| 1. |
- Abildgaard, J. S., et al.
(författare)
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Forms of participation : The development and application of a conceptual model of participation in work environment interventions
- 2020
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Ingår i: Economic and Industrial Democracy. - : SAGE Publications Ltd. - 0143-831X .- 1461-7099. ; 4:3, s. 746-769
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the realm of work environment improvements, the Nordic countries have led the way in demonstrating that employee participation is a key requisite for achieving improvements. Despite this, there is a lack of precision as to what ‘participatory’ in a participatory work environment intervention means. In this study, the authors present a conceptual model for participation in work environment interventions and apply it to protocols and manuals from eight participatory interventions to determine the form of participation used in each intervention. The authors suggest that the conceptual model can be applied in the design and assessment of participatory work environment interventions.
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| 2. |
- Ahlstrand, Roland
(författare)
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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
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Ingår i: Economic and Industrial Democracy. - : Sage Publications. - 0143-831X .- 1461-7099. ; 36:3, s. 457-477
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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.
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| 3. |
- Ahlstrand, Roland, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
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Labour–management relations and employee involvement in lean production systems in different national contexts : A comparison of French and Swedish aerospace companies
- 2023
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Ingår i: Economic and Industrial Democracy. - : Sage Publications. - 0143-831X .- 1461-7099. ; 44:4, s. 1027-1051
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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.
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| 4. |
- Ahlstrand, Roland, 1956-
(författare)
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Social responsibility in connection with business closures : A study of closures of Ericsson Telecom facilities in Norrköping and Linköping
- 2010
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Ingår i: Economic and Industrial Democracy. - London : Sage Publications. - 0143-831X .- 1461-7099. ; 31:4, s. 537-555
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present article analyses why and how Ericsson Telecom assumeda greater responsibility than was legally required when it dismissedmore than 23,000 employees in Sweden at the beginning of the21st century. The analysis starts from neoinstitutional theoryand is based on case studies of the company’s closuresin Norrköping and Linköping. The article focuses,in particular, on the interaction between Ericsson, the tradeunions, the County Administrative Board, the County Labour Board,the Public Employment Service, the Swedish Employment SecurityCouncil, the government and the respective municipalities. Itis shown that the greater responsibility taken by Ericsson wasbased on its desire to maintain legitimacy by taking into considerationprevailing societal expectations regarding the company’sbehaviour.
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| 5. |
- Albinsson, Gunilla, et al.
(författare)
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The managerial position in a Swedish municipal organization : possibilities and limitations
- 2018
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Ingår i: Economic and Industrial Democracy. - : Sage Publications. - 0143-831X .- 1461-7099. ; 39:3, s. 500-535
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this article is to explore how a group of managers construct their reality, more specifically what it means to work as a manager in a municipal organization. The empirical data for the study were obtained from a Swedish medium-sized municipality and the study takes as its research approach grounded theory, as developed by Glaser and Strauss. Consequently, the empirical data formed the basis for the research, which takes a multi-methodical and theory-generating approach. The methods used in the study include the use of a questionnaire study, interviews in focus groups, observations, reflective work diaries, and the creation of feedback sessions. The result shows that the managers work in an organization where conflicting and competing value systems act together. These can be interpreted as environmental factors and external bounds on a structural societal level, which cannot be influenced. A point of analysis is that these factors and external bounds to a high degree permeate the manager’s workday and can therefore be seen as a plausible explanation for the boundless nature of the managerial task. For most of the managers of the study, this was expressed as uncertainty as to how to define and interpret goals and as to what the managerial role includes with regard to areas of responsibility. It is interesting to ask, however, whether these conditions are not characteristic of the role of managers and work life in general. The results also show that the substantive theory of the study was not judged to be valid for the municipal companies. These managers do not express as ambivalent an approach to competing value systems as the managers in other sections of the municipality do. Nor do they appear to question their professional knowledge, the work content or managership. Another empirical important finding is that the managers believe that the organizational conditions limit ability to carry out the manager task, but that, despite this, they indicate, paradoxically, that they like their work and the social work environment.
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| 6. |
- Alfonsson, Johan, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Have low-paid jobs increased in the Swedish labor market? Defining low pay in the context of the Nordic model
- 2023
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Ingår i: Economic and Industrial Democracy: an international journal. - 0143-831X .- 1461-7099.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Can the Nordic wage-setting model, where social partners decide wages through collective agreements, counteract a growing low-paid sector? This article tests four definitions of low-paid jobs to analyze whether this sector has grown for the period 2005–2020 in Sweden. Despite policy changes pointing towards growth, all definitions show a slight decrease in low-paid jobs over time. The authors argue that the industrial relations system, with the aim of keeping the industry wage increases in check to aid export competitiveness, also sets a uniform level wage that limits low-paid jobs. It is also found that low pay in the Swedish setting is partly a result of working less than full-time or having unstable employment, and service workers and those with low education are becoming increasingly common in this position.
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| 7. |
- Alfonsson, Johan, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Have low-paid jobs increased in the Swedish labor market? Defining low pay in the context of the Nordic model
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Economic and Industrial Democracy. - London : Sage Publications. - 0143-831X .- 1461-7099.
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Can the Nordic wage-setting model, where social partners decide wages through collective agreements, counteract a growing low-paid sector? This article tests four definitions of low-paid jobs to analyze whether this sector has grown for the period 2005–2020 in Sweden. Despite policy changes pointing towards growth, all definitions show a slight decrease in low-paid jobs over time. The authors argue that the industrial relations system, with the aim of keeping the industry wage increases in check to aid export competitiveness, also sets a uniform level wage that limits low-paid jobs. It is also found that low pay in the Swedish setting is partly a result of working less than full-time or having unstable employment, and service workers and those with low education are becoming increasingly common in this position.
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| 8. |
- Andersson-Stråberg, Teresia, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Perceptions of justice in connection with individualized pay setting
- 2007
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Ingår i: Economic and Industrial Democracy. - Uppsala : Sage Publications. - 0143-831X .- 1461-7099. ; 28:3, s. 431-464
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Individualized pay is typically assumed to enhance employee work motivation, but a precondition for such beneficial effects is that employees perceive the pay-setting process to be fair. The aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the nature, determinants and consequences of pay justice. Questionnaire data, obtained from a Swedish nationally representative sample of nurses, provided support for distinguishing between distributive, procedural, interpersonal and informational justice. The results also showed that perceptions of pay justice were predicted by both work climate variables and factors related to the pay-setting procedure, even after controlling for demographic characteristics. Although pay justice had only marginal effects on employee work attitudes and behaviour when demographics, work climate and pay-related factors had been taken into account, justice was found to be an important goal in itself, given that a prerequisite for the success of any pay system is that it is perceived as fair.
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| 9. |
- Arman, Rebecka, 1976, et al.
(författare)
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Alone at work: Isolation, competition and co-dependency in flexibilised retail
- 2021
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Ingår i: Economic and Industrial Democracy. - : SAGE Publications. - 0143-831X .- 1461-7099. ; 42:4, s. 1254-1281
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Previous studies of flexibilisation through employer-controlled flexible scheduling and off-site isolated work have shown how such practices have detrimental effects on workers' wellbeing. This qualitative study, set in Swedish retail, adds to previous findings by showing how flexible scheduling practices that include irregular variation of work hours and headcount have consequences also for worker interaction in the workplace. Even on-site work can be experienced as isolating if workers are 'spread too thin' in efforts to reduce labour costs. Set in two different retail settings, the study demonstrates and discusses how inter-employee competition and co-dependency are created, respectively. The authors also discuss how the flexibilisation described in this study reduced possibilities for face-to-face meetings and communication between co-workers, between workers and managers, and between workers and union representatives. Finally, it is discussed how the kind of flexibilisation described in this study coincides with defeatism and barriers to collective voice as well as action.
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| 10. |
- Arnesson, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Interaction patterns in a steering group : Power and action outcome
- 2014
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Ingår i: Economic and Industrial Democracy. - : SAGE. - 0143-831X .- 1461-7099. ; 35:2, s. 325-340
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this article is to study interaction patterns within a steering group. Most large projects include a group of this kind whose task it is to steer towards set goals and provide the required resources. The origin of the research area lies in the observation that steering groups seem to have difficulties in living up to the expectations of project management and project participants, despite structured working methods such as regular meetings, distribution of responsibility and cooperation with different interested parties. By means of interviews and observations the article attempts to capture interaction patterns in a specific steering group. The study is anchored in theories of power with the purpose of supplying theoretical concepts and analytical tools. The most important conclusion is that the interaction patterns that emerged in the steering group rested on two foundations. The first one was that social relations in the steering group created power that was produced and manifested in different ways. The second one was that the exercise of power affected the action outcome, that is, the results of the actions and consequences for future actions. Another conclusion is that the exercising of the assignment presupposes four premises: the steering group member needs to have a positive approach to the project idea and the set goals, to have knowledge of the assignment, to have a position with the authority to make and carry out strategic decisions of the project, and be able to allocate time for active work and participation in meetings.
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