existing tools and methods used to measure the effectiveness of language education in language centres (LCs). LCs present various approaches to both curriculum design and management systems. If a closer link is to be sought between the teaching methods, the institutional management and the effectiveness of the education process, a proper classification and evaluation of the verification methods used in quality language teaching is needed. The analysis is based on literature review and includes methods employed for the assessment of language ability.