Technological Change and Co-Determination in Sweden

In this book, Ake Sandberg and his colleagues examine how labor unions and corporations negotiate and cooperate on job design and computerization and technological change in the workplace. The research team at the Arbetslivscentrum (The Swedish Center for Working Life) examines organizational problem-solving, from planning and research to resolution. They rely on four illustrative case studies: a Swedish dairy, Postgiro (an office processing payments to postal check accounts), an engineering workshop, and a sugar mill. Building on these studies, the authors compare union participation in modifying and modernizing Swedish work environments to union participation in similar situations elsewhere in Europe and the United States. This book is the first systematic overview and presentation of social science-oriented and union-oriented worklife research in Sweden. It applies these disciplines to the major organizational changes made possible by the Swedish laws on co-determination the laws that regulate and encourage joint involvement by union and management in the decision-making process of the organization, especially with regard to technological advancements. Author note: Ake Sandberg is Research Director at Arbetslivscentrum and Professor in the Department of Industrial Economics and Management at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.