Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on
Networked Learning 2010, Edited by:
Dirckinck-Holmfeld L, Hodgson V, Jones C,
de Laat M, McConnell D & Ryberg T

176
ISBN 978-1-86220-225-2


Microblogging as a Tool for Networked Learning in
Production Networks
Stefan Hauptmann, Lutz Gerlach
Department of Organisation Studies at Chemnitz University of Technology &
CEOs of cm|d – corporate mind development,
stefan.hauptmann@wirtschaft.tu-chemnitz.de, lutz.gerlach@wirtschaft.tu-chemnitz.de
Abstract
Web 2.0 has remarkably changed the internet in recent years. By its focus on technical simplicity and
usability, it turned the mere recipients of the early internet into content contributors. Web 2.0 now
becomes more and more relevant for the division of labour in modern industrial context and within
the service economy. One of the newest communication methods with respect to Web 2.0 is
Microblogging. Small snippets of information, mostly with informal content, serve as status
information about people and topics. Based on these snippets and some new connection methods, a
network evolves, which enables closer social ties and information sharing.
This paper addresses the potential of Microblogging technology to improve learning, knowledge
sharing and competence tracking in production networks. By exemplifying how modern production
networks work and what they are good for, the authors show that a Community of Practice (CoP) is
the native mode for efficient collaboration and learning. Furthermore, they state that Microblogging
might be the appropriate instrument for enhancing this kind of inter-organisational CoPs.
Keywords
production networks, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, enterprise microblogging, communities of practice,
networked learning, collaboration, competence cells

Introduction

The production landscape in the 21st century will be shaped by micro, small, and medium sized enterprises
(SMEs), acting as autonomous, atom-like entities of production which can be described as 'competence cells'
(Müller 2009, Salmons, Babitsky 2001). In order to fulfil complex tasks such as the development of products
and services, production processes and sales, those enterprises need to cooperate in networks. Each placed order,
or each new customers demand respectively, immediately constitutes a new production network of SMEs on a
temporary basis. This raises some new issues of extensive networked learning and understanding.

Inter-organisational information flow is an essential part of this work modus. Furthermore, the kind of necessary
information is similar to that which plays an eminent role in intra-organisational settings: it is overwhelmingly
non-coded or informal respectively. In order to cope with learning and knowledge sharing in intra- and
increasingly in inter-organisational settings, the implementation of Communities of Practice (CoP) is a widely
preferred method. The latter, i.e. production networks, faces the problem of lacking presence and accessibility of
the actors. Issues like these can be addressed by a new emerging technology called 'Microblogging'.

Microblogging is a rather new method of online communication, originating in the realm of Web 2.0. In recent
years, Web 2.0 has changed the way in which people address the internet. Contrary to the internet of the 1990s,
when they were only recipients, they now are able to contribute to the content of the web. In terms of knowledge
sharing and mutual content developing, this has proved some remarkable dynamics. In this respect the online
encyclopaedia Wikipedia is best known. Due to mutual efforts of thousands of people, it became the largest
encyclopaedia within few years. Microblogging, however, is a means that, by its mode of communication,
overcomes many problems that arise in the process of collaboration and knowledge sharing which digital media
in the realm of Web 2.0 have to cope with today.

Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on
Networked Learning 2010, Edited by:
Dirckinck-Holmfeld L, Hodgson V, Jones C,
de Laat M, McConnell D & Ryberg T

177
ISBN 978-1-86220-225-2



We start this paper with an outline of production networks and connect this business concept to the management
topic ‘Communities of Practice’ (CoP). Then we introduce Microblogging. We show how it works and inform
about the potential for appliance as Enterprise Microblogging. In order to do this, we refer to CoPs and
production networks as possible use cases.

Learning in Production Networks

Which learning tasks do exist within Production Networks?

Recent research on the projects "Sonderforschungsbereich 457 - Hierarchielose regionale Produktionsnetwerke"
('Non-hierachical regional production networks') and "Paketantrag 196 - Kompetenzzellenbasierte
Produktionsnetze" ('Competence cell based production networks'), conducted at the Chemnitz University of
Technology, has gained new findings about cooperative processes of production and development that they label
"production networks" (Müller, Spanner-Ulmer 2009). We can speak of production networks, if the following
conditions exist: process oriented cooperation, distributed product development, work planning competence,
production and assembly competence, process oriented quality management. These conditions comprise some
typical fields of collaborative activity, information sharing and learning. Members involved in production
networks need to have decent information about the other members of the temporary network, their
competencies, when and how they enter or leave the process and the other members' role within the network as
well as their own role.

A distributed product development process, for instance, begins with an initial event such as a customer order or
an idea about a new product. Then, an appropriate 'competence cell' (Kompetenzzelle), which derives from a
network of competences, will be established. In case of the development of new products, this would enclose
competencies about researching the market potential. The network independently compiles product concepts,
conducts R&D and finally produces commodities. Hence, descriptions and evaluations about the competences of
the network members are critical, e.g. about their former activities, their capabilities, resources, etc.
Furthermore, hooked on the dynamics of innovation, the modality of these competence descriptions and
evaluations need to be dynamic, too.

The fact that distributed product development does not only cover single components, but also whole
assemblies, raises the complexity of the process and hence the complexity of the documentation about the
network, e.g. about work planning, production, and assembly competencies. With respect to quality
management, these highly complex processes must furthermore be transparent and represented (for example
with maps); concepts must be described as well as methods, norms, and the accomplishment of experience from
former projects, and members always need to be up on the current process status. After all, according to these
informations, processes need to be collaboratively improved.

Transparency, as stated, is a very crucial momentum for the sake of an efficient production network.
Documentation with Excel files and other documents would not work, neither would any static documentation
tool. New digital tools in the realm of knowledge management would allow fulfilling the needs of adequate
information management. But production networks need more than that. As they are operating in very complex
processes in a highly dynamic manner, they need to have a common language, need to be able to recognise weak
signals, be up-to-date at all times, etc. Documentation just for the sake of documentation would not be enough
here. For the sake of learning, the network members have to collaborate intensely.

Production Networks as Communities of Practice

The aim of efficient learning in production networks could be to establish Communities of Practice (CoP), in
which members "become informally bound by the value that they find in learning together" (Wenger,
McDermott, Snyder 2002, p. 5). Hence, during the process of learning and knowledge sharing, there are
interpersonal and emotional phenomena at stake, such as personal satisfaction, understanding of each other's
perspectives, and a feeling of belonging to a group. Such environments fit best to extensive knowledge sharing,