Work O rganisation and Restructuring in the K nowledge Society

1. WORKS Work Organisation and Restructuringin theKnowledge Society

2. WORKS: Core research issues • Changes in work and NFWO from the perspective of global restructuring of value chains • Changes in use of knowledge and skills • Different ways of achieving flexibility • Use of time • Occupational identities • Impact on Quality of Life • Social dialogue and the regional institutional context

3. WORKS: steps to follow • Research objectives: proposal/ DoW • State of the art (Theories): Oct – Feb 2006 • Major research questions • ‘overall design’ approach for research on organisational transformations: acommon conceptual framework as starting point for complementarity between quantitative and qualitative research • Translation into methodology (Quant. and Qualt.): Feb – May 2006 • For Quantitative research: • feasibility and preparations • Indicators and survey-results

4. WORKS: 5 KEY ISSUES • The global restructuring of value chains • 2. The organisational dimension • 3. Flexibility • 4. Skills and Qualifications • 5. Career trajectories and Quality of life

5. WORKS: 5 KEY ISSUES • Crucial issues: • STRUCTURES and CHANGES • Descriptions and Explanations • Employee data or organisation data • Main problems: • What we want versus what we can: • Resources in the first place • Comparability and availability of data • Concepts and statistics and indicators • Focus on value chain, business function/unit…? • How to measure change • Reconcile breadth and depth

6. WORKS: Global dimension 1. The Restructuring of GVC Objectives: • analysing global division of work and networking • analysing drivers of change • Dependent and independent variable • Descriptive level • Explanatory level: focus on changes, drivers and actors/motives

7. WORKS: Global dimension • Value chains are getting longer and more complex due to globalisation, outsourcing and ICTs • Vertical disintegration of activities • Different Scenarios of recomposition/integration: • Networks, concentrations, SMEs, new TNCs (intermediaires), head- and-tail companies… • New balance and variations between bureaucracy/hiërarchies and market as coordination mechanisms • Drivers: • External pressures: ownership, markets, customers,… • Internal changes: innovations, skills, costs, BPR • Actors and motives: cost cutting, access to markets,

8. WORKS: Global dimension 1. The Restructuring of GVC Indicators: • (changes in): • ownership • structure • outsourcing • relations to customers • relations to suppliers • Markets and competition • Product and process innovations • ICTs • ….

9. WORKS: The organisational dimension 2. Changes in the organisation Objective: analysing NFWO, division of work and changes in workplace design • Division of work of business functions stretches across boundaries of work • Employment is managed across boundaries • Multi-employer environment: • who is the boss, market-logics • Customer orientation • Lengthening of GVC implies: • centralisation, formalisation and control • …

10. WORKS: the organisational dimension … • Intensification of monitoring in view of risk management in value chains (legal, procedures, contract…) • New forms of standardisation and codification • Another management of knowledge work? • Internalisation of market logics • the paradox of proximity: organisational learning and informalities versus formalisation and centralisation • Gender biased changes

11. WORKS: The organisational dimension 2. Changes in the organisation Indicators: • Lay out of production process • Task compositions • Forms of eWork, distant work, distributed teams… • Standardisation versus complexity • Control, quality and performance monitoring • Collaboration • Decision-making • Gendered division of work • …

12. WORKS: Flexibility and time use 3. Flexibility • Objective: analysing the use of different forms of flexibility • ‘Atkinson revised’: • In the ‘core’: growing pressure on the core, project work, employability debate, • In the ‘periphery’: outsourcing? • what flexibility for what categories of workers (along the value chain) • …

13. WORKS: Flexibility and time use 3. Flexibility • … • flexible work versus flexible employment • Link with regulation (EPL/EPR) • Link with impact on wages and financial flexibility

14. WORKS: Flexibility and time use 3. Flexibility • Indicators: • Contractforms and flexibility • Working time arrangements and temporal flexibility • For what categories of workers (incl. gender) • Functional flexibility • wage systems • …

15. WORKS: skills and qualifications 4. Skills and internal labour markets • Objectives: analysing impact on internal labour markets, in particular skills acquisition and policies • ILMs under pressure by blurring of boundaries • Intra-firm skills development versus external skill provision/ acquisition • ...

16. WORKS: skills and qualifications 4. Skills and internal labour markets • … • Different logics of restructuring decisive? • Access to skills: opportunities for learning in networks? • Soft skills accross boundaries - monitored?

17. WORKS: skills and qualifications 4. Skills and internal labour markets • Indicators: • Nature of work, knowledge-intensity, complexity • Required skills (formal, experience, seniority…) • Required skills (professional, technical, communication, soft…) • Recruitment • Skill assessment • Training (formal; informal, on the job, inside, outside…) • …

18. WORKS: the level of the individual 5. Career trajectories and the quality of life • Objectives: analysing impact on career trajectories and occupational identities • Blurring of boundaries between occupations and work roles • Diversification and discontinuities as key words? • Along the career • With private life/ in transitions • In expectations • …

19. WORKS: the level of the individual • … • Growing subjectivity in work: • Autonomy but framed • Responsibility but monitored • Committment required but not rewarded • Precariousness and insecurity • In employment • In income • In skill reproduction • In work • …

20. WORKS: the level of the individual • … • Changing working environment makes workers insecure • Diversification of career patterns • Occupational identities in change?

21. WORKS: the level of the individual • Indicators: • Job mobility • Transitions, work interruptions • earnings • Health problems (physical; stress…) • Job satisfaction • Subjective insecurity • …