A Hard Job Is Good to Find: Comparability, Contextuality and Stakeholder Involvement in European Job Quality Research

Holtgrewe, Ursula; Markova, Ekaterina L.; Ravn, Johan E.

doi:10.1057/9781137461087_2

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…In such a multidisciplinary field, how can work process redesign be built on a participatory process? This question was dealt with using an action research approach, focusing on interactivity between researchers and participants through all the stages (Holtgrewe et al 2015), cogenerative learning (Elden and Levin 1991), pragmatic problemsolving and increased ability of those involved to be in control of their situation (Greenwood and Levin 2007).…”

Section: Methodological Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The empirical basis for this article is a so-called interactive research design in which researchers and groups of partners worked together to develop new knowledge. The concept of interactive research emphasises a shared process between field and research in most or all phases of the research (Holtgrewe et al 2015). The cogenerative learning perspective views all participants as capable of and involved in creating new solutions (Elden and Levin 1991) and aims to "open horizons of discussion, to create spaces for collective reflection in which new descriptions and analyses of important situations may be developed" (Greenwood and Levin 2007:72).…”

Section: Methodological Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Minimal critical specification and collective organisational redesign

Ravn

2019

EJWI

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The purpose of this article is to apply concepts of socio-technical systems thinking (STS), enriched with concepts from more recent organisation theory, to analyse a case of participatory design of core manufacturing processes in a company. The redesign process considered transformation of operational logistics of the installation phase, which is a complex and costly phase. The focus is a test of the concept of minimal critical specification, applied as a principle for work process redesign. In the process under study, managers, supervisors and worker representatives at all levels and functions directly affected took part in the process of redesigning the material flow system and the corresponding control system at the operational level, and the design was put into operation by the company. After a year of operation, the new design was modestly favourably assessed by the organisation. The case shows the possibility and importance of the affected work system’s influence in the development, operationalisation and implementation of a new organisation, and the findings demonstrate how manifold relevant participant knowledge may be incorporated into a workable redesign process. The findings cannot be generalised on the basis of this one case, but we will argue that the case serves as a demonstrator project for the model tested.

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Section: Methodological Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodological Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Minimal critical specification and collective organisational redesign

Ravn

2019

EJWI

Self Cite

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“…The methodological approach in the experiments is action research oriented (Greenwood and Levin 2006) with an emphasis on cogenerative learning processes (Elden and Levin 1991). As discussed by Holtgrewe et al (2015) the choice of which method to use depends on the research question and the rationale behind it but also on which role the researcher shall have in the research project. They state that the logic behind interactive methods is cogeneration, and where "the researched are research partners".…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

"From terrible teen to terrific trainee": Norwegian cases of innovative workplace-school collaboration to educate young people to become skilled workers in modern manufacturing industry

Øyum

Olsen

Thøring

2019

EJWI

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Contemporary debates over "the factory of the future" show that industries will need vocational workers that are empowered and skilled to act as decision-makers and controllers, holding technical and social skills of a high standard. Further, industrial development demands enough supply of skilled vocational workers. In Norway, a parallel concern is drop-out rates from upper secondary education. Consequently, it is of joint concern for the manufacturing industries, the secondary education system and the welfare state alike to ensure that young people choose vocational education and that they finish their education with skills and motivation needed to contribute in the "future manufacturing factory". The research question is the following: How can lower secondary schools or vocational colleges collaborate with industrial companies as to motivate young people to become vocational workers who are educated in the technical and generic skills needed for future manufacturing industries? With an action research approach, we explore on experiments of such innovative collaboration. We find that workplace-learning motivates young people to learn both trade specific and generic competencies. Thus, we argue that the lower secondary school-system must be included in what traditionally has been vocational education-workplace collaboration. Further, we find that the learning of future skill requirements presupposes collective learning processes and authentic problem solving. Finally, we argue that competencies fit well as an inclusion in both the social- and technological dimensions of socio-technical systems design, but more research is needed on the mechanisms by which competencies become "inputs" and "outputs" of future work designs.

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“…The research team also drew on close cooperation between the researchers and members of the enterprise organisation: insiders played a full part in the whole research process (Coghlan 2003). The concept of interactive research emphasises a shared process between field and research in most or all phases of the research (Holtgrewe et al 2015).…”

Section: Methods: An Interactive Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introducing a corporate concept into organisational practices: a case study of domestication and organisational choice

Haga

Ravn

2019

EJWI

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This article discusses a case of introducing and launching a new corporate concept, a so-called company-specific production system (XPS), into an organisation. Such concepts are at present very commonly used, but what does it take to implement a new logic into an existing organisation? As a theoretical point of departure, the process was understood as a process of domestication, where the imported concept moves from being external, general and unfamiliar to becoming internal and known, owned by the organisational culture and embedded in its practices. Domestication is a process where the import has to be rescripted through how the organisation, as individual members and as various collectives, enacts it, makes sense of it and understands it. The organisation in this case study had a rich tradition of participation, and in the process under study, members from most levels and functions were involved in the attempts to transform the general concept into something workable and company-specific. This paper takes a socio-technical design approach, which argues that organisations importing new technology or new organisational concepts are faced with choices, not with something inevitable. The study reveals the challenges of the domestication process and how the organisation faces not one choice but a multiplicity of interdependent choices, and how handling the process calls for an untraditional, complex and participatory approach.

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A Hard Job Is Good to Find: Comparability, Contextuality and Stakeholder Involvement in European Job Quality Research

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Minimal critical specification and collective organisational redesign

Minimal critical specification and collective organisational redesign

"From terrible teen to terrific trainee": Norwegian cases of innovative workplace-school collaboration to educate young people to become skilled workers in modern manufacturing industry

Introducing a corporate concept into organisational practices: a case study of domestication and organisational choice

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