Aktuelle Publikationen

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In this article we investigate the reforms of human resource management in the European Commission and the OECD by analysing comparatively to what extent both organizations have adjusted their respective structures towards the ideal type of the so-called new public management (NPM). The empirical findings show that reforms towards NPM are more pronounced in the Commission than in the OECD. These findings are surprising for two reasons: first, it seems paradoxical that the OECD as central promoter of NPM at the international level lags behind the global trend when it comes to reforming its own structures. Second, this result is in contradiction to theoretical expectations, as they can be derived from theories of institutional isomorphism. Nevertheless, to account for the surprising results, it is necessary to modify and complement existing theories especially with regard to the scope conditions of their causal mechanisms.

There is consensus that the Kinnock reform changed the European Commission considerably. However, scholars have focused mainly on describing the process, content, and scope of the reform. There is as yet little empirical research about the effects this reform may have. This paper puts forward an argument as regards the link between reform effects and policy output. In order to do so, it focuses on the new role of middle management, i.e. the heads of unit. A survey of more than 100 heads of unit of policy-making Directorates-General serves as the empirical basis. The data indicate a substantial ambiguity of the heads of unit towards recent organizational change. As a consequence of the reform, the Commission will probably become more inward-looking and previously crucial policy entrepreneurs will have less time and other resources for advocating policy content than in the past.

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The transition to post-industrialism has generated a range of new tensions between welfare arrangements and labour market performance, which confront today's welfare states with new challenges for employment-friendly recalibration, such as flexicurity, activation and work-care conciliation. Hence, the question of whether, how and to what extent current welfare states are able to adapt to the conditions and needs of post-industrial labour markets has become a major issue in recent welfare state research. This article identifies and discusses key debates in this literature on the politics of employment-friendly reforms. It first focuses on the general capacity for reform in mature welfare states and then discusses regime-specific reform politics, since post-industrialism confronts different welfare regimes with very different challenges. For each regime, the article proposes a range of research frontiers and open debates which we consider particularly relevant and fruitful avenues for future theorizing and research.

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Knowledge is essential for the functioning of every social system, especially for professionals in knowledge-intensive organisations. Since individuals do not possess all the work-related knowledge that they require, they turn to others in search for that knowledge. While prior research has mainly focused on antecedents and consequences of knowledge sharing and understanding why people do not share knowledge, less is known why people provide knowledge, and what conditions trigger voluntary engagement in knowledge sharing. Our article addresses this gap by proposing a multi-level framework for voluntary engagement in knowledge sharing: individual, relational, group, and informational. We provide illustrations from a particular knowledge-intensive community, DNA forensic scientists who work at public laboratories.

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