2338 5.2 Barriers and Facilitators The qualitative analysis revealed an organizational environment fundamentally oriented toward change, with perceived facilitators exceeding barriers at a 4.4:1 ratio and training mentioned 57 times as the primary facilitator. This cooperative substrate (4:1 cooperation ratio in social interaction strategies) constitutes a latent organizational asset—the workforce is not resisting change; it is waiting for structured support to enact it. Three coordination barriers, however, explain why this cooperative potential remains unrealized. First, the “who moves first” dilemma: workers wait for management signals while management waits for worker buy-in, producing mutual inaction despite shared interest in change. Second, trust deficit from historical broken promises: past organizational commitments perceived as unfulfilled have eroded credibility, increasing the perceived risk of early cooperation. Third, early-adopter social costs: workers who cooperate with change before peers do so risk social isolation within their work group—a cost particularly salient in tight-knit mining crews. These three dilemmas explain why uniform training interventions have historically produced heterogeneous outcomes across work groups, and why the identification of multiple Nash equilibria across groups is not merely a theoretical exercise but a practical diagnostic for intervention design. Methodologically, this study addresses what MacMahon et al. (2024) termed the “streetlamp effect” in mining workforce development—the tendency to focus on visible formal training while ignoring contextual factors that determine learning effectiveness. By conducting cultural diagnosis before designing the adaptive system, this approach illuminates the full landscape of worker readiness rather than searching only where it is convenient to look. The productivity model captures Tynjälä’s (2013) presage factors— learner characteristics and organizational context—before designing process interventions, operationalizing the integration gap identified by Lund et al. (2024). 5.3 Limitations Several limitations warrant consideration. The cross-sectional design captures a single temporal snapshot; longitudinal validation is required to confirm projected transition probabilities. The single-site focus limits generalizability, though it enables contextual depth consistent with the diagnostic-before-design methodology. The adaptive learning system remains at design stage—implementation outcomes are projected rather than observed. The 100% male workforce composition prevents gender-based analysis. The near-census coverage (84.5%, n=60 of 71), while methodologically advantageous for population-level description, means findings characterize this specific workforce rather than a sample from a broader population. 5.4 Transferability The diagnostic-before-design methodology demonstrates transferability potential to analogous contexts characterized by mature workforces facing technological modernization. The approach addresses Li et al.’s (2011) identified bottleneck in mineral processing—unsystematic knowledge transmission—by providing structured assessment prior to intervention. More broadly, the methodology contributes to Standing’s (1997) underdeveloped “skill reproduction security” pillar within just transition frameworks, as emphasized by De Ruyter and Bentley (2024). Rather than treating workforce preparation as a byproduct of technology implementation, this approach positions human factors integration at the design stage—precisely what Lund et al. (2024) identified as absent from Mining 4.0 practice. The specific instruments (productivity model, game theory analysis, adaptive item banks) require contextual calibration, but the sequential logic— diagnose cultural reality, identify coordination barriers, then design adaptive interventions targeting empirically-identified leverage points—is transferable to any industrial context where human and technological systems must co-evolve. 6. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that cultural diagnosis must precede adaptive learning design if workforce preparation for technological transitions is to succeed. The empirical findings from 60 fire refining workers at a Chilean state-owned copper company’s division reveal a workforce operating at 40.6% of productive
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