Organisational background   The Austrian Post AG is a government-run mail service with a total of 25,000 employees. In 1999, in preparation for market liberalisation, it changed from being a public company to a joint stock company, open to private partnership. Telecommunications and passenger traffic became individual enterprises, and the rest of the Post AG was organised into five operational fields.

  Organisational background   London & Quadrant Housing Trust is a non-profit housing organisation, which has been in operation for the past 40 years. It provides housing and community services to the most vulnerable social groups, such as low-income families, homeless people, young adults learning to live independently for the first time, people with disabilities and older people. It is the largest housing association in London, employing around 900 staff, 68% of whom are women, ranging in age from 16 to 70 years.

  Organisational profile   Färs and Frosta Sparbank was founded in 1989 and transformed into a public limited company (PLC) in 1999. The company is located in the south of Sweden and is 70% owned by the Färs and Frosta Sparbank foundation and 30% by FöreningsSparbanken. It has been independent since 1998, although it has a cooperation contract with FöreningsSparbanken. With 132,000 customers and 19 branches in eight communities, it is the largest independent savings bank in Sweden.

  Organisational profile   Hazenberg Bouw, one of about 120 construction companies that make up TBI Holding, is situated in Vught, a small town in the south of the Netherlands. It consists of three units, all in the construction sector: Hazenberg (utility construction), Nico de Bont (restoration) and Van der Laar (housing construction). Hazenberg is the largest of these three units and employs mostly carpenters. The company functions as a contractor, employing a fixed workforce of about 200 workers and contracting additional workers as projects demand.