Teamwork and high performance work organisation
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Annex 2: Survey sources
Austria
New forms of work organisation: Case study Austria (qualitative)
This case study, carried out in 1994 by Jörg Flecker and Manfred Krenn, focused on the implementation process of new forms of work organisation at an Austrian plant of a German auto-industry group. It examined elements of functional integration, teamwork and a continuous improvement process. The case study was based on qualitative interviews with workers at all levels of the plant, from management to group workers and members of the works council.
Virtual teams (qualitative)
Project cooperation on distance in companies, open source groups and e-learning courses, carried out by Hubert Eichmann, Gabriele Grunt, Andrea Mayr, Bernhard Saupe and Maria Schwarz-Wölzl in 2003. The qualitative part of the study consisted of 10 interviews with managers, project leaders, project workers and members of the works council in IT companies, focusing on their experience with virtual teamwork.
Bulgaria
National working conditions survey 2005
Carried out by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the Working Conditions Fund.
Sample size: 1,002 people from the working population, aged 18 years and over.
Sampling strategy: Two-stage cluster sample; response rate 95%, after second round, 100%.
For more detail, see BG0509SR01 .
TW 05 (qualitative)
Fieldwork: December 2005. Qualitative teamwork survey carried out by the Institute for Social Analyses and Policies especially for the purposes of this comparative analytical report. About 2,900 people were working in the companies surveyed.
Methodology: Expert interviews; respondents - six managers of companies implementing teamwork; companies - selected by sector, size and type of ownership.
Czech Republic
Measuring the Quality of Working Life 2004
Carried out by the Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs (Výzkumný Ústav Práce a Sociálních Vecí, VÚPSV ).
• Interviews carried out face to face at peoples’ homes.
• Sample size: A total of 2,007 complete interviews were conducted.
• Quota sampling, by sex, age, education, region, and size of place of residence.
• The survey population consisted of persons aged 15 to 69 years who were employed and had worked for their current employer for a minimum of three months. The survey sample did not include self-employed persons.
European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) 2001
The fourth EWCS was conducted in the Czech Republic in the autumn of 2005; the results were not yet available at the time of preparing the national contribution to this report. Instead, reference was made to the third EWCS, from 2001.
• Interviews carried out face to face at peoples’ homes.
• A total of 2,031 employees and self-employed people addressed.
• Sample size: 1,029 interviews fully completed.
• Multistage random probability sampling.
• Sample is representative according to sex, age, sector (NACE), occupation (ISCO) and region (NUTS2).
• Answers were weighted.
Changes in employment relations 1998
Carried out by Universitas.
• Interviews carried out at enterprises.
• Sample size: 1,419 interviews fully completed with employees.
• Multistage random probability sampling; in the first step of sampling, cities with a predominance of manufacturing companies were chosen.
• Overall, 188 manufacturing companies were surveyed throughout the Czech Republic, except in Prague.
Quality of Working Life 1994, 2000 (DENKI 2000)
Carried out by the Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs (VÚPSV) and the Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.
The Labour Research Council in Tokyo organised this international research, conducted in electronics and telecommunications companies. A total of 15 countries participated in two repeated surveys in 1994 and 2000. Two companies in the electronics and telecommunications industries were surveyed in each country. A selective sample of 100-200 employees was chosen from each company, depending on its size, and the employees were interviewed using a standardised questionnaire.
Denmark
SARA Baseline 2003
Carried out by the National Institute of Occupational Health (Arbejdsmiljøinstituttet, AMI ).
The SARA programme was a government sponsored research programme on the social and welfare consequences of the development of human resources in working life. The research programme started in 1996 and concluded in 2003. AMI conducted the quantitative part of this study from 1996 to 1999, collecting data in four rounds, at different enterprises, applying identical questionnaires. The SARA Baseline data were collected at 71 enterprises in different sectors and comprise 3,010 respondents, representing a response rate of 66%. The results from the SARA study reported here include answers from all of the respondents interviewed. Documents on this research are available at:
http://www.ami.dk/research/sara/kdebogsarabmhfort.pdf
http://www.ami.dk/research/sara/bilaga_saraskmrgffin2.pdf
IFKA 1998, 2000, 2004
Carried out by the Institute for Business Cycle Analysis (Institut for Konjunktur-Analyse, IFKA ).
In 1998, 2000 and 2004, the privately owned, independent research institute IFKA conducted surveys for the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO) on education and skills development activities among Danish employees and at enterprises. Although it has been carried out three times, the study is not a group study, but a random sample of respondents for each survey. The study comprises 414 participating enterprises, with a response rate of 29%, and 659 employees, with a response rate of 36%.
Literature survey on group organised work (qualitative)
A qualitative study, based on a comprehensive study of Danish and international literature on teamwork, was conducted and published in 2003. The study comprises most sectoral and company-level empirical case studies undertaken in Denmark as well as more theoretical approaches - both national and international. The literature survey includes 144 references and has resulted in the following texts:
• Hvenegaard, H., ‘Analyseramme til forståelse af gruppeorganiseret arbejde’ [Analytical framework for the understanding of group organised work], in Hvid, H. (ed.), Ressourcer og velfærd i arbejdslivet, SARA and Frydenlund grafisk, Copenhagen, 1999.
• Hvenegaard, H., Jessen, H. and Hasle, P., Gruppeorganiseret arbejde - På vej mod bedre arbejdsmiljø og konkurrenceevne? [Group organised work - Towards a better work environment and competitive position?], Frydenlund, Copenhagen, 2003.
• Jessen, H. and Hvenegaard, H., Gruppeorganiseret arbejde og psykisk arbejdsmiljø [Group organised work and the psychosocial work environment] - Litteraturstudie, Arbejdsmiljørådets Service Centre, Copenhagen, 2000.
• Jessen, H. and Hvenegaard, H., Arbejdsmiljøfaktorer i gruppeorganiseret arbejde [Work environment factors in group organised work] - Litteraturstudie Dokumentationsrapport 2, CASA, Copenhagen, 2001.
Estonia
Working life barometer 1998, 2002, 2005
Carried out by the Finnish Ministry of Labour (Työministeriö ) in 1998 and 2002, and by the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs (Sotsiaalministeerium) in 2005.
The Working life barometer is based on a nationally representative sample of about 1,000 individuals. The sample was formed using the proportional probability sample from the population of working age wage earners and entrepreneurs. The age span of respondents in 1998 and in 2005 was 16-64 years, while in 2002 it was 18-64 years. Data are collected through structured face-to-face interviews.
Finland
Quality of Work Life Survey 1977, 1984, 1990, 1997 and 2003
Carried out by Statistics Finland (Tilastokeskus ).
The answers given in the Finnish national report are based on the Quality of Work Life Surveys in 1997 and 2003. In 1997, some 2,979 persons were surveyed and the response rate was 79%. Some 4,104 people responded to the 2003 survey and the response rate was 78%.
France
Organisational Change and Computerisation 1997
Carried out by the research and statistics unit of the Ministry of Employment, Social Cohesion and Housing (Dares).
The 1997 study includes a company survey, mainly in the manufacturing and food sectors, complemented by employee questionnaires. The two sections of the survey comprise various questions dealing with themes such as working in groups and collective work practices. A total of 4,804 ‘stable’ employees, with at least one year’s seniority, were chosen at random from companies with 50 or more employees in the manufacturing and food sectors, with the exception of the energy sector, and were asked questions about their daily work. The sample comprised 621 managerial staff, 1,162 technicians and supervisors, 392 employees, 1,742 skilled workers, 870 unskilled workers, six company directors and 11 workers for whom information on their occupational level was lacking. The employer section of the survey focused on organisational practices. The questionnaire was sent to a representative of the company in question, namely the usual contact person for statistical surveys conducted by the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industry (Ministre de l’Économie, des Finances et de l’Industrie) or the Ministry of Agriculture and Fishing (Ministre de l’Agriculture et de la Pêche) for companies in the food sector. The survey recorded a high response rate, both for the employer section, which was mandatory, at 88%, and for the labour force section, at 71%.
Germany
German Socioeconomic Panel Study (GSOEP)
Carried out by the German Institute for Economic Research (Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, DIW ).
The GSOEP is a wide-ranging representative longitudinal study of private households in Germany. It provides information on all household members, encompassing Germans living in the old and new German states, foreigners and recent immigrants to Germany. The Panel was started in 1984 and is conducted on a yearly basis. In 2003, more than 12,000 households participated, and nearly 24,000 persons were sampled.
The GSOEP provides broad information on diverse aspects of household composition, occupational biographies, employment trends, earnings, health and satisfaction indicators.
Subjects covered so far in topical modules of the survey include personal values, preferences and expectations, social security, education and training, and allocation of time.
BIBB/IAB/BAuA surveys
Carried out by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, BIBB ) and the Institute for Employment Research (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, IAB ).
The BIBB/IAB surveys are representative surveys of 34,000 persons in the working population. The surveys have been funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF ). The first BIBB/IAB survey was carried out in 1979. Further surveys were conducted in 1985/86 and 1991/92. Each of the four surveys focused on a specific topic. The fourth and last survey was carried out in 1998/1999.
A new BIBB/BAuA survey was conducted in 2005/2006 as a joint initiative of BIBB and the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin , BAuA ). New features of the BIBB/BAuA survey include:
• computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) instead of computer assisted personal interviewing (CAPI);
• 15,000 persons from the working population instead of 34,000 persons.
Ad hoc survey ‘What is good work?’ 2004
Carried out by the New Quality of Work Initiative (Initiative Neue Qualität der Arbeit, INQA ) and the International Institute for Empirical Social Economics (Internationales Institut für Empirische Sozialökonomie, INIFES ).
The population of the representative survey conducted at the end of 2004 included gainfully employed people, and the sample comprised 5,200 persons. The questionnaire (in German, 592Kb PDF) focuses on the quality of work-related issues.
SOFI study (qualitative)
The Sociological Research Institute (Soziologisches Forschungsinstitut, SOFI ) at the University of Göttingen carried out a study on concepts of an innovative work policy (Kuhlmann, Sperling, and Balzert, 2004). This study provides an insight into work practices and effects of such practices. The research was funded by BMBF within the framework of the research programme Innovative work structuring - the future of work (in German). (DE0407NU05)
The study is based on qualitative company case studies in the engineering, electrical goods, automobile and chemical sectors. The studies included:
• work analysis;
• interviews with representatives of different job functions at all levels;
• interviews with members of works councils;
• interviews with employees in addition to a standardised written questionnaire.
The companies were selected for their experience in conceptualising and implementing innovative work forms. They represent typical good practice cases rather than exceptionally successful cases.
Hungary
Regional Innovation System 1996 (REGIS)
Carried out as part of an international project to assess regional innovation systems in 11 European regions.
Target population: Companies.
Sampling method: Random selection.
Number of respondents: 75 companies.
Level: Regional - Székesfehérvár, southwest of Budapest.
Manpower and knowledge use in Dunaújváros region 2001
Carried out by the Institute of Sociology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Target population: Companies.
Sampling method: Multistage random selection.
Number of respondents: 230 companies.
Level: Regional - Dunaújváros, south of Budapest.
Regional model of cooperation between economic and vocational training institutions 2003
Carried out by the Institute of Sociology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Target population: Companies employing more than nine persons.
Sampling method: Random selection.
Number of respondents: 200 companies.
Level: Regional - Dunaújváros, south of Budapest.
Italy
Quality of Work Survey 2002
Carried out by the Institute for the Development of Vocational Training (Istituto per lo Sviluppo della Formazione dei Lavoratori, Isfol ).
The 2002 Isfol Quality of Work Survey (in Italian 1.1Mb PDF) (La qualità del lavoro in Italia ) is the first national survey in Italy that covers all sectors, including self-employed people and entrepreneurs. It provides, therefore, a representative cross-sample of the entire working population. The study is based on computer assisted telephone interviews (CATI) with a sample of 2,000 workers. The third European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), conducted in 2000 by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, provided the reference model for the sample design (multistage random sampling) and for the questionnaire structure, with some modifications added to suit the telephone interview method.
ER2002, RE2004, RE2006
Local-level surveys carried out according to the model of the UK’s Workplace Industrial Relations Survey 1980-1990 in two industrialised provinces of northern Italy:
• food sector in Emilia-Romagna (ER) (Pini et al, 2002);
• Reggio Emilia (RE) 2004 and 2006 (Pini et al, 2004; Pini and Delsoldato, 2006 (in Italian, 953Kb PDF)).
ER2002 includes all food companies with more than 50 employees. RE2004 includes all manufacturing companies with more than 50 employees, and RE2006 includes a sample of 192 manufacturing companies with over 20 employees, representative of the 376 manufacturing enterprises of the province having a work council.
The interviews were carried out both with senior management in companies (human resource (HR) manager or the manager/owner) and with members of work councils.
Netherlands
TNO survey of Labour relations 2005 (TNO AA 2005)
Carried out by TNO Work and Employment, part of the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek, TNO ).
Sample size: Surveys of 1,525 supervisors and 1,613 employees in companies of two employees or more; 931 supervisors and 1,225 employees in companies with 30 employees or more; 149 supervisor-employee pairs in companies with two employees or more; 89 supervisor-employee pairs in companies with 30 employees or more.
Response rate: Employer/supervisory response: 29%.
Method: Supervisors: web questionnaire. Employees: web questionnaire.
Representative sample of the Dutch labour force, except for the supervisor-employee pair level.
TNO/SZW survey of Labour in the Information Society 1998 (TNO/SZW AidI 1998)
Carried out by TNO and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid, SZW ).
Sample size: Company level: 3,618 companies (establishments) with two employees or more; 1,094 companies with 20 employees or more. Employee level: 11,351 employees, of whom 9,154 were in companies with 20 staff or more.
Response rate: Company response: 56%. Employee response: 25%.
Method: Companies: survey respondent was a HR professional through a postal paper and pencil interviewing (PAPI) questionnaire or computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). Employees: postal questionnaire.
Sample: Representative sample of companies in the Netherlands, excluding government and education; non-representative sample of employees in these companies.
TNO/NIPO survey of Labour in the Information Society 2002 (TNO/NIPO AidI 2002)
Carried out by TNO and TNS NIPO .
Sample size: Companies: 1,020 companies (establishments with 10 employees or more); 506 companies with 20 employees or more.
Response rate: Company response: 24%.
Method: Companies (respondent was company manager/owner): computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI).
Sample: Representative sample of companies in the private sector in the Netherlands: manufacturing, construction, trade, transport and communication, commercial services (agriculture, government, healthcare and education not included).
Portugal
Survey of Workers’ Working Conditions 1999-2000
Carried out by the Departamento de Estatística do Trabalho, Emprego e Formação Profissional (DETEFP) of the Ministry of Work and Social Solidarity (Ministério do Trabalho e da Solidariedade Social, MTS ).
This survey is based on a sample of 5,000 workers from a population of 2,346,031 workers of all economic activities except sections L, P and Q of NACE: public administration and defence, compulsory social security, and other services. A total of 4,252 employees were included in the data, representing an 85% response rate. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in the workplace.
Romania
Riding the waves of culture; Understanding cultural diversity in business 2004
Carried out by Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner.
The authors adopted the approach of collecting a large dataset with extensive internal variety that enables deductive analysis. In seeking to enhance the estimates of the subjects’ average characteristics in a given national culture, significant efforts have been made to extend the size of the samples, reduce measurement errors and maintain homogeneity. The atypical process of data gathering started several years ago and still continues.
The raw dataset counts almost 50,000 cases from over 100 countries. By restricting the analysis to multinational and international corporations, some 30,000 comparative valid cases, drawn from 55 countries, were selected. In order to gather comparable samples, a minimum of 100 subjects with similar backgrounds and occupations were selected in each of the countries in which the companies operate. About 75% of the subjects belong to the management tier, for example in operations, marketing and sales, while the remaining 25% represent general administrative staff.
The survey uses a structured questionnaire and analyses the impact of local cultural differences on management practices along seven dimensions: universality or particularity; individualistic or collective behaviour; sentimentality or neutrality; degree of overlap between private and professional life; attributed status or acquired status; attitude towards time; and desire to control nature. The authors combined the responses from different questions of the questionnaire to give a scale along each dimension and the data were analysed according to this seven-scale perspective.
Investigation of organisational structures’ effects on a qualitative index of human resources
The research was carried out in 2005 by Romeo Cretu, lecturer at the Psychology and Educational Sciences Faculty in the University of Bucharest. The research aimed at determining the distinct effects of organisational structures on several HR-related issues: satisfaction, stress, locus of control, and informal relations.
Seven samples were investigated totalling 116 persons from seven different socioeconomic organisations. The sampling method was multistage random probability sampling, which means indirect selection of the persons through selection of the groups to which they belong.
Spain
Survey of Quality of Life in the Workplace
The Survey of Quality of Life in the Workplace (Encuesta de Calidad de Vida en el Trabajo) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 has been carried out by the Spanish Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (Ministro de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales ).
Geographical coverage: All Spanish territory except Ceuta and Melilla (Spanish autonomous cities in northern Africa).
Surveyed population: Working people aged over 16 years old, living in family households.
Sample: 6,020 people surveyed.
Characteristics of data classification: Occupation (Occupation National Classification), economic activity (NACE classification) and other variables, namely sex, age, level of studies, size of enterprise and size of living municipality. The sample design is carried out according to three main variables: region, size of municipality and number of inhabitants in each census section. The first two variables are used as stratification variables, whereas the last one is used in the sample selection phase.
Data collection methodology: Interviews are carried out face to face at households of selected workers, at an hour previously agreed between the interviewer and the interviewee.
Publication periodicity: Annual.
National Survey of Working Conditions
The National Survey of Working Conditions (Encuestas Nacionales de Condiciones de Trabajo) 1987, 1993, 1997, 1999 and 2002 (the last one) was carried out by the Spanish National Institute of Health and Safety in the Workplace (Instituto Nacional de Seguridad e Higiene en el Trabajo, INSHT ).
Geographical coverage: All Spanish territory except Ceuta and Melilla (Spanish autonomous cities in northern Africa).
Surveyed population: Companies with more than one employee and across all activity sectors, except agriculture and mining.
Sample: 9,290 interviews were carried out: 4,054 with managers and 5,236 with workers.
Data collection methodology: There are two questionnaires: a ‘company’ one, to be completed by a management representative, and a ‘worker’ one, to be completed by employees. The selection of the establishments where the interviews were carried out was random, based on two main criteria: economic sector and number of workers. The workers to be interviewed were also randomly selected from the entire staff.
Characteristics of data classification: Economic activity (NACE classification).
Publication periodicity: Every three to four years.
Sweden
Lean production survey 2002
Carried out by the Swedish Metalworkers’ Union, now known as IF Metall .
The survey was sent to all local union clubs in the manufacturing sector. The response rate was around 70%, which corresponds to about 120,000 metalworkers.
Work environment - qualitative
This report by Håkan Sandberg in 2004 focuses on the connection between the work environment and teamwork in the public sector. The report is based on interviews and focus group interviews, which were conducted during 2001-2002 in the public healthcare sector.
Alternative assembly
Written by Engström et al, 2004.
A book about production technique development focusing on alternative assembly. The book is based on research in the automotive sector and mainly discusses experiences in organising work on the basis of the ‘Swedish model’ that developed in the 1970s alongside present ways of working.
United Kingdom
Workplace Employee Relations Surveys 1998 and 2004 (WERS)
Carried out by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI ), the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) , the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC ) and the Policy Studies Institute (PSI ).
WERS 1998 and 2004 are representative surveys of establishments in Great Britain. They cover most sectors, with the exception of agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining and quarrying, and overseas organisations. The 2004 survey included all workplaces employing five or more persons; the 1998 survey covered establishments with 10 or more employees. A workplace is defined as comprising ‘the activities of a single employer at a single set of premises [i.e. location]’. The sample is drawn, on a stratified random basis, from the official register of business and employing organisations.
Fieldwork for the 2004 survey took place from February 2004 until April 2005, and resulted in the self-completion of 22,451 employee questionnaires, corresponding to a 61% response rate, as well as interviews with managers and employee representatives. In keeping with its predecessors, WERS 2004 contains both a cross-section and a panel element. All findings were weighted to adjust for the effects of stratification of the sample and non-response bias.
Change in Employer Practices Survey 2002 (CEPS)
The CEPS (2002) consisted of a total of 2,000 telephone interviews with employers in Great Britain. The survey was establishment based, that is, information was collected on an individual site basis irrespective of whether the site formed part of a larger organisation. Only those establishments employing five or more staff were included within the scope of the survey. The sample was drawn from the British Telecommunications Business Database (known as Yell Data), a regularly updated comprehensive list of establishments in Britain with a business telephone line.
The main stage of interviewing was carried out between 23 July and 2 September 2002. The principal respondent was the senior person responsible for HR or personnel issues. Generally, in establishments with 100 employees or more, this was the HR/personnel director or manager. In establishments with fewer than 100 employees, it was typically the owner, proprietor or the site or office manager. The approximate average length of the interview was 30 minutes.
EIBS 1992 and WIBS 2000
White et al (2003) analysed the effects of selected high performance work practices with data from two national surveys of British employees: the Employment in Britain Survey (EIBS) in 1992 and the Working in Britain Survey (WIBS) 2000. These two surveys are representative surveys of employed and self-employed persons in Great Britain, with samples restricted to those aged between 20 and 60 years inclusive. The EIBS generated a sample of 3,855 employed people, with a response rate of 72%; the research was conducted in 1992. The WIBS produced a sample of 2,466 employed people, with a response rate of 65%; the research was conducted between June 2000 and January 2001.
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