Work process knowledge is constituted by experience as well by theoretical knowledge. It is partly collective knowledge, socially constructed by the interaction between individuals and the complex tools they use. This is reflected in the discourses that take place in specific work domains. This aspect of the concept of work process knowledge permits us to establish its closeness to the management concepts of organizational learning as proposed by Argyris (theories in use), and Schein (cultures and subcultures). Focusing the communicational aspect of work process knowledge allows us to use this approach for the analysis of work environments characterised by a lower degree of structural stability and by the collaboration of actors from different social systems, as for example in modern research processes. This approach has been tested in an international research project to analyze the competence requirements in the food research area and the response of the higher education to these challenges. The result was the proposal of a concept called networking competence and the need to promote corresponding didactical approaches in Higher Education, for example problem-based learning.