The Impact of Learning Factories on the Internationalization Processes of Small and Medium Enterprises: Analysis on how LEF’s competency development in Lean and Digital Transformation and networks, can help SMEs in internationalizing their activities and facing global trends.

Abstract

The first part of the analysis concerns a literature review on the topics of Knowledge and Learning Economy, defining what they are and identifying the main drivers of these economic systems. Then the focus has been shifted to two specific dimensions of learning: experiential learning and learning by doing which emphasize the integration of theory and practice directly responding to the economy's drivers. The analysis continues considering the Richard Baldwin’s book “The Globotics Upheaval” where it is made an investigation on how the combined effects of new types of globalization and robotics lead to job displacement. The mix of these two, defined as globotics, leads to inevitable changes, in this sense the path to follow to survive is to focus on humans’ unique talents, developing skills that can guarantee this advantage. These need to be both soft and more specific and technical skills connected with the use of globots. The answer to this necessity of developing people’s competencies, can be found in the learning factories. These are simulated authentic factory environments that are used for educational, training and/or research purposes with the aims of effectively develop and motivate learners, facilitate practical innovation and transfer the competencies and innovation to industry. Their activities based on active learning address the request of develop competencies emerged in the “Globotics Upheaval”. A complete analysis of LEF, a learning factory in Pordenone, has been made to understand how the activities and learning processes are provided. The conclusion of the thesis, focuses on identifying how learning factories and LEF activities, can “help” the SME to develop their internationalization processes