Knowledge work in successful supermarkets: Shop assistants as innovators

Managers constantly seek for innovative ideas to improve their organisations. Their staff, sometimes supported by external consultants should then develop these ideas further and implement the results in the organisation. This does not always work out the way intended. In this paper we examined this process of change in the case of a supermarket chain in the Netherlands. The aim was to learn from successful supermarkets how the employees in these shops contribute to the change of their work environment. We also looked for interventions that stimulate the knowledge worker’s contribution to this process. Our research in 17 supermarkets revealed that it is necessary to allow for diversity; that ownership and entrepreneurship contribute more to change than discipline and obedience; and that the specific role and capability of the manager seems to be crucial. Staff needs to develop competencies that match their own ability and interests in order to successfully innovate in the supermarket. In order to become innovative shop employees should be granted the authority to engage in knowledge work. In the supermarkets that we visited during the research, we found various interventions that could support the development of ownership and entrepreneurship of the supermarket staff

De opmerkelijke terugkeer van de kostenbaten-analyse in het centrum van de bestuurspraktijk: hoe het succes van O(E)EI lacunes in de

Decision-making on transport infrastucture projects in the Netherlands has been facing a remarkable wind of change in recent years. After a period of about a decade in the 1990s in which both academics and practitiones in policy analysis, public policy and planning have claimed that the traditional policy analysis methods were obsolete (be they CBA or MCA) because of their assumed one sidedness and lack of adaptability to the requirements of multi-actor settings, they experience a sudden resurgence since the year 2000 in the form of OEEI (Overview of Economic Effects of Infrastructure), a refined application of the wellknown CBA method. Astonishingly and despite all political and administrative theory on the types of information policy actors can process, the need for transparancy and active actor involvement in the evaluation and decision process, all at odds with traditional policy analysis, OEEI has become highly successful. This paper delves into the issue of why this new version of Cost Benefit Analysis has become so politically successful despite predictions made to the contrary. In addition, it will focus on the question if this resurgence may lead to 'econocracy' (concpetual hegemony by economists and thier ideologies and methods over other approaches) or not, and if so, how can this be prevented

Institutional Transplantation and the Rule of Law: How this Interdisciplinary Method can enhance the Legitimacy of International Organisations

Although the infl uence of various Western countries, especially that of the United States, is still substantial, the stars of China, India, Russia, Brazil and other large developing states are rising. Within international organisations this trend has become visible through a growing reluctance of non-Western states to accept and go along with the political, legal and economic diktats of European and American-fl avoured recipes and policies. This trend also has an impact on the compliance of international organisations with rule-of-law conceptions, which are not universal but depart from the cultural and national assumptions embraced mostly in Western countries. Even though the legality of international organisations may not be disputed as such in non-Western countries, the administrative and cultural acceptance of these organisations often remains questionable. This undermines the conception and the functioning of the rule of law at the international level. One of the ways in which acceptance of the rule of law can be enhanced at the international level is by utilising a method known as ‘institutional transplantation’. This method aims to facilitate new legal and policy initiatives through an adoption process in which the chances of achieving political and cultural congruence and desirability are maximised. After presenting the six principles underlying this approach, this article examines the case of the World Bank’s Inspection Panel, in order to show how these principles can be applied in practice

Techniek en wetenschap als basis voor industriële innovatie

Technology; Scienc

Perspectief in innovatie; de chemische industrie nader beschouwd

Political Science; Technolog

Implementing evidence based policy in a network-setting. Dutch Road Safety Policy in a shift from a Home to an Away Match

Abstract In order to improve road safety in the Netherlands, in 1992 the Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV) developed the evidence-based ‘Sustainable Safety’ concept. Dutch road safety policy, based on this concept, was quite successful and seen as a best practice in Europe. Recently the p

Explaining the variety in smart eco city development in China-What policy network theory can teach us about overcoming barriers in implementation?

The Pearl River Delta (PRD) is one of the largest and fastest growing urbanized deltas in China and the world. Its municipalities hope to attract investors, firms, high-quality labour force and residents in line with ecological modernization. They do so by using a variety of attractive city labels, such as eco city, low carbon city, and smart city. The physical shape th