Purpose -The paper aims to present an approach to improve the organisation's productivity which is applicable in every industrial sector. The nucleus of the approach is to develop an optimal productivity strategy in an organization by the application of a uniform static model of productivity (Q4-model), covering quantity and quality aspects and applicable to various sectors of industry, and a dynamic control cycle. Design/methodology/approach -The study discusses the steps of the approach and presents three case studies from different industrial sectors where the approach has been applied. Findings -The approach has proven to be uniformly applicable in all three cases from these different sectors, namely consultancy, health care and manufacturing. Across these applications highly different productivity-related challenges, productivity strategies, and specific interventions are described in the perspective of the Q4-model. Research limitations/implications -The approach is not made for measuring the quantity and quality input and output factors of productivity. Practical implications -The approach succeeds in developing a productivity strategy which combines quantity and quality input and output factors and supports the transformation of a strategy analysis into a practical intervention. Originality/value -The approach is unique in its uniform applicability to every industrial sector and is helpful to entrepreneurs, managers and innovators.
Social innovation is becoming a core value of the EU flagship initiative Innovation Union, but it is not clearly demarcated as it covers a wide field of topics. To understand social innovation within European policymaking a brief outline is given of EC policy developments on innovation and on workplace innovation. Definitions of social innovation formulated at the societal level and the organizational or workplace level are discussed. Empirical research findings of workplace innovation in the Netherlands are presented as examples showing that workplace innovation activities boost organizational performance. The article explores the relation between workplace innovation and social innovation, and concludes that policy developments in the EU can be studied with the theory of social quality, provided that the latter in its empirical approach focuses on how individuals together constitute innovations.
Biographies
Peter R.A. Oeij (M.A., M.Sc.) is senior research scientist at TNO, NetherlandsOrganisation for Applied Scientific Research, and affiliated to the School of Management of the Open University of the Netherlands. He holds masters in history, sociology and psychology.Steven Dhondt (Ph.D.) has a doctoral degree in social sciences and is currently senior researcher at TNO, The Netherlands. He has been involved in many research projects in the field of social innovation and new workplace development. He has published several books on quality of work, social innovation, and the Information Society. Currently, he is managing a major TNO-programme on ways to develop co-creative, flexible, and learning organizations.Ton Korver (Ph.D.) is associate professor of HRM at the Hague University, The Netherlands. As an economist, he held previous positions at
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