This study investigates the role social information and personal dispositions play in the development of attitudes of unionized employees towards employee involvement programs. A theoretical model was developed in order to understand how social information and dispositions form union member attitudes towards employee involvement programs. This was designed from models of employee involvement and attitude formation. Data were collected from employees at electrical power generation facilities. Measures of organizational and union commitment, locus of control, participativeness, social information provided by the company, social information provided by the union, and employee involvement attitudes were gathered through a survey distributed at the facilities. General affect and satisfaction towards four types of employee involvement programs union members are most likely to encounter were measured. Specific hypotheses were developed in order to test and analyze parts of the theoretical model. While the results were at times contrary to the hypothesized relationships within the model, the data fit with the theorized model well enough to provide support for it. This model effectively demonstrated how employee involvement attitudes are formed from such data, and the relationships between the variables measured. / Ph. D.

No description available.

Change and adaptation to change has always been a part of human life. Some are more used to changes in their daily life and some are more resistant towards it. In big organizations all types of people are working together to create a better future. In manufacturing companies, change and implementation of digital transformation are more frequently occurring and in faster paces. This thesis aids to study how Change Management can be adapted in a manufacturing company regarding digital transformation by minimizing the resistance. This thesis is an inductive qualitative case study where both theoretical framework and data collections are provided. The theories brought up in this thesis are Change Management, psychological, social and organizational aspects of Change Management and how to adapt Change Management and Operator 4.0. To be able to compare theory with practice, a total of 10 interviews were held with 7 team leaders and 3 production leaders and 4 observations were held. The collected data and theory were analyzed and compared to each other and later on, gaps between theory and practice were identified. The results show that there is a lack of communication within the organization and a deficient communication chain. The results show that there is involvement of employees but mainly from the same type of department. There is an uneven distribution of implementation within the production where one part of the production is almost fully digitalized while the other has nothing digital at all. Depending on the shifts, there is a lack of support from the production engineers and top management. As a conclusion, adapting change management seems to be easy when reading about its theory but is in fact difficult when adapting it in practice, especially when the organization is big. To deal with the problem, the developers and managers should include employees from the very beginning of the formulation process and divide project teams in smaller groups in order to provide support to all departments and shifts. The developers and managers should also use Lewin´s three-step model for minor changes and consider using Kotter´s strategic eight-step model for changes made at a bigger scale. / Förändring och anpassning till förändring har alltid varit en del av människans liv. Vissa är mer vana vid förändringar i sitt dagliga liv och andra är mer motståndskraftiga mot det. I stora organisationer arbetar alla typer av människor tillsammans för att skapa en bättre framtid. I tillverkande företag sker förändring och implementering av digital transformation oftare och i snabbare takt. Detta examensarbete hjälper till att studera hur Change Management kan anpassas i ett tillverkande företag avseende digital transformation genom att minimera motståndet. Detta examensarbete är en induktiv kvalitativ fallstudie där både teoretiska ramar och datainsamlingar tillhandahålls. Teorierna som tas upp i detta examensarbete är Change Management, psykologiska, sociala och organisations aspekterna av Change Management samt hur man anpassar Change Management och Operator 4.0. För att kunna jämföra teori med praktik hölls totalt 10 intervjuer med 7 teamledare och 3 produktionsledare och 4 observationer genomfördes. Insamlade data och teori analyserades och jämfördes med varandra och senare identifierades luckor mellan teori och praktik. Resultaten visar att det råder brist på kommunikation inom organisationen och en bristfällig kommunikationskedja. Resultaten visar att det finns engagemang av medarbetare men främst från samma typ av avdelning. Det är en ojämn fördelning av genomförandet inom produktionen där en del av produktionen är nästan helt digitaliserad medan den andra inte har något digitalt alls. Beroende på skiften saknas stöd från produktionsingenjörerna och högsta ledningen. Sammanfattningsvis verkar det vara lätt att anpassa förändringsledning när man läser om dess teori men är faktiskt svårt när man anpassar den i praktiken, speciellt när organisationen är stor. För att komma till rätta med problemet bör utvecklarna och cheferna inkludera anställda redan från början av formuleringsprocessen och dela in projektteam i mindre grupper för att ge stöd till alla avdelningar och skift. Utvecklarna och cheferna bör också använda Lewins trestegsmodell för mindre förändringar och överväga att använda Kotters strategiska åttastegsmodell för förändringar som görs i större skala.

Yes / Most research on Employee Involvement (EI) has focused on large or 'mainstream' organizations. By adopting those schemes which 'appear' to work well in larger organizations, then smaller firms assume there will be enhanced employee commitment beyond formal contractual requirements. The main question in this paper is whether EI schemes designed by management will suffice under the 2004 Information and Consultation of Employees (ICE) Regulations. It focuses on SMEs which tend to favour informal and direct EI, and it remains unclear how these methods will be played out under the new regulatory environment. Evidence from four case studies is presented here and it suggests that the ICE Regulations impose new challenges for smaller firms given their tendency to provide information rather than consult with employees. It also appears organizational factors, workplace relations history and the way processes are implemented at enterprise level may be far more important than size itself.

Employee involvement and participation in HIV-prevention interventions at the workplace remains a barrier to effective programme implementation, which contributes significantly to programme failure and the consequent continued spread of HIV among employees at the workplace. This study explores employee involvement and participation in HIV-prevention interventions at a Bulawayo tyre manufacturing firm. It assesses factors affecting employee involvement and participation in these interventions, and examines the implications of these findings for programme implementation. I used a semi-standardised interview schedule to conduct in-depth, face-to-face qualitative interviews and a self-administered questionnaire to collect quantitative data. The responses showed the nature of employee involvement in HIV-prevention at the firm was at a co-option level, and the type of participation was mere token participation. I recommended that the firm should develop a clear understanding of the importance of stakeholder involvement in HIV-prevention programmes. / Sociology / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

Employee involvement and participation in HIV-prevention interventions at the workplace remains a barrier to effective programme implementation, which contributes significantly to programme failure and the consequent continued spread of HIV among employees at the workplace. This study explores employee involvement and participation in HIV-prevention interventions at a Bulawayo tyre manufacturing firm. It assesses factors affecting employee involvement and participation in these interventions, and examines the implications of these findings for programme implementation. I used a semi-standardised interview schedule to conduct in-depth, face-to-face qualitative interviews and a self-administered questionnaire to collect quantitative data. The responses showed the nature of employee involvement in HIV-prevention at the firm was at a co-option level, and the type of participation was mere token participation. I recommended that the firm should develop a clear understanding of the importance of stakeholder involvement in HIV-prevention programmes. / Sociology / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

Submitted by Larissa Domingues (la_cissa@hotmail.com) on 2017-11-21T20:01:05Z No. of bitstreams: 3 DOMINGUES_LARISSA 2017.pdf: 2228092 bytes, checksum: cfd266bdcca4b1f81f067910ab6b2f73 (MD5) Autorização.pdf: 413587 bytes, checksum: 0a3b238aa4fa0d784713f521a4ce09d8 (MD5) Carta de encaminhamento Larissa.pdf: 627470 bytes, checksum: b2bfdd11a7c0254d6303c28c6f252a02 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Milena Rubi ( ri.bso@ufscar.br) on 2017-11-22T13:58:58Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 3 DOMINGUES_LARISSA 2017.pdf: 2228092 bytes, checksum: cfd266bdcca4b1f81f067910ab6b2f73 (MD5) Autorização.pdf: 413587 bytes, checksum: 0a3b238aa4fa0d784713f521a4ce09d8 (MD5) Carta de encaminhamento Larissa.pdf: 627470 bytes, checksum: b2bfdd11a7c0254d6303c28c6f252a02 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Milena Rubi ( ri.bso@ufscar.br) on 2017-11-22T13:59:08Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 3 DOMINGUES_LARISSA 2017.pdf: 2228092 bytes, checksum: cfd266bdcca4b1f81f067910ab6b2f73 (MD5) Autorização.pdf: 413587 bytes, checksum: 0a3b238aa4fa0d784713f521a4ce09d8 (MD5) Carta de encaminhamento Larissa.pdf: 627470 bytes, checksum: b2bfdd11a7c0254d6303c28c6f252a02 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-22T13:59:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 DOMINGUES_LARISSA 2017.pdf: 2228092 bytes, checksum: cfd266bdcca4b1f81f067910ab6b2f73 (MD5) Autorização.pdf: 413587 bytes, checksum: 0a3b238aa4fa0d784713f521a4ce09d8 (MD5) Carta de encaminhamento Larissa.pdf: 627470 bytes, checksum: b2bfdd11a7c0254d6303c28c6f252a02 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-30 / Não recebi financiamento / Since the 1980s, after a series of publications in the academic and business literature, initiatives to implement the Toyotist approach become common in companies located in developed countries and, consequently, in organizations located in Latin America, Asia and Africa, as the headquarters begin to spread their learning to their subsidiaries. Thus, this work aimed to study the multi-plant adoption of a kaizen-based employee involvement program in two branches of an organization, located in Brazil (BR) and China (CH). Among the various programs and techniques associated with Lean Manufacturing, the choice for kaizen was due to the interest in understanding the possible mismatches between the discourses present in the Toyotist literature and the reality of modern companies that call themselves lean. The analysis of the results allowed to understand the main differences between BR and CH programs, with emphasis on the level of employee participation, the use of group ideas, the rewards system and the gains obtained. It should be noted that in BR the level of employee adherence to the program has been greater and this fact can be explained in part by its alignment with critical managerial practices to the establishment of the environment and model conducive to the culture of continuous improvement. However, the research found that the organization has failed in 9 of the 18 practices evaluated for BR and in 13 of the 18 practices evaluated for CH. That is, although the Toyotist literature presents kaizen programs as a form of partnership, collaboration and sharing between employee and employer, this becomes subject oof questions in the context studied. / A partir da década de 80, após uma série de publicações na literatura acadêmica e empresarial, tornam-se comuns as iniciativas de implantação da abordagem toyotista em empresas situadas nos países desenvolvidos e, em decorrência, em organizações situadas na América Latina, Ásia e África, na medida em que as matrizes passam a difundir seus aprendizados para suas subsidiárias. Assim, este trabalho buscou estudar a adoção multi-planta de um programa de envolvimento do trabalhador baseado no kaizen em duas filiais de uma organização, situadas no Brasil (BR) e na China (CH). Entre os diversos programas e técnicas associados à Manufatura Enxuta, a escolha pelo kaizen se deu justamente pelo interesse em compreender os possíveis descompassos entre os discursos presentes na literatura toyotista e a realidade das empresas modernas que se dizem lean. A análise dos resultados permitiu compreender as principais diferenças entre os programas de BR e CH, com destaque para o nível de participação dos funcionários, a utilização das ideias em grupo, o sistema de recompensas e os ganhos obtidos. Nota-se que em BR, o nível de adesão dos trabalhadores ao programa tem sido maior e tal fato pode ser explicado, em parte, por seu alinhamento às práticas gerenciais críticas para o estabelecimento do ambiente e do modelo propícios à cultura de melhoria contínua. Entretanto, a pesquisa constatou que a organização tem falhado em 9 das 18 práticas avaliadas para BR e em 13 das 18 práticas avaliadas para CH. Isto é, apesar da literatura toyotista apresentar os programas kaizen como uma forma de parceria, colaboração e compartilhamento entre empregado e empregador, isto se torna alvo de questionamentos no contexto estudado.

This dissertation consists of three independent studies - two empirical studies and one literature review - that examine different issues regarding the involvement of employees in innovation within the growing open innovation environment. In particular, I focus on the different facets and vital enablers that influence involving the general workforce in innovation, among which trust plays a critical role for their active involvement and their decision to contribute to innovation. In the first study, the focus is on a powerful set of enablers of high involvement innovation, namely; the new corporate web technologies, and their role in accelerating a wider base of collective innovation. The second study then examines the involvement of a very specialized category of the workforce in innovation which is the highly qualified external workforce. Those employees represent a rich yet underexplored resource of employee innovation. Finally, in the third study, I focus on exploring the different roles played by innovation intermediaries and argue that intermediaries could take a more active role in open innovation, through proposing the ‘trust incubator’ role. New insights coming from this thesis advance the current discussion of actively and effectively involving employees in innovation, as well as uncover important and current related issues and allow us to draw conclusions that are useful for both research and practice.:Introduction I Accelerating high involvement: The role of new technologies in enabling employee participation in innovation II Exploring the involvement of highly qualified external employees in innovation – an organizational perspective 1 INTRODUCTION 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 The flexible external workforce 2.2 Employee involvement in innovation 2.3 The involvement of HQEE in innovation 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 4 EMPIRICAL FINDINGS 5 CONCLUSION III Rethinking the role of trust in open innovation 1 INTRODUCTION 2 AN OVERVIEW OF TRUST 3 CONTEXTS OF TRUST IN OPEN INNOVATION 3.1 Supply chain development 3.2 Innovation clusters 3.3 Employee involvement in innovation 4 TRUST IN OPEN INNOVATION 4.1 Open innovation: The shift from knowledge creation to knowledge sharing 4.2 Open innovation opportunities & emerging trust challenges 5 TRUSTED INTERMEDIARIES IN HIGHLY INNOVATIVE CINTEXTS 5.1 Intermediaries – from brokers to trust incubators 5.2 Trusted intermediaries in the literature 6 CONCLUSION AND DIRECTION FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Further research in the innovation management field

Overcoming resistance to change is crucial for organizational changes. In manufacturing companies, changes and digital transformations are more frequently occurring and in faster paces. The purpose of this thesis is to study how digital transformations can be implemented successfully in manufacturing organizations by analyzing important factors and strategies in change management and offer solutions for deficient processes. This thesis is an inductive qualitative case study. The theories brought up in this thesis are regarding change management, digital transformation, the theory of planned behavior, the psychological contract, employee involvement and digital design, all regarding change management. By analyzing the organizations implementation-, change management- and digital transformation processes, important factors were extracted to develop the organizations digital transformation strategy. A total of 10 interviews were held with team leaders and production leaders and 4 observations were held. The collected data and researched theories were analyzed to fill the discovered gaps in the organizations change management. The results show that there are gaps in the communication within the organization and a deficient communication chain. Results show that there is a selective involvement of employees in new implementation- and digital transformation processes and that regularly involved employees in new implementation processes and digitalization initiatives show more positive expectations and attitudes towards change whilst uninvolved employees expressed more negative. The results also show that the absence of support functions such as HR, ergonomics, IT technicians etc. in the evening shifts may contribute to role ambiguity and role conflict in the evening shift production leaders and contribute to resistance to change due to added workload and insufficient support. By involving more employees and departments in implementation processes, standardizing communication methods and engaging support functions in the evening shift new digital transformation initiatives can be implemented more successfully. / Att övervinna motståndet mot förändringar är avgörande för organisatoriska förändringar. I tillverkningsföretag sker förändringar och digitala transformationer oftare och i ökande takt. Syftet med detta examensarbetet är att studera hur digitala transformationer framgångsrikt kan implementeras i tillverkande organisationer genom att analysera viktiga faktorer och strategier inom förändringsledning och erbjuda lösningar till bristfälliga processer. Denna avhandling är en induktiv kvalitativ fallstudie. Teorierna som tas upp i detta examensarbete gäller förändringsledning, digitala transformationer, teorin om planerat beteende, psykologiska kontrakt, medarbetarengagemant och digital design, allt med avseende på förändringsledning. Genom att analysera organisationens implementerings-, förädringslednings- och digitala transformationsprocesser extraherades viktiga faktorer för att utveckla organisationens digitala transformationsstrategi. Totalt hölls 10 intervjuer med lagledare och produktionsledare och 4 observationer genomfördes. Den insamlade data och de studerade teorierna analyserades för att fylla de upptäckta gapen i organisationens förändringsledning. Resultaten visar att det finns gap i kommunikationen inom organisationen och en bristfällig kommunikationskedja. Resultat visar att det finns ett selektivt engagemang av medarbetare i nya implementerings- och digitala transformationsprocesser och att regelbundet involverade medarbetare i nya implementeringar och digitaliseringsinitiativ visar mer positiva förväntningar och attityder till förändring medan oengagerade medarbetare uttryckte sig mer negativa. Resultaten visar också att frånvaron av stödfunktioner som HR, ergonomer, IT-tekniker etc. på kvällspassen kan bidra till rolloklarhet och rollkonflikt hos kvällsskiftets produktionsledare och bidra till motstånd mot förändring på grund av ökad arbetsbelastning och otillräckligt stöd. Genom att involvera fler medarbetare och avdelningar i implementeringsprocesser, standardisera kommunikationsmetoder och engagera stödfunktioner i kvällsskiftet kan nya digitala transformationsinitiativ implementeras mer framgångsrikt.