Det du nu läser är en guide tänkt att användas som ett stöd och en vägledning för att stödja och förbättra facklig partssamverkan i arbetsplatsers förnyelse och arbetsmiljöarbete vid snabba förändringar i verksamheter. Den syftar till att stödja ledare och medarbetare i att skapa förändringsberedskap och hållbar utveckling i organisationer när omständigheter snabbt förändras.

Guiden bygger på resultat från flera forskningsprojekt som studerat möjligheter och utmaningar när organisationer utmanas av kriser och snabb utvecklingstakt.

En viktig del av guiden är att belysa hur partssamverkan förändras under krissituationer, baserat på konkreta exempel från COVID-19 pandemin. Detta är särskilt viktigt eftersom oväntade situationer såsom kriser stör normala arbetssätt och rutiner. Nya problem uppstår och det ställs nya krav på arbetet och förutsättningar förändras på arbetsplatser. Samtidigt uppstår nya situationer som skapar potential för lärande och förnyelseförmåga.

Guiden innehåller scenarier som illustrerar förändrade förutsättningar och kan användas som ett dialogverktyg med diskussionsfrågor på arbetsplatser för att förbereda sig för oväntade situationer.

Guiden vänder sig i första hand till ledare och medarbetare som arbetar partsgemensamt med verksamhetsutveckling, förbättringsarbete och arbetsmiljöarbete.

Guiden kan ses som en palett av scenarier med utmaningar och angreppssätt som underlag för diskussion i syfte att ta fram egna, skräddarsydda arbetssätt. Använd den som inspiration och hjälpmedel för att utveckla det egna lokala förbättringsarbetet.

The accelerating pace of change in our society requires organisations to efficiently manage day-to-day operations while simultaneously innovating and developing new concepts for the future, all within an environment of rapidly evolving circumstances. Specifically, organisations must quickly be able to handle the work practices that are critical to organisational development, and this thesis focuses on the handling of these practices.

Critical work practices (CWPs) are here defined as operational management practices that are quickly initiated or adjusted – either scaled up or down – in response to new developmental needs or emerging acute situations. Commonly, there are limitations to CWPs ingrained in previous structures, methods, or knowledge. The thesis aims to explore the handling of CWPs in rapidly changing contexts and how this handling is enabled or constrained by the influencing organisational factors of 'active ownership', 'stakeholder collaboration', and 'developmental learning'.

The empirical foundation of the thesis builds on an interactive research approach. It utilises data from case studies in two rapid change contexts: an industrial startup in the green transformation and organisations’ response during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results from the studies show that organisations demonstrated agility by mobilising resources and fostering collaboration in novel ways, guided by overarching objectives that transcended local concerns. Identified CWPs were characterised by their innovative nature and various degrees of newness and time constraints, which necessitated new approaches and provided opportunities for adaptive and developmental learning.

Three conclusions can be drawn from the analysis in the thesis: first, disruptive changes trigger entrepreneurship and innovations through enhanced space of action and seamless cross-collaborations. Second, the interaction between intermediaries, managers, and employees fosters a holistic understanding and proactivity. Third, rapid change contexts stress-test organisations, where strengths, constraints, and new opportunities become visualised.

Theoretically, the thesis contributes with a conceptual model highlighting essential factors of organisational conditions and their interconnections. An additional contribution is made in introducing the concept of CWPs and identifying prerequisites for handling different forms of such practices in rapid change contexts.

The practical implications of this research include that different types of CWPs are a source that can be utilised for continuous improvements, supporting organisations’ ability to handle increasing uncertainties. Moreover, the conceptual model provides analytical support of work practices that intend to contribute to transitions related to development areas such as a circular economy, electrification, digitalisation, and resilience.

This report presents the findings of a Delphi study coordinated by Linköping University (LiU) in collaboration with RISE Research Institutes of Sweden and the Chalmers University of Technology. The study was carried out in 2022 as part of a Vinnova-funded planning project aimed at establishing an interdisciplinary research environment to prepare an application for a new competence centre focused on building a long-term, sustainable Swedish industry. The Delphi study aimed to identify key challenges related to the ambition to develop a socially sustainable, competitive, and green industry subjected to an accelerating pace of change.

The Delphi study was based on an interactive research approach to facilitate the cocreation of knowledge for the dual purpose of advancing long-term theory development and innovation processes. The consortium and its reference groups consist of industrial companies (such as AstraZeneca, Ericsson IndustryLab, Rimaster, Saab Aeronautics, Scania, Volvo GTO and Volvo Cars), intermediaries and educational actors (such as Skill, IUC Sverige and Linköping Science Park), labour market organisations (including IF Metall, Industriarbetsgivarna, Unionen, and Teknikföretagen), governmental agencies (the Office for Sustainable Working life), and researchers from LiU, Chalmers, and RISE.

There are key industrial targets forming the starting point for the Delphi study that also guide policies and investments in strategic agendas for the industrial stakeholders. For the Swedish industry to be resilient and sustainable, new competence and organisational abilities are required to decrease the dependency on fossil energy in production. Transformation towards electrification, circular economy, and digitalisation are key enablers, and these transitions are ongoing and accelerating at a fast pace. Furthermore, new and constantly emerging targets require organisational resilience, like managing new requirements and targets within energy consumption and supply of competence.

The findings of this report include a total of 14 identified challenges.

1. To organise and create conditions for flexible work for all
2. To successfully manage crises and drastic external events
3. To successfully drive and contribute to the green industrial transformation
4. To facilitate employee-driven innovation and organisational learning
5. To attract, develop and retain employees with the right skills
6. To take advantage of and exploit the opportunities of digitalisation
7. To create inclusive workplaces and utilise diversity
8. To organise competence development
9. To collaborate with external parties to ensure the availability of competence
10. To design for socially sustainable work considering efficiency and good health in a dynamic environment
11. To organise the creation of added value for and together with customers and suppliers
12. To systematically drive continuous improvement work in parallel with long-term development work
13. To develop leadership that creates better opportunities both for a climate-neutral footprint and a competitive industry with good working conditions
14. To transform research- and policy-based knowledge into practice

The 14 challenges were further analysed according to perceived importance and ability and presented in a priority matrix. According to the priority matrix, the 14 challenges were then synthesised into six main research themes: A. Innovative competence supply practice, B. Resilient organisations & production systems, C. Analytics for improvement & learning, D. Socially sustainable work, E. Green transformation practices, and an open and undefined research theme labelled as Future challenges. The research themes are also presented together with six main analytical and theoretical perspectives in a matrix that can be used to intersect and interweave the research themes to guide the research agenda in a potential future research program.

External stakeholder collaboration is vital for new industrial projects and establishments. The aim of this paper is to contribute to knowledge of how relations and stakeholder collaboration with trade unions can be created during industrial startups, so as to foster sustainable work and competitive advantages. A case study was carried out in the early phases of a major greenfield project aimed at establishing a new industrial domain in a Nordic context. The results show that cooperation between a new firm and trade unions has the potential to proactively address prerequisites for sustainable work in design phases of new factories, but also to strengthen the attention to other dimensions of social sustainability that are crucial for industrial startup´s long term success possibilities. However, specifically in a high—growth firm, there needs to be a systematic approach that incorporates continuous anchoring activities both within and between the stakeholders’ different levels. Serendipity in the findings were cooperation processes related to competence acquisition and societal development needed to meet both an emerging firm´s and future employee´s individual prerequisites and needs. Hence, building a stakeholder chain inspired by the Nordic model in change processes such as startups, enables attention to dimensions of social sustainability needed in work processes in early development phases, which is also beneficial from a competitive and societal perspective.