From Understanding to Action: New strategies to reach out to, and support, small enterprises

From Understanding to Action: New strategies to reach out to, and support,

small enterprises

KEYNOTE AT USE 2013

PETER HASLE, PROFESSOR

C E N T R E F O R I N D U S T R I A L P R O D U C T I O N

D E PA R T M E N T O F B U S I N E S S A N D M A N A G E M E N TA A L B O R G U N I V E R S I T Y C O P E N H A G E N

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Why care about small enterprises

• Provide the dai ly bread for most o f the g lobal populat ion

• More than 150 mi l l . smal l enterpr ises

• Thei r share of jobs are growing

• Limi ted ressources (money, t ime and personnel )

• Pressured by complex markets , compet i t ion f rom b igger f i rms, government red tape, l imi ted credi t access and much more

The work ing env i ronment :

• Higher r isk of acc idents and occupat ional d iseases

• Limi ted capaci ty to cont ro l (management a t tent ion and knowledge as wel l as t ime and money)

• More se l f -employed and informal sector under s t ressfu l condi t ions

Peter Hasle, Centre for Industrial Production

The trouble with small enterprises

Sl ip between our f ingers:• Many bir th and deaths (10% year ly)• No uniform voice• Limited interest in anything but business• Di ff icul t and expensive to get in touch• Huge heterogenei ty

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The EU definition of SME and employment

Size % of employees

Micro (1-9) 30

Small (10-49) 21

Medium (50-249) 17

Large (>249) 33

Peter Hasle, Centre for Industrial Production 4

The large enterprise• Distant ownership

• Professional management

• Several layers of management

• Formal employment re lat ions

• Professional s taff funct ions

Organization and management


The smal l enterprise• Personal ownership

• Owner-manager

• Direct management

• Personal ized employment re la t ions

• No profess ionals outs ide core bus iness funct ion

• Limi ted management resources

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Employment relations based on social relations

• Close personal re lat ions dominate

• Both part ies occupied with the maintenance of endurable re lat ions

• The owner-manager seeks to be the f i rst among equals

• Part of the employer responsib i l i ty handed over to employees

• The employees accept the extended responsib i l i ty

• A personal re lat ionship for good and for bad


Small enterprises evade the traditional business understanding

• Prof i t and growth not decis ive mot ives

• Pr imary concern is surv ival and contro l of business

• Provide a l iv ing

• Integrate fami ly l i fe

The main priority is maintenance of an identity as owner-manager


Creating an identity as an owner-manager

• The ident i ty is t ied to – - a des i red sel f -por t ra i t

– - d iscourses about ent repreneurship, the craf tmanship and the fami ly bus iness

• The ident i ty mirrors the expectat ions expressed through social re lat ions to employees, customers, author i t ies and other stakeholders

• The ident i ty is expressed through narrat ives and dependent on the context

– - Of ten incoherent , cont rad ic tory, and var ies over t ime


The identity as an owner manager and the work environment

• Work environment is a per ipheral issue wi th a potent ia l for eth ical and economic t rouble

• Important to create a sel f -por t ra i t as a decent person

Learning from serious accidents:• Unpredictable events• Personal blunders• No prevention

Work environment attitudes:• Generally positive• Search for a common discourse

on an acceptable work environment

• Downgrade risk• Evade personal employer

responsibility


Hasle et al., 2012

Downgrading risk

• Owner-manager, manufactur ing squeegees:“ I t is not r isky here. There are a few cuts but not ser ious ones, and people rarely go to the emergency room. I t happened once when a guy broke his thumb not because a problem with the safety guard, but s imply because people they make blunders.”

• Owner-manager, manufactur ing components to food industry:“We have only had one accident in f ive year, I bel ieve. Wel l , i t is not that we are rol l ing in accidents. There was one who cut h is f inger in a saw but that was just a blunder.”

Peter Hasle, Centre for Industrial Production 1 0

Avoiding personal employer responsibility

• Partner, spr ing factory:

“Real ly, they have the possib i l i ty, haven’ t they? And I do know as an employer you ought to be a bogeyman…….. but people damned wel l have to think by themselves, don’ t they?”

• Owner-manager, carpenter- jo iner:

“ I am fond of the people who work her, we are a family and i f one of them is in jured, i t would make me feel very bad about myself . So they have to know that they should take care of themselves.”


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Micro Small Medium

Owner-manager Both owner-managers and professionals

Often professional management

One management level, Owner often work in operation

Two managements levels, owner don’t work in operation

Several full time management levels

Rarely growth and profit oriented

Sometimes growth and profit oriented

Stronger growth and profit orientation

Very low division of work Division of work with a few different professions

Division of work with several professions and expert support functions

Low formalization – nothing in writing

Some formalization – systematic bookkeeping

Formalization in terms of bookkeeping, contracts, certification

The need to differentiate


A conclusion on the understanding of small enterprises

• Dominated by owner-managers• The owner-managers takes personal ident i ty f rom the

business • Employer-employee relat ions personal ized• The owner-managers protect the sel f f rom personal

gui l t for accidents and diseases• Risk is downgraded and responsib i l i ty at t r ibuted to

employees• Work environment is a per ipheral issue• Scarce management resources is the most important

l imit ing factor


Challenges for preventive strategies

• Necessary to relate to business strategy

• Negat ive react ions to requirements which distract the attent ion f rom the core business

• Cri t ic ism of business is taken personal ly

• Information is only used i f i t arr ives exact ly as i t is needed

• Owner-managers want to know what to do – not how to f ind out

• And to do th ings without paperwork and meet ings


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How do preventive actions work?


Context

OutcomeProgrammetheory

Mechanism

Pawson, 1997 & 2006

Assumption about how the action will work

The causal relations which create changes

Changes in the working environment

External: Market, stakeholdersInternally: Management and organisation

A typology of policy instruments

Vedung, 1998Peter Hasle, Centre for Industrial Production 16

Sermon

StickCarrot

Sausages

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Regulat ion (s t ick) :

• Government laws, enformcement and punishment

Incent ives (carrot ) :

• Reduced insurrance fees, cer t i f icat ion re leases f rom inspect ions, branding

In formation (Sermon) :

• Train ing, d isseminat ion of in format ion

Most programmes inc ludes elements of a l l ins t ruments

Policy instruments


An acceptable work environment standard as a cornerstone

• Owner-managers need to maintain an ident i ty as social ly legi t imate persons

• They search for a standard of the working envíronment which stakeholders f ind acceptable

• The standard const i tute the l icence to operate

• They search for s ignals from employees, col leagues, customers, and author i t ies in order to ident i fy the acceptable standard

• Increasing the level of the standard accepted by smal l enterpr ises a key strategy


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Leg is la t i ve s tandard

How to increase the acceptable working environment standard


Inspec t i on

Recogn i t i on by soc ia l pa r tners

In fo rmat ion d i ssemina t ion

Express soc ie ta l

l eg i t imacy

S igna ls soc ia l accep t

Knowlegde abou t

consequence

The s tandard pursued by sma l l f i rms

Instruments Mechanism

Context

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Developing a new standard for bricklaying


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The road to a new standard for bricklaying


Akward and straineouswork in bricklaying

Enforcement by labour inspectors

Technical solutionsmissing

Social partners in sector OHS-councilaccept the need for

improvement

Enforcementmoratorium

Development of solutionssupported by government fund

Involvement of suppliers

New solution recommended

by social partners

Enforcement bylabour inspectors

New standardwidely accepted

The policy instruments and mechanisms in the bricklaying case

A combination of policy instrumentsRegulation (stick): • Improvement notices from labour

inspectors• Enforcement moratorium• Improvement notices based on the

new solutionsIncentive (carrot):• Government fund support develop-

ment of new technical solutionKnowledge (sermon): • A code of practice with info on

technical aids and work methods• Disseminated through several

platforms by all involved stakeholders

MechanismsCoercion: • Initial improvement notices• Revnewed enforcement after

solution developedNorms: • Joint message from employers

and unions signals that the new solution is both ethical responsible and economically viabel

Imitation:• Owner-managers and bricklayers

observe still more cases with the new solutions being applied and get convinced that it is the way to do bricklaying in the sector

Strategies for action

A high standard for an

acceptable work environment

Effective support systems

ToolsOutreach activitiesRegulation The social

partners


Inspection:• Concrete• Advisory• Dialogue

• Involvement • Integration in

legislation• Responsibility

• Intermediaries • Personal • Context

• Concrete • Solutions• Integration • Not Ri. Ass.

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Developing effective support systems

We know the requirements for effect ive tools:

• Pract ical or iented - What to do –

• Not focus on ident i f icat ion of r isk

• Low cost

• Posit ive forward looking

• Linking to management goals and business strategy

We lack suff ic ient knowledge about:

• Cost-effect ive and sustainable outreach act iv i t ies

• Embedment af ter the f i rs t pi lot project

• Integrat ion in business strategyPeter Hasle, Centre for Industrial Production 2 4

Developing effective support systems

The intermediaryorganisation

Dissemination to the enterprise

Interpretation= sensemaking

Change process Effects

The small enterprise

Embedment of the support

system

Embedment

Tools for implementation of work environment improvements

Organization of Support activities


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• An external suggest ion for improvements needs to make sense for the owner-manager

Does is :

• Solve a problem exper ienced as rea l and urgent?

• Make employees happier?

• Increase legi t imacy among s takeholders (customers , loca l communi ty, author i t ies , peers)?

• Cont r ibute to bus iness surv iva l?

The process of sensemaking


Social relations in support systems

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Initiator Intermediary Small enterprise

Someone wants somebody else to do somethin

It is a social exchange with a two-sided relation building on trust and mutual benefits


Thanks to inspiration from colleagues from NIOSH, USA

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• Employers associat ions

• Chambers of commerce

• Accountants

• Banks

• Large f i rms

• Occupat ional heal th serv ices

• Educat ional ins t i tu t ions (un ivers i t ies , col leges, vocat ional t ra in ing cent res)

• Smal l bus iness adv isory serv ices

• Local communi ty groups:

- Environmenta l groups, safety net (Canada) , farmers ’ wi fes (Denmark)

Intermediaries


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• The work ing env i ronment a s idecar as long as in tegrat ion in bus iness s t ra tegy is low

• Solv ing a heal th and safety problem should a lso so lve a bus iness problem

• Work ing across sectors and in termediar ies necessary

Example:

• Bet ter OHS p lanning in const ruct ion can improve the genera l p lanning proces – but the methods should be s imple and wi th few requirements for formal izaton

• In Denmark such a method have been developed and are now appl ied in pract ice

Integration in business strategy – the weak link


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• The wor ld needs more jobs so secure the economy and combat pover ty

• Smal l enterpr ises const i tu te the backbone of job creat ion

• But new jobs need to be susta inable:

- Economical ly- Socia l ly- Heal thy- Envi ronmenta l ly

• We need to develop methods, too ls and suppor t systems which in tergrate bus iness goals wi th heal th and safety and env i ronmental concerns

• In c lose contact to non-OHS in termediar ies

Conclusion


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Thanks for your attention

Peter [email protected]


Documents

From Understanding to Action: New strategies to reach out to, and support, small enterprises