1. Workshop 2 What types of work organisation and competencies are needed in a
knowledge economy?
Making Europe the leading knowledge-based economy is one of the often repeated
challenges developed since the adoption of the Lisbon Strategy. This has an impact not only
on business strategies, but also on working conditions.
The acceleration of micro-economic processes – technological development, market
demands, economic pressures – entails ongoing changes to how work is organised. Whether
it is the nature of work itself, which is becoming more intellectual, more inter-relational, or the
nature of business, which is becoming a ‘virtual’ network, or the basic work team, which is
becoming a ‘client-orientated process’, it is clear that the new forms of work organisation
tend to favour human exchanges and knowledge.
The one-sided dimension of work situations is disappearing, making it impossible to obtain
a unique performance model.
How, therefore, can we evaluate the efficacy and efficiency of organisations in a way that
unleashes practical sources of inspiration? Which organisational methods enable us to meet
the challenges of a society where the continuous renewal of the ‘purposes’ of work mean
regularly questioning the job and associated capabilities (how are we doing what we do? why
are we doing it?).
Four ‘levels’ of criteria are proposed for analysing work practices:
Management coherence: There is currently a range of organisational innovations available -
just-in-time, normalisation, ERP, etc. - aimed at combining flexibility and rationalisation. But
the combined effects of these management tools are not always ideal… and are sometimes
at odds with the work activity. How can businesses integrate these tools and how can they
combine them in order to facilitate greater knowledge and efficiency?
Hybrid organisation: Can the marriage between a flexible organisation, lean production and
organisational learning result in hybridisation, providing global and sustainable efficiency? If it
is possible to combine certain principles arising out of these three methods, should we not
also examine whether certain combinations produce more sustainable effects?
Learning work activity: The interaction/autonomy/competences triangle would seem, from the
work point of view, to be the optimum approach, facilitating both individual and collective
learning and general performance. How is this triangle constructed? In what ways is it
aligned to the expectations and capabilities of individuals?
Nature of social compromises: How can the new socio-organisational compromises be
opened up? On what basis and how can contracts be entered into between the players?
What methods are envisaged for (re)designing professional pathways?
Davide Antonioli, Mazzanti, Massimiliano; Pini, Paolo
Innovation, working conditions and industrial relations
Evidence for a local production system” finds its collocation within a recent and lively
literature on the relations between organizational changes and working conditions.
During the 1990s several economists and managerial scholars pointed to the positive effects
on workers from the introduction of new forms of work and production organization; however,
some more recent studies highlight its potential negative effects. It is also important,
contextually, not to overlook other aspects of firms’ innovation activity. Furthermore,
cooperative relationships at firm level between union delegates and management are likely
to be linked with workers well being.
The results of the empirical exercise, conducted on original data for manufacturing firms
located in an Italian local production system, confirm the positive relationship between
cooperative industrial relations, and working conditions. For innovation activities the evidence
is mixed. On the one hand, innovations have an overall positive effect on working conditions,
on the other, this effect is weak and for specific organizational aspects is negative.

2. Davide Antonioli is a research assistant at the University of Ferrara, Faculty of Economics,
Department of Economics Institutions and Territory.
He read Political Sciences at the University of Bologna, where he also gained a PhD
following a MSc in Economics and Econometrics at Bristol University.
He works in and has also published on issues regarding the relations between technological
change, organizational innovation and industrial relations, on the one hand, and companies
economic performance (especially productivity), on the other.
He is currently involved in research activities concerning the issue of the effects of
(cooperative) industrial relations and company level organizational changes on working
conditions.
Jean-Pierre Bouchez
Jean-Pierre Bouchez is research director at Groupe Merlane. He studied employment law
(Université Paris 1) and employment psychology (CNAM) and has worked in personnel
management in major French companies for 20 years. For 10 years, he was human
resources director for Thalès, Giat Industries and Nielsen. For the last 12 years, he has
worked as a business consultant. In this role he has worked with Bernard Brunhes (Groupe
Bernard Brunhes) and Raymond Soubie (Groupe Altedia). In his current position in Groupe
Merlane, he has assisted numerous major companies and organisations to successfully
manage and bring about change. In addition to his work as a consultant, Jean-Pierre
Bouchez has published several dozen articles in professional and academic reviews. His
areas of expertise are the knowledge economy, knowledge workers and professionals,
knowledge organisations, management of knowledge workers and skills.
Thierry Bourgeron, Akka technologies
Yves-Frédéric Livian, Professor, Lyons University
Gérard Valenduc
(See abstract in the French participant file)
Gérard Valenduc is codirector of the Work & Technology Research Centre (www.ftu-
namur.org) and guest lecturer at the University of Namur and University of Louvain-la-Neuve.
He has a doctorate in computer science. He has specialised in research into the human and
social dimension of technological change. His research and publications cover work changes
linked to the spread of information and communication technologies, digital exclusion and
inclusion, relationships between technology and society, and promoting sustainable
development through innovation.
Antoine Valeyre
(See abstract in the French participant file)
Antoine Valeyre is a CNRS researcher at the Maurice Halbwachs Centre and associate
researcher at the Employment Studies Centre. For 15 years, his research has developed in
the field of organisational change and the evolution of work. His recent work addresses forms
of work organisation and working conditions in France and Europe.
Laurent Zyllberberg, Social Relations Director, France Telecom