Recent technological advances are radically changing the industrial landscape and driving a digital transformation of industry. This transformation presents several challenges for industrial companies, notably the urgent need to bridge a widening skill gap. In order to address the skill gaps, industrial companies are exploring the potential of the Metaverse as a tool for workforce training.  The Metaverse is a unique, 3D multi-user environment, blending physical and digital elements, thereby facilitating interaction between objects and individuals. Given these features, it possesses the capacity to facilitate immersive learning within industrial firms, offering realistic and interactive training experiences. However, there is a lack of research and understanding regarding the application of the Metaverse for workforce training in these contexts.  Thus, the objective of this study is to explore how the Metaverse can be used by industrial companies and identify the driving factors behind its adoption. To fulfill this purpose, an exploratory qualitative study was conducted, employing semi-structured in-depth interviews that are analyzed thematically.  The study’s primary contribution is a practice-oriented framework detailing the interplay between technology, management, and people; explaining how they combine to support immersive learning. The framework offers unique insights and practical implications for industrial practitioners. Critically, the study emphasizes the importance of effective change management for aligning these three elements, emphasizing that successful implementation goes beyond mere adoption of technology. The study finds that the Metaverse is best viewed as a complement to traditional physical training in industrial companies, identifying specific practical use-cases where the Metaverse can be utilized effectively.

The digital revolution is challenging both individuals and organizations to be more comfortable using various digital technologies. Digital technologies enable and generate high amounts of data, but people are not very good at interpreting or making sense of it. This study aimed to explore the role of digital competencies and data literacy in digital transformations and identify the consequences the lack of digital competencies and data literacy can cause within digital transformation projects. The authors studied technology consultants' perspectives with experience in digital transformation projects using an exploratory qualitative research design building on the empirical data gathered from semi-structured interviews. The authors were able to identify that the technology consultants perceived digital competencies as crucial skills for individuals to possess in digital transformations. At the same time, data literacy was not considered a crucial skill in the context of digital transformations. Regarding the consequences of a digital skills gap, the technology consultants saw issues within the implementation of the project, delays, or indirect waste of resources like monetary assets.

While human capital is repeatedly recognized as the most critical source of organizational capabilities, transformational changes to business environments are causing challenges related to human resource development. Against the backdrop of this, the emerging European Lithium-ion battery industry is facing headwinds in supplying critical engineering talent with the right skill set to enable the significant predicted growth of the industry. To bridge skill gaps, and reduce such bottleneck, studies suggest that mapping competencies is critical. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding the definition of competence, and few empirical studies providing concrete meaning to it. Hence, the purpose of this qualitative case study is to identify competencies and perceived skill gaps in the context of a leading European battery player, catering to the need of both the industry and the researched field. The secondary data of the study includes a literature review consolidating existing literature on occupational competence and approaches to competence in a conceptual framework. The framework consists of twenty-two competence components and five competence dimensions: cognitive competence, functional competence, methods-and process competence, meta competence, and social competence. The primary data consists of interviews with managers and recruiters at the case company. Collected data was analyzed along the dimensions of the conceptual framework. The study reveals common competency requirements and skill gaps across multiple roles. Competencies include, but are not limited to structured problem solving, electrochemistry, Lithium-ion battery knowledge, and autonomy, while skill gaps include serial manufacturing and quality standards. The theoretical implication of the study encompasses accuracies and challenges related to the number of dimensions used for defining derived competencies. The practical implications relate to synergies in competence development efforts. / Humankapital har ständigt erkänts som den mest kritiska resursen hos organisationer. Samtidigt orsakar omvälvande förändringar i affärsmiljöer utmaningar relaterade till säkerställandet av dessa resurser. Givet detta, möter den framväxande Europeiska Litium-jon batteri-industrin motvind gällande identifiering och rekrytering av talanger med rätt kompetens, vilket krävs för att möjliggöra den stora tillväxten industrin står inför. För att lyckas överkomma denna flaskhals och utveckla de kompetenser som krävs, tyder studier på att kartläggning av kompetens är avgörande. Det råder dock brist på samförstånd kring definitionen av kompetens, med få empiriska studier som konkretiserar ämnet. Därav är syftet med denna kvalitativa fallstudie att identifiera kompetens och kompetensgap hos en ledande Europeisk batteri-spelare, vilket avser att tillgodose behoven hos både industrin samt det undersökta forskningsområdet. Studiens sekundära data inkluderar en litteraturöversikt som sammanställer befintlig litteratur kring definitionen av yrkeskompetens och kompetensramverk i ett konceptuellt ramverk. Ramverket består av tjugotvå kompetenskomponenter och fem kompetensdimensioner: kognitivkompetens, funktionell kompetens, metod- och processkompetens, metakompetens och socialkompetens. Primär data består av intervjuer med chefer och rekryterare hos uppdragsgivaren. Insamlad data analyserades i relation till dimensionerna i det konceptuella ramverket. Studien påvisar gemensamma kompetenser och kompetensgap hos flera roller. Kompetenserna inkluderar exempelvis strukturerad problemlösning, elektrokemi, kunskap om litium-jon batterier och autonomi, medan kompetensluckor inkluderar serietillverkning och kvalitetsstandarder. Det teoretiska bidraget av studien är en analys av det presenterade konceptuella ramverket. Analysen påvisar både möjligheter och utmaningar relaterat till antalet dimensioner som används för att definiera kompetenser. Det praktiska bidraget av studien avser synergier i kompetensutvecklingsinsatser.