| 1. |
- Ahlstrand, Roland, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
-
Corporate Social Responsibility in Connection with Business Closures and Downsizing: A Literature Review
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Contemporary Management Research. - : Academy of Taiwan Information Systems Research. - 1813-5498. ; 13:1, s. 53-78
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this paper was to review the research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in connection with business closures and downsizing to identify gaps in our knowledge. The study consisted of a systematic review of 24 refereed articles. The review identified four themes in the literature on CSR in connection with business closure and downsizing, namely CSR, transition programs and the local community; CSR and business strategy; CSR, power and reputation; and lastly, other articles on CSR in connection with business closures and downsizing. The review revealed a lack of understanding of the reasons, outcomes and methodology of CSR development in connection with business closures and downsizing.
|
|
| 2. |
- Ahlstrand, Roland, 1956-
(författare)
-
Digitalisering och arbetskvalitet: Två kvalitativa fallstudier inom svensk tillverkningsindustri
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Arbetsmarknad & Arbetsliv. - Karlstad : Karlstads universitet. - 1400-9692 .- 2002-343X. ; 26:1, s. 90-108
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Vilken betydelse har digitaliseringen för anställdas arbetskvalitet? I denna studie av två tillverkningsföretag inom svensk flygindustri visas hur detta är beroende av ledningens val av innovationsstrategi. I det ena företaget var strategin att genom digital teknik involvera flera kategorier av anställda i gemensamt beslutsfattande om konstruktioner och arbetsinstruktioner, vilket samtidigt både begränsade deras möjligheter att fatta beslut om det egna arbetet och ökade arbetstakten. I det andra företaget var strategin att genom digital teknik endast involvera en viss kategori av anställda i mer övergripande frågor, varvid en annan kategori av anställda inte bara uteslöts, utan också fick mindre beslutsutrymme när det gällde det egna arbetet.
|
|
| 3. |
- Ahlstrand, Roland
(författare)
-
Förändring av deltagandet i produktionen : Exempel från slutmonteringsfabriker i Volvo
- 2000
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation focuses on the changes in the organization of the production process that occurred at Volvo Cars and Volvo Trucks in the early 1990s. The changes were directed at the established division of labor – both vertical and horizontal – between different groups of employees: managers, foremen, white and blue-collar workers. The questions posed are primarily concerned with the changes for production workers and foremen. The interpretive framework is developed in this dissertation through a constant dialogue between, on the one hand, established theories, and on the other, analyses of the empirical material: interviews with executives, managers, white and blue collar workers, and local trade union representatives, as well as company documents, and notes from participant observation. This work results in a sociology of organizations approach and changes in the organization of production is understood based on the interaction of the company with various environments, and with reference to the interaction between actors within the two companies. The explanation of what occurred is largely based on the appraisal that actors have access to power resources that they are able to activate when they find it appropriate. In the studies presented here, this comes to expression in management having an exclusive right to initiate various changes based on its knowledge of markets, competitors, and other actors. At the same time, actors can strengthen their resources by joining forces with others. This is precisely what happened when the management of Volvo formed a coalition with trade union organizations, developing together processes of training and change to broaden and deepen the employees, primarily the assembly workers and foremen participation. The changes can be understood against the background of not just Volvo, but the entire industry, attempting to come to terms with the well-known production and personnel problems arising from the Taylorist system of production. But this is far from an exhaustive explanation. The changes are also impacted by the companies’ need to increase their competitiveness and an increased challenge from Japanese companies. Efficiency in terms of quality, delivery times, and the balance sheet was believed to be able to be improved by increased use of Japanese organizational principles and coupling the market with organization in a novel way. Furthermore, there has been an interest on part of trade unions to form a coalition with management as they, like management, want to introduce decentralized wage systems and see opportunities to have their demands met for increased skills training and more rich and diversified jobs for their members.
|
|
| 4. |
- Ahlstrand, Roland, et al.
(författare)
-
Innovation and job quality in the aeronautic industry : Results from qualitative case studies
- 2017
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The paper focuses on the interactions between innovations (of all kinds) and job quality (in a wide sense, covering work and employment conditions, including job status, compensation, training and career opportunities) in the aeronautic industry. It draws on empirical evidence – industry survey and company case studies – from France, Sweden and the UK. Aeronautics has introduced important innovations in the past decade. For example, computer assisted devices (from computer aided engineering and design, Model Based Definition (MBD), i.e. the use of 3D drawings, to computer numeric control machines) have impacted the work of both engineers, technicians and operators. The new generation of process innovations (i.e. digitalization) include, among others, the introduction of cobots and robots, and virtual augmented reality devices. Aeronautics is indeed a front runner of the “factory of the future” or “industry 4.0”, which may have important consequences in terms of both job quantity and quality – notably in terms of education requirements, competence development, and individual task discretion/autonomy. Organisational innovations have also played an important role, such as the implementation of lean manufacturing and its derivatives, introduced more recently than in the automotive industry, with some specificities. Increasing pressure on all the segments of the supply chain has been witnessed in many firms and their subcontractors, in connection with some of the technical devices mentioned previously, and in a context of increasing competition, and in some cases to important changes in the governance of firms. But the reverse causality – i.e. from JQ to innovation – is also a key issue. Some firms are innovating by introducing new forms of organisations to improve some dimensions of job quality as a mean to foster the innovation capacity of the firm “from the bottom up”, with experiments such as “liberated company”. As in other industries, some big companies are trying to emulate the “start-up spirit”.
|
|
| 5. |
- Ahlstrand, Roland
(författare)
-
Integrative Strategy, Competitiveness and Employment : a Case Study of the Transition at the Swedish Truck Manufacturing Company Scania During the Economic Downturn in 2008-2010
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Economic and Industrial Democracy. - : Sage Publications. - 0143-831X .- 1461-7099. ; 36:3, s. 457-477
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this article is to investigate how and why the truck manufacturer Scania adapted to the economic downturn between 2008 and 2010 in the manner it did. First, Scania signed a crisis agreement on fewer working hours and lower wages, and, later, it signed an agreement stipulating fewer working hours, but without wage reductions. Both of these agreements were combined with investments in competence development and education as well as with the decision not to give notice to the employees, which was uncommon among Swedish companies. It is claimed that the company wanted to strengthen the competitiveness by integrating the unions and the employees even more in the business. An important prerequisite was the company’s Flexibility Agreement, which allowed the company not to give temporary employees new contracts and to let temporary employees leave the company as soon as their maximum employment period of six months expired.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Ahlstrand, Roland, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
-
Labour–management relations and employee involvement in lean production systems in different national contexts : A comparison of French and Swedish aerospace companies
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Economic and Industrial Democracy. - : Sage Publications. - 0143-831X .- 1461-7099. ; 44:4, s. 1027-1051
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Existing research has found heterogeneity in the implementation of Lean and its outcomes in terms of employee involvement across countries. This article explores the potential role of labour–management relations. It relies on in-depth company case studies carried out in the aerospace industry in France and Sweden. The study finds significant variations in employee involvement – higher in the Swedish than in the French cases. Managerial orientations did play a role, as the ‘technocratic’ form of Lean in France echoed a more unilateral top-down conception of management, while Swedish managers appeared more receptive to the ‘involvement-enhancing’ paradigm. But the attitudes and behaviours of unions were also a crucial factor, as Swedish unions were very effective in impinging on the implementation of Lean at workplace level, while their French counterparts, often divided, adopted a more defensive stance, lacking expertise and implication in the promotion of high-involvement work organisations.
|
|
| 8. |
- Ahlstrand, Roland, et al.
(författare)
-
Lean versus Learning? Work Organizations, Innovation and Job Quality in the Aerospace Industry in France and Sweden
- 2018
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- To cope with fierce competition in an increasing globalized context, many companies tend to reduce wage costs and intensify work, adopting what could be labelled as social dumping strategies, with negative effects on job quality (JQ) - this term encompassing compensation, employment status, work conditions, but also training and promotion opportunities. Innovation - defined here as any significative and valuable change in product, process, marketing or organisation -is often presented as the solution to break this potential vicious circle. Still, this positive view must be assessed. To do so, we need to open the "black box" of firms, to analyse more precisely the nature, the motivation, the modes of implementation, and the outcomes of innovation, by scrutinizing all the mechanisms at play. The paper focuses here on the interplay between innovation and JQ, in a specific industry, Aerospace, which is an innovation leader, with numerous spill-over effects on other manufacturing industry. Our study relies on qualitative empirical evidence from in-depth firm case studies, carried out in two countries that are good illustrations of different varieties of capitalism, France and Sweden. The firms under study have introduced a wide range of technological process innovations, such as 3D Computer-Aided-Design and different forms of Computer Aided Manufacturing and automated processes - from Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines to robots. If there were some common features concerning the impacts in terms of JQ, there were also differences related to organizational and managerial choices across firms - whether because organization mediated the impact of technological changes, or because these changes were highly interlinked with organisational ones. There were indeed important organizational changes in the firms of our sample, recent or still going on at the time of our study. These changes were sometimes considered even more important than technological innovations. One important change was the introduction of "lean" principles. But the way "lean" was implemented was in fact quite different across the different cases, with different consequences in terms of JQ. A quite rigid top-down "lean", dominant in France, contrasted with a more flexible form, more compatible with the "learning" type of organization witnessed in Sweden. One interesting difference between the two types of organization was the role of trade-unions in the "innovation-JQ" nexus. Still, in France, a growing concern about the limits of existing organisation was arising, as (better) work organisation was more and more identified as a key determinant of an innovative workplace - defined as a work environment that provides a fertile ground for innovations of any kind. Some organizational innovations (sometimes quite radical) were put in place to improve JQ, in particular in terms of worker's autonomy and involvement, to move from a "lean" to a more "learning" type of organization. Overall, our contribution highlights some key mechanisms of the interplay between work organization, JQ and innovation, and sheds light on some hotly debated issues concerning the impact of new technologies on the quality of jobs.
|
|
| 9. |
- Ahlstrand, Roland, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
-
Lokala partsrelationer och organisatorisk flexibilitet: omställningar inom hotellbranschen under covid-19-krisen 2020–2021
- 2023
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Denna studie fokuserar på de lokala partsrelationernas betydelse för utvecklingen av den organisatoriska flexibiliteten under en större hotellkoncerns omställningar under covid-19-krisen 2020–2021. Studien bygger på 26 semistrukturerade intervjuer med representanter för arbetsgivarorganisationer och fackliga organisationer på branschnivå, samt chefer och fackliga företrädare på koncern- och hotellnivå. Intervjuerna transkriberades och tematiserades med hjälp av NVivo 12. I ljuset av en dramatisk nedgång i kundunderlaget mer än halverades antalet anställda: tillsvidareanställda sades upp och kontrakten för tillfälligt anställda blev inte förlängda. Vid sidan av ”tillfälligt anställda” tillkom en ny form av numerisk flexibilitet, korttidspermitterade, baserad på lagen om stöd vid korttidsarbete från 2013. Samtidigt genomfördes omfattande organisationsförändringar: avdelningar slogs samman, antalet chefer reducerades och i stort sett samtliga yrkestitlar förändrades. Anställda skulle arbeta i ”service team”, chefer skulle vara ”service lead” och andra, t ex receptionister, kockar, bartenders och städare, skulle tituleras ”hosts”. De fackliga organisationerna menade att denna form av funktionell flexibilitet, att ”alla skulle kunna allt”, ledde till ett allt stressigare jobb och var ett hot mot yrkesstoltheten. I syfte att analysera de lokala partsrelationernas betydelse för utvecklingen av den organisatoriska flexibiliteten tar vi avstamp i tidigare forskning om lokala partsrelationer. Den tidigare forskningen har till stor del handlat om parternas förhållningssätt till varandra när de arbetat för att nå lösningar och resultat i olika avseenden, hur intressen och maktresurser mobiliseras, förhandlingsstrategier och den fackliga organiseringens betydelse för den fackliga styrkan. Det finns begränsat med forskning om de lokala partsrelationers roll när det gäller organisationsförändringar med bäring på organisatorisk flexibilitet. I den här artikeln fokuserar vi på de lokala parternas betydelse för utvecklingen av den organisatoriska flexibiliteten med hänsyn tagen till de institutionella förutsättningar som rådde under pandemin
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
