Intermediary cooperative associations and the institutionalization of participative work practices: A case study in the Danish public sector

Ole Henning Sørensen, Virginia Doellgast and Anders Bojesen
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Ole Henning Sørensen: Aalborg University, Denmark
Virginia Doellgast: London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
Anders Bojesen: HK, Government and Public Employees in Denmark

Economic and Industrial Democracy, 2015, vol. 36, issue 4, 701-725

Abstract: Scandinavian countries are known for having a high adoption of cooperative models of work design. This article investigates the role of parity labour market associations, termed intermediary cooperative associations , in the dissemination of these models. Findings are based on an examination of the Centre for the Development of Human Resources and Quality Management (SCKK), a social partnership-based organization that funds workplace development projects at state workplaces, and of nine participative development projects that received financial and logistical support from the SCKK. These projects increased union and management commitment to partnership-based approaches to problem-solving, despite their ambiguous results for both groups. This suggests that intermediary cooperative associations help to enhance the normative legitimacy of participative work practices through the provision of resources and ‘best practice’ management approaches.

Keywords: Cooperative models; Denmark; industrial relations; intermediary associations; labour–management cooperation; participation; work design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:36:y:2015:i:4:p:701-725

DOI: 10.1177/0143831X14533735

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