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VAM-Velferd, arbeid og migrasjon

Digital Prism and the Nordic Model of Workplace Democracy under Pressure

Alternative title: Det digitale prismet og det nordiske bedriftsdemokratiet under press

Awarded: NOK 11.9 mill.

Project Number:

314486

Application Type:

Project Period:

2021 - 2025

Funding received from:

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Big data and artificial intelligence are radically transforming the ways in which we work, are hired and fired, managed and led. Datafication is impacting our ability to influence our work conditions. Yet, the consequences of datafication of work for workplace democracy, co-determination, individual autonomy and participation have so far not been fully understood. Workplace monitoring, algorithmic management systems, automated decision-making support systems, performance quantification and similar technologies represent a new form of workplace governance. Algorithmic governance, as a new mode of power, puts the Norwegian model of workplace democracy and the tripartite collaboration between employees and trade unions, employers, and authorities, under pressure. This project investigates the effects of digital transformation of work on the Norwegian model of workplace democracy and tripartite collaboration. We ask: How do digital regimes of governance affect power relations between management, trade union representatives, and employees at the workplaces? How do algorithmic of work organization affect labor management, work environment and labor relation in Norwegian workplaces? How do these changes affect the concepts and attitudes towards work and labor processes? DigiWORK offers unique comparative qualitative and quantitative analysis of the effects of datafication and algorithmization of work on the Norwegian model of workplace democracy. Four areas are highlighted i) law enforcement – how does digitalization change the work task and information procedures? What happens with the demarcation line between police and private security guards? How will this affect the employees? Ii) Higher education – what happens to the employees and their trade union representatives during and after digitalization processes? How are digital decisions made and who participates in the decision-making process? Iii) healthcare – how does digitalization affect the nurses use of discretion when performing their work task? Does social dialogue at the workplace enter into the picture? And secondly – how common is platform work among medical doctors in Norway and how does this transform the profession? Iv) private sector – what is and how does digital HR/HRM affect individual participation and the mode of operation of the social dialogue at workplace level? Digital decision-making processes are an important part of the picture. The project is based at OsloMet / The Work Research Institute, in collaboration with Roskilde University College, Teesside University, and University of Oslo. The project is ongoing reported in scientific journals and conferences. We also aim to inform practitioners and especially the social partners.

Big data and artificial intelligence are radically transforming the ways in which we work, are hired and fired, managed and led. Datafication is impacting our ability to influence our work conditions. Yet, the consequences of datafication of work for workplace democracy, co-determination, individual autonomy and participation have so far not been fully understood. Workplace monitoring, algorithmic management systems, automated decision-making support systems, performance quantification and similar technologies represent a new form of workplace governance. Algorithmic governance, as a new mode of power, puts the Norwegian model of workplace democracy and the tripartite collaboration between employees and trade unions, employers, and authorities, under pressure. This project investigates the effects of digital transformation of work on the Norwegian model of workplace democracy. DigiWORK brings together an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Norway, Denmark and England, from across critical sociology, social anthropology, management, criminology, law, and history to investigate this fundamental transformation through a combination of qualitative case studies and quantitative surveys of co-determination, workplace democracy, participation and autonomy in the Norwegian 1) law enforcement, 2) healthcare, 3) higher education, and 4) petroleum industry. We will deliver an in-depth and robust theory of the transformation of power and governance in and across these sectors as a result of datafication. Our novel comparative analysis, complemented by historical and legal perspectives, will also provide actionable insights and policy relevant recommendations for stakeholders, e.g. trade unions and policymaker. The project will result in 12 peer-reviewed articles, 2 special issues, 1 edited volume, 3 conferences and 3 workshops, 1 set of policy recommendations, and broad popular dissemination.

Publications from Cristin

Funding scheme:

VAM-Velferd, arbeid og migrasjon