The Soft Law of the Covenant: Making Governance Instrumental

Covenants are agreements between the government and social partners to implement public policy. They are a form of soft law, guiding the regulation of self-regulation, and are specifically relevant in bridging the macro and meso levels of society. Covenants prove effective where actors share goals, and learn to advance policy-making by monitoring efforts, effects and possible risks, and by subsequently fine-tuning follow-up actions. Positive-sum outcomes often result. We describe successful examples of this method of cooperation in the realm of working conditions and employment, and claim that covenants can be helpful in facilitating collective-bargaining framework agreements. In terms of EU policies, covenants are an instance of so-called European Governance Arrangements, the political and institutional foundations of which are still to be developed

Conclusion: The Way Forward with Workplace Innovation

This chapter summarises the state of the art on workplace innovation policy in Europe and discusses the similarities and dissimilarities across theoretical and practical approaches presented in this book. We aim to identify some points of convergence and mutual reinforcement within and across policy, theory, empirical, and practical approaches. To this end we will offer some pointers for the future of workplace innovation in the areas of policy, theory, research, and practice

Workplace innovation and social innovation: an introduction

This is the introduction to the special issue of World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development (WREMSD) dedicated to workplace innovation and social innovation related to work and organisation. As technological and business model innovations alone are not sufficient to enhance opportunities for businesses and employment, awareness is rising that better use should be made of human talents and new ways of organising and managing. In order to make working environments more receptive for innovation, and to enable people in organisations to take up an entrepreneurial role as intrapreneurs, a shift towards workplace innovation can be observed. Workplace innovation is complementary to technological and business model innovation, and a necessary ingredient for successful renewal, in that it addresses a type of management that seeks collaboration with employees through dialogue and employee engagement

Workplace innovation in the era disruptive technologies

Guest Editors (Special issue)status: publishe

Implementing Workplace Innovation Across Europe: Why, How and What?

Based on a 51-case study research in 10 EU Member States this article demonstrates the implementation of workplace innovation. Why do companies apply workplace innovation and what different strategies can be discerned? How do these companies implement workplace innovation interventions and who are involved in that process? Finally, what types of workplace innovation interventions are being implemented, and what is known about the (expected) effects. The article concludes that successful workplace innovation is interplay of management driven business goals and employee driven quality of work goals. The implication for both companies and policy makers is that constructive cooperation between management and employees is a key success factor for innovation, competitiveness and active jobs. We close by providing policy makers and practitioners with a few suggestions to improve the dissemination and implementation of workplace innovation respectivel