competence development in work organisations and relation to hrm and knowledge management

Monique RamioulDECOWE

Ljubljana,24-25/9/2009

Competence development in work organisations

and relation to HRM and knowledge management

Changes in work organisations and required skills as related to global value chain restructuring



Logistics IT

Austria Belgium Bulgaria Denmark France Germany Greece Hungary Italy Netherlands Norway Portugal Sweden UK

6FP – Citizens and Governance in the KBS

2.1.3 Changes in work in the knowledge society2005-2009

HIVA-K.U.LEUVEN – Belgium: co-ordinationFORBA – Austria LONDONMET - UK

FTU – Belgium UPSPS – Greece

UT – Netherlands UESSEX - UK

ISB – Hungary ISF MUNCHEN - Germany

FZK – Germany IET – Portugal

IRES - Italy SINTEF - Norway

ATK – Sweden CEE-CNRS – France

IS - Bulgaria AMI - Denmark



Re-search and develop-ment

PRO-DUCTION ICT

Distribution/ lo-gistics

custo-mer serviceengeneering

Adminis-trative services

Global value chain restructuring

Relocation Outsourcing Offshoring



WORKS: changes in work

Business functions investigated:ProductionR&D, ICT servicesLogistics, customer services

Sectors investigated:Food, Clothing, IT Services of general interest (post, railways)Public sector administration



58 organisational case studies: Selected out of matrix combining: (5)business functionsX(5) sectorsX(13)countriesRestructuring event past 5 years (2002+)Workplace level interviews

30 occupational case studiesOccupational groups in the business functions

Analysis of EU databases from establishment and employee surveys:

CLFS, EWCS, CHPEU and national establishment surveys

WORKS - Empirical data



1. Are work organisations adapting as a response to:

...changed knowledge requirements related to restructuring implying the externalisation of codified work

...increased competitiviness and the need for more innovation capabilities

...increased speed and shorter business cycles which are reported in all businesses and sectors

► These (contradictory) requirements puts high demands on acquisition, development and use of knowledge and skills

Corporate strategies and changes in work



2. New organisational responses and practices facilitating a learning organisation

Changing work organisationsEg.:‘reconversion’ of sewing machine operators to

prototype and design Teamwork across company boundariesMoving up the value chainEg.: the learning organisation in high-end ITTraining and access to training: GVR may give access to new internal labour markets

Corporate strategies and changes in work



3. New organisational responses and practices threathening this

Loss of knowledge because of fragmentation and VC lengthening: eg. foodRestructuring is preceeded by codification & standardisationGeneral trends of standardisation and formalisation eg. Software developmentFormalisation related to work over distance and M&AInternal tendering >< collaboration: eg. IT

Corporate strategies and changes in work?



1. Indications of upskilling

Lowskilled work ‘disappears’: new task composition for the remaining workforceShift of core business in restructuring companies eg. clothingAccess to new knowledge and learning opportunities in the chain eg. IT

Innovating companies and competent employees?



2. New skill needs emerging

Related to organisational and technological changes accompanying the restructuring eg. clothingGrowing importance of non-professional skills, not necessarily strengthening these eg. Clothing, software development, R&D“Skill-intensification” related to required combination and integration of (conflicting) competences and speeding-up of business




2. BUT upskilling seems:Highly determined by the position of the firm in the value chainClosely related to work intensification, not necessarily beneficial for QoWGrowing importance of non-professional skills may jeopardise development eg. Clothing, software development, R&D“Organisational flexibility” is shifted to workers’ skills and informal capabilities to compensate for dysfunctional rigiditiesThese capabilities are under pressure due to overall work intensification and speeded-up businesses




Survey data show (Comparative analysis EWCS data, EU15 in 1995, 2000, 2005)Jobs offer less learning opportunitiesSignificant DECREASE in work complexity between 1995 and 2000, and between 2000 and 2005 even after controlling for micro and macro characteristicsWork intensification all over EuropeSignificant INCREASE in intensity of technical/bureaucratic constraints





“Do you feel that you have skills or qualifications to do a more demanding job than the one

you now have?”(ECHP)



Percentage overqualified

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70 DenmarkHollandBelgiumFranceIrelandItalyGreeceSpainPortugalAustriaFinland



1. New internal labour markets may emerge Increased knowledge-intensity requires trainingThis may be at the level of the VC Changes depend on the situation in the ‘destination’ company

2. Others may erodeDirectly related to the relocation of jobsOr related to fragmentation of employment conditionsesp. the lower-skilled seem at risk

3. Still others develop ‘paradoxically’increased skill requirements combined with insecurity and more flexibilityOr with ‘outsourcing’ of the training responsibilities

The role of labour markets in skill development: erosion or new paths?



4. Existing VETsystems at regional or company level under pressure and in deep transition

Both the company......and the individual become the prime actorsGrowing job insecurity/flexibility may threathen individual employability

5. This may be bad in the longer runFor bottom up innovation strategiesRelated to ‘marketisation’ and growing competition

6. Some new ‘germs’ of coordination are observed too




Will ‘chain’-coordination replace firm- or industry- coordination? => There are no simple causalities between economic rationalities, production strategies, welfare regimes and VET systems.




www.worksproject.be

The WORKS project

competence development in work organisations and relation to hrm and knowledge management

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