Annex 1)
The project analyses the informatisation of modern manufacturing, administrative and service processes in companies, the social shaping of this process and the micro-economic and social consequences, in particular social exclusion. By informatisation we do not mean the application of information technologies (ITs) in modern work processes in the first place but the penetration of information activities into all work processes. Of course between the process of informatisation and the increased application of ITs close relationship exists: on the one hand the increased penetration of information activities into manufacturing, administrative and also service processes makes the introduction and use of ITs more attractive, on the other hand the advances of communication capabilities through the application of ITs will lead to an increased penetration of information activities in modern work. But by differentiating between the two aspects it is possible to analyse the introduction of information technology as a strategy to restructure modern work processes instead of assuming its automatic diffusion. In concentrating on the informatisation of work processes the project differs from traditional work place related research projects as it will analyse the aspect of connectivity between social actors within and between enterprises.
When analysing technology in general and ITs in particular often a materialistic approach is used. Technology is seen as an artefact; it is associated with machines and instruments. As such, technology becomes a tool which supports but at the same time eliminates human labour. There is no doubt that the tool aspect of ITs is important to be analyzed in the project, as this has an impact on the character of work itself. ITs cannot only automate routinised work but they can also perform more demanding functions in the work process.
However ITs are not simple tools to be applied but also processes to be developed, which means that they have not assumed a fixed form once and for ever, instead they can be described as "configurations" which can be and actually are socially shaped. Insofar users of ITs become at the same time also producers. The project will analyse, in which way IT applications in different work processes are socially shaped and which are the main factors that influence this process.
A main character of ITs is that they do not determine work organisation, on the contrary ITs in this respect must be understood as open technologies, which allow for different organisation forms, although they are not totally malleable. ITs, Due to the fact that their structure consists of both hardware and software - besides their technological development - depend on the development of an autonomous social model of production. When rejecting technological determinism, it must be assumed that the technological and organisational models are only loosely coupled. Therefore the regulation of social relationships and practices in work is an endogenous part of the development process, absolutely necessary for the functioning of IT based work processes. ITs more than traditional technologies, provide "occasions" for structuring the production process according to other drivers of change.
The relationship between ITs and organisation forms is reciprocal; ITs enable fundamental changes in organisation forms of the work process, which in turn generate requisites for communication system design, both of which are responsive to usersī activities to interarticulate technical and organisational systems. On the one hand, ITs are enablers of change in the organisation of manufacturing, administration and service processes particularly as they offer capabilities to overcome constraints of time and distance. On the other hand, communication systems are also implicated in organisation forms in so far as their configuration may be shaped as organisation structures evolve and change. We can conclude that although the development of ITs and organisation forms have to be conceived as more or less separate processes, in reality they are very much intertwined as they are both influenced by the same drivers of change.
It has often been mentioned that the way how techno-organisational systems are developing and functioning very much depends on cultural aspects. It is argued that the productivity and innovation potential of IT applications can only be exploited on the basis of trust relationships, commitment and participation. Distrust, control and alienated involvement on the other hand can be seen as contra-productive in this respect. This implies that besides technological and organisational aspects we have to include cultural aspects as part of the work structure. Culture, as the other two aspects - technology and organisation - must be seen as a process which has to be developed and is open for various drivers of change.
As has been said earlier technology, organisation and culture are processes to be developed and therefore they are open for social shaping. However, the concept of social shaping has two aspects: an agency and a structural aspect. On the one hand, social actors can influence the process of work restructuring which means that their knowledge, skills, management philosophies and aims may become important shaping factors, on the other hand the actors themselves are socially embedded, which means that these personal factors are formed and influenced by technology, organisation forms and work culture. To avoid a discussion on causal relationships between actors and structures and to grasp the aspect of mutual shaping we talk about emerging social practices or co-evolution. Technological practices include all three aspects: technology, organisation and culture. We can define technological practice as the concrete way how technology is used and developed in specific work processes: how work is divided, how cooperation takes place and how control is exercised as well as what kind of cultural patterns have developed. But practice on the other side also includes actor related aspects such as competences, knowledge, skills and management philosophies, which have developed together with the structural aspects. It is important to mention that only institutionalised technological practices will be analysed, which means that they must be in use for a longer period of time and must have attained some stability.
There is widespread agreement that the current economic restructuring is induced by the work of a new technological paradigma organised around the ITs. However ITs are not the only factor that influences economic restructuring and business renewal. Often the process of a globalising economy is seen as important as the broad diffusion of modern ITs.
The globalisation thesis starts from the assumption that the merger of national into one global market leads to increased competition as national oligopolies are breaking down. But globalisation not only causes stiffening competition, but also new criteria are gaining importance such as quality, time and internal services. The most important factor in global competition, however, is innovativeness. Today all companies must be able to produce goods and services of high quality which can be sold for a reasonable price. They can only stay ahead in global competition if they are able to continuously produce innovations.
Globalisation and modern ITs are by no means conflicting factors, on the contrary they are very much intertwined. Globalisation must be seen as the most important driving force to restructure business organisation and work processes, particularly as this enforces innovations, while modern ITs provide opportunities to build up an innovative organisation. The project will analyse in what way increased globalisation will put pressure on companies and the institutional set-up to restructure intra- and interorganisational relationships and in what way modern ITs can support this process.
It is quite clear that companies do not restructure and innovate in isolation. Companies not only need resources from outside but they are also involved in processes of exchanging information and knowledge with supportive organisations. Companies are changing and innovating together and in interaction with their environment. In this respect it is sometimes argued that the regional more than the national environment is important for companiesī restructuring and innovation processes. Besides local customers and supplier firms the regional labour market, knowledge providing organisations, training institutions and investment banks have to be mentioned here. We must, however, be open for the argument that the national context, particularly in small countries, still matters a lot for the restructuring of manufacturing, service and administration processes. And even the international environment can have a significant influence on the development of technological practices. In this respect we have to mention the impact of new Leitbilder (images) on organisational restructuring such as "lean production" or "business re-engineering". In the project both local or national as well as international influences will be analysed along side each other and their relative influence on technological practices will be considered as one of the important research questions of the study.
We should not analyse this influence as a simple process of adaptation of companies to an existing and unchangeable environment, instead we have to view of the environment mainly as an agglomeration of organisations which interact with firms on the basis of specific tasks and programmes. In this way they actively influence development processes in companies, but these themselves can try to influence the support organisations - mainly on the regional and national level - according to their needs. The project will analyse both how supporting organisations as providers of information and knowledge, finance as well as human and material resources will influence technological practices in companies and how they themselves try to influence activities and programmes of support organisations.
The project starts from the assumption that the segmentation of the work force and social exclusion are produced to a great extend within companies through the development of technological practices. We are interested in both: whether ITs and their use in work processes will intensify or reduce existing forms of segmentation and social exclusion on the one hand and whether the use of IT itself indicates a new form of segmentation within the work force and of social exclusion. It is often argued that differential timing in access to the power of ITs for people is a critical source of inequality and social exclusion.
The overarching aim for the project is to analyse the social and micro-economic implications of an emerging information society. Besides this the project has the following scientific and policy related aims:
There are four sets of benefits from this research: scientific, technical, socio-economic and for EU and other policy makers in the field of information society analysis and promotion.
The planned project is focused on the use of ITs within companies and the way they are integrated into organisational structures, and cultural patterns. We are particularly interested in economic performance and social implications related to different technological practices in various organisational fields. Moreover this research will take into account that technological practices are influenced by environmental structures such as legal regulations, labour markets and training systems.
The project will not follow the traditional positivistic approach, looking for an appropriate dependent variable to study IS in organisations. Instead we will follow recent trends in IT research, which can be characterised as follows: one, a heightened sensitivity to the social context of applications; and two, an increased acceptence of interpretivism as a basis for studying ITs in organisations.
For the research project case studies are seen as most suitable as they allow a deeper insight into how technological practices are developing, who the key actors in the design process are and how professional doctrines and organisational cultures influence these technological practices. Furthermore they can reveal how these are shaped by environmental factors and whether technological practices are designed to suit employees, and whether the benefits and costs of IT based work practices are distributed unevenly among employees.
Besides conducting case studies, in order to be able to assess environmental influences, we will prepare a regional/national profile including the legal framework, the labour market, IS related policy, the education and training system, the social security system and regulatory framework, the industrial relations system and the cultural system. The project will also analyse the influence of international factors, particularly of management concepts and philosophies. In what way regional, national and even international factors are influencing technological practices is seen as an important research question.
As has been argued, case studies have the advantage that they provide a deeper understanding of how technological practices are developing. On the other hand it is always questioned whether findings from case studies can be generalized. Therefore the project will also include quantitative research; a company survey will be conducted in each country. We will take up the suggestion of the consensus report to delete the work package "analysis of existing data sets" as it will be difficult to do this adequately in a rather short period of time and to do any systematic comparative research. However reference will be made in the projects to other studies using quantitative data. The focus of the company survey will be on the application of ITs in different organisational fields and on some general trends concerning organisational restructuring, work regulations, the development of the labour force and training activities.
The project will be mainly descriptive. However, it can benefit from the comparative approach. By using the methodology of benchmarking (though not in a very strict sense) we will be able to identify "good" not "best technological practices" concerning both economic effectiveness and social efficiency. Here we will mainly rely on the judgement of the experts interviewed and also on our own judgement.
Through some kind of benchmarking we can also identify "good practices" concerning the functioning of support organisations. At the same time we can analyse, whether a European model of IS is evolving, which, as is often argued, underlines the importance of the social dimension and can be characterized by a strong ethos of solidarity or whether - as is often assumed - there is a tendency towards diversification due to the different cultures, economic structures, and institutions.
On the sectors, in which the case studies will be conducted, no final decision has been made yet. The project will, however, take into account the fact that services is by far the greatest sector. The public sector will not be included as the context is quite different from the other sectors (pressure of global competition). The selection of firms for the case studies will be guided by the following criteria: size, position in the production chain, work force, location and IT applications. However representativeness is not an important criteria, the research will primarily include leading companies in the application of modern ITs to be able to better anticipate future developments.
The project consists of eight phases:
Each partner has to write a report on the existing literature on IS in the country. This report will include the following aspects:
In the report the following themes will be included:
We cannot expect, however, that all aspects will be covered in all reports. The literature report will also refer to the literature in the USA. The work of this task will be done by the national teams. Guidelines for the analysis will be provided by the editorial team.
The work of this task will be done by the national teams. Guidelines for the analysis will by provided by the editorial team.
For the comparative study it is important to develop a common framework and to agree on the methodological tools used for the research. The analytical framework will be based on a variety of different concepts such as: technological practice, organizational learning, global competitiveness, social exclusion, human resource management etc. Concerning methodological aspects a "methodological mix" will be applied, including both qualitative and quantitative methods.
This work will be coordinated by the analytical framework group and by the methods group but will involve all national teams.
The aim of the project is to analyse in what way the regional/national/international context will influence the development of technological practices within companies and in what way supportive institutions react to new demands of companies related to the development of new technological practices. This will include accessing documentations, research reports etc.
However, in this planning stage of the project it is too early to finally decide on those factors that have a major influence on technological practices. In this respect expert interviews with members of the regional and national government, employer associations, training institutions, unions etc. are seen as very important.
To structure the analysis of the regional/national/international environment the analytical framework group together with the editorial group will provide some guidelines.
Within the project a company survey (about 100 completed questionnaires) will be conducted, to get information on the application of ITs, new organisation forms, new skills and training needs, human resource management, the structure of the workforce. Although representativeness cannot be guaranteed, information on 800 European firms is of some value. These data can be very useful to analyse, whether a European model of IS is developing.
The methods group will take care of methodological aspects of the survey (sample selection etc.).
Case studies are seen as an important part of the project, as they provide "dense information" about the process of designing technological practices, influencing environmental factors and economic and social consequences. It is planned that each partner will carry out 10 case studies in three or four different industries, including as many organisational fields as possible. A decision on the industries in which the case studies will be conducted will be made shortly after the project has started. The intention of these case studies is to find good practices, which can function as some kind of Leitbild for building up the IS. To identify good practices the partners will rely on the judgement of the experts and their own judgement. The case studies should be concentrated within one region in each country, to enable analysis of the impact of the regional/national/international context on technological practices.
In this phase both the analytical framework group and the methodological group will be working closely together to develop the instruments for conducting case studies. The method group will also support the other teams in developing a typology of technological practices based on items such as: use of ITs as control instrument or information facilitator, bureaucratic or flexible, decentralized organisation forms, distrust and alienated involvement or trust and commitment etc.
Based on all the data an in-depth study of each region/country will be produced. It is important to agree on the structure of the national reports and to identify interesting themes for the comparative research.
Here the editorial group will have to take the leading role. Each team will be responsiable for one or two specific topics (technological practices, training needs, social exclusion etc.) within the project.
Based on the in-depth reports from the different countries a synthesis report will be written. Each national team will have responsability for specific themes. However close cooperation in writing the final report will be needed. There will be extensive information exchange among the partners to make sure that the different chapters represent the views of the whole research team.
The coordinating role will be taken by the editorial group.
The dissemination of the results is an important part of the project. Each team is responsable for the dissemination of results on regional and national level. For the final conference in Brussels the editorial group will have a coordinating role to play. Besides, all these data will be available to all partners particularly to carry out further comparative studies and for publication.
Based on the results, the project team will decide whether it is useful to further explore the idea of producing a film on "Information Society, Work and the Generation of New Forms of Social Exclusion."
The management structure for the project will consist of a flattened hierarchy, hub-and spoke arrangement centred on a co-ordinating administrative mechanism. Besides the coordinator, four specialist work-teams will be set up: a Methods Group, an Analytical Framework Group an Editorial Group and a Management Group. The leaders of the eight national teams will form the Management Group which will have responsiability for the whole project and will take all decisions jointly. Besides this, each partner will also be responsible for specific themes. The teams will meet at seven meetings and in Brussels.
The sub-groups for Analytical, Methodological, Editorial tasks will interact permanently, providing inputs to all teams via the coordinating team and at the seven meetings. Overall supervision of work will be the responsibility of the sub-groups for specialist matters, the team leaders for local matters and the coordinator with administrative back-up for overall SOWING project matters. The various theme-oriented groups will continuously support the research project by providing their specific knowledge.
Funding for meeting assumes each team will be represented by at least one person per meeting, two persons for three meetings (i.e. an opportunity for research assistants to participate in meetings with reasonable frequency).
Partner No.1 WRC
Partner No.2 Forba
Partner No.3 HIVA
Partner No.4 IES
Partner No.5 IRES
Partner No.6 ITAS
Partner No.7 NEXUS
Partner No.8 UNINOVA
The lower line of the diagram indicates the responsiability of the partner institutes with regards to the contents
| work package | results and products, meetings | researcher responsibility for work | time | Resource allocation (manpower in person per month) |
| Overview of the existing literature | Kick off meeting report on dominating themes, policy approach etc. in the national debate, inter-national litera-ture report Meeting |
editorial group, national teams | 6 months | 48 |
| Preparing and developing frame of reference and methodology | analytical framework, questionnaires for quantitative analysis,
guidelines for case studies Meeting |
analytical framework group, methods group, national teams | 3 months | 24 |
| in-depth study of regional/natio- nal/internatio- nal environment | national reports based on docu-mentary analysis and expert
interviews Meeting |
analytical framework group, editorial group, national teams | 4 months | 40 |
| Company survey | national reports based on the ana-lysis of the survey data | methods group, national teams | 6 months | 32 |
| case studies | national reports based on the case studies Meeting |
analytical framework group, national teams | 7 months | 64 |
| in-depth study for each country | national reports based on the different parts of the study Meeting |
editorial group, national teams | 4 months | 32 |
| integrating national reports | synthesis report, description of good practices, analysis of
failures Meeting |
editorial group, national teams (responsibility for specific themes) | 3 months | 24 |
| dissemination of results | regional and national con-ferences, EU conference, final report,
other publications Meeting |
national teams, editorial group | 3 months | 24 total 288 |
To the 288 person/months for carrying out the coordinating function 18 person/months must be added.
| subject of the report | time of delivery | stage | access |
| literature report (synthesis of all national reports) | after 8 months | draft version | restricted within the consortium |
| literature report | after 1 year | final version | general distribution |
| analytical framework and method report | after 1 year | final version | general distribution |
| regional/national profiles (synthesis of all national reports) | after 18 months | final version | general distribution |
| company survey (synthesis report of all national reports) | after 2 years | final version | general distribution |
| case studies/synthesis report | after 30 months | final version | general distribution |
| final report | after 3 years | final version | general distribution |
During the project several intermediary products will be delivered:
The final results of the project will be:
The following publications will be produced:
There will be a wide range of exploitation opportunities for the results of the project. The following dissemination activities are planned:
The partners will disseminate results during the research process as well as at the end of the project. Close contacts with regional/national partners from different institutions throughout the whole project will guarantee a continuation of cooperation in the field of IS after the project is completed. The partners of the research network will also consider the idea of producing a film based on the results of the project. A film is seen as an excellent medium to increase awareness of the problems and opportunities of the emerging information society. The intention is to produce a film that can be used by schools, training institutions etc.
