Dr. Armi Mustoshmaki: Past, Present and Future of Nordic Workplace Innovation

   24th May 2018 - 24th May 2018

Implication of Quality Management and Lean Inspired Management Reform

Presentation by Dr. Armi Mustoshmaki (University of Jyvaskyla, Social and Public Policy Faculty, Opinkivi, Finland) 

10 a.m, 24 May, 2018

Abstract:
According to European comparative studies, organisational change and restructuration have been especially prevalent in Nordic countries. In particular, public-sector organisations have been under turbulence due to pressures for cost reduction and increased efficiency. Yet, not much is known about how these changes have affected the organisation of everyday work. Based on the three waves of European Working Conditions surveys (2000, 2005, 2010), this paper analyses the change in the organisation of work in Nordic countries. The aim is to look into types of work organisation in public- and private-sector organisations in Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. The questions asked are how the type of work organisation differs between sectors and to what extent are there changes in the prevalence of work organisation types. According to the results, the trend is a move away from the use of forms of work organisation characterised by high levels of learning and autonomy to more constrained or formalised forms. However, differences were also found between countries and sectors. The formalisation of work (i.e. features characteristic especially of the lean model of work organisation) is more common in the public sector and in Finland and Denmark compared to Sweden. 

Keywords: Work organisation, Nordic countries, lean production, new public management, comparative research, work formalisation