Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Business cycle wikipedia , lookup
Economic democracy wikipedia , lookup
Economics of fascism wikipedia , lookup
Participatory economics wikipedia , lookup
Production for use wikipedia , lookup
Post–World War II economic expansion wikipedia , lookup
Economic planning wikipedia , lookup
Circular economy wikipedia , lookup
Ragnar Nurkse's balanced growth theory wikipedia , lookup
SKILLS AND WHAT ELSE MAKES THE DIFFERENCE? Ewart Keep Deputy Director ESRC Centre on Skills, Knowledge & Organisational Performance, University of Warwick AIM OF THIS TALK To identify the range of factors that, along with skills, are essential building blocks for a successful regional economic strategy. To argue the case for the integration of skills policies into the planning and delivery of wider economic strategies. STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR THE ECONOMY AND SOCIETY Unless we know where we want to be, our chances of getting there are slender! In order to be clear where we want to be, we need to have answers to the following questions: DESIRED FUTURE SHAPE OF THE ECONOMY What is the desired profile of the economy? What proportion of output should be in high value added goods and services? What levels of service quality will be required in public services? Are we aiming for an economy where there are high levels of R&D, innovation and investment in plant and equipment? What sectors and sub-sectors do we expect or want to be driving economic growth? DESIRED PATTERNS OF EMPLOYMENT What pattern of employment is being aimed for? What proportion of jobs do we want to be highly skilled? Are we anxious to reduce the proportion of low skilled employment (and if so, how)? Do we want to avoid a polarised labour market, with a concentration of high skilled employment at the top end, a concentration of low skilled employment at the bottom, and relatively few middle-ranking jobs? DESIRED PATTERNS OF INCOME What dispersion of income is being aimed for? Is it a long-term aim to reduce what has been a widening gap between the best and worst paid in our society? Do we aim to reduce the proportion of the workforce in our region that is low paid? If so, how? DESIRED PATTERNS OF WORK ORGANISATION What patterns of work organisation, job design and people management do we want to see as the norm in UK workplaces? For instance, do we want to see only a small number of jobs where employees are engaged in highly routinised and closely controlled work, in which there is little room for discretion, autonomy and creativity? If yes, how? DESIRED SOCIAL AND POLITICAL OUTCOMES AND THE WIDER BENEFITS OF LEARNING What kind of society do we aspire to? How will our political system involve citizens? What expectations are there about the ability of, and need for, citizens to debate and decide on complex issues, such as global warming, genetic modification, membership of the Euro, and so on? What levels and types of cultural, sporting, community, and voluntary activity does society want to be taking place, and how widespread do we aim for participation in these to be? ONCE WE HAVE ANSWERS…….. Once we have answers then we can proceed to plan. In thinking about planning, we need to see skills as one facet of a broader problem. Planning that treats skills in isolation from many of the issues flagged up above is liable to produce poor results and weak, narrow strategies. SKILLS AND THE OTHER DRIVERS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. As the Treasury emphasise, there are several drivers of economic success, of which skills is but one. Unless the UK economy is characterised by: High levels of R&D and innovation High levels of capital investment in plant and equipment A high quality public infrastructure, including communications and transport Readily available sources of patient and knowledgeable capital A domestic market for goods and services that demands high levels of product quality, specification and customisation A domestic income distribution and public purchasing policy that can support point 5 above higher levels of skill supply may have very limited effects on Economic outcomes. Skills can support a more productive economy, but on their own are fairly unlikely to create one. THE PORTER REPORT The UK currently faces a transition to a new phase of economic development. The old approach to economic development is reaching the limits of its effectiveness, and government, companies and other institutions need to rethink their policy priorities….. We find the competitiveness agenda facing UK leaders In government and business reflects the challenges of Moving from a location competing on relatively low costs of doing business to a location competing on unique value and innovation. (Porter and Ketels, 2003: 5) DO WE HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE THE TRANSITION? Current indications suggest that such a transition may be difficult to achieve and that many of the above listed supporting factors are either not in place or are available at levels that will not drive moves towards a higher value added approach across large swathes of the economy. One example is the fact that many large UK firms tend to be clustered in sectors characterised by very low R&D intensities. Proportion of sales in very low and low R&D intensity sectors Country V. Low USA Japan Germany France UK World 19.5% 13% 10% 34% Low Total 6.5% 14% 14% 20% 26% 27% 24% 54% 56% 22% 78% 23% 13% 36% SOURCE: DTI, 2005:13 Suggests hi-tech enterprise among large firms may be a minority sport! LABOUR MARKET REALITIES Full-blown HPWO covers tiny fraction of workforce On EU definitions, about 25 per cent of the UK workforce is low paid The labour market is polarising (the ‘hourglass economy’), with more managerial and professional work, and more low paid, low end work. The proportion of workers who will receive inwork tax credits is set to rise. REMEMBER – the workers in your region are also the bulk of the consumers! TAYLORISM AND FORDISM – ALIVE AND KICKING Despite talk about a Post-Fordist world and an end to Taylorised work patterns, evidence suggests that much work continues to have: A low skill content Highly routinised patterns Low discretion Low autonomy Short job cycle times Hierarchical organisation Supply more skills, of itself, may do little to change this. IF THESE ARE THE PROBLEMS, WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS? Traditional: Supply more skills Emergent: Supply more skills AND simultaneously seek to help firms to move up market, become more profitable, increase productivity, develop new markets, organise work differently, and use skills better. SKILLS AS ONE COMPONENT IN LEVERAGING IMPROVEMENTS IN BUSINESS PERFORMANCE Skills Supply 2. Business Support to Firms 3. Cluster, Network and Supply Chain Development Key Policy Goal: Engineering Mutually Supportive Interaction between the three components 1. A NEED TO DESIGN INTERVENTIONS TO IMPACT ON: Product market strategies Goods and service quality and specification Investment strategies (plant, R&D, product development) Production/service delivery systems Employee relations Work organisation Job design In order to create higher demand for, and better usage of, the skills being supplied. THE CONCLUSIONS OF NORWEGIAN POLICY MAKERS: It is not how much knowledge employees have, but what they collectively manage to do with that knowledge, that drives value creation…….The main message….is that knowledge resources are enhanced through use; knowledge and skills must be activated and put into play in order to create future growth and social welfare. Work organisation plays a key role in this respect……this approach is challenging, as it forces us to establish a closer connection between competence policy and other important areas such as industrial policy, innovation and labour market policy. Competence Report 2003. DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS FOR DIFFERENT SECTORS AND FIRMS Tailor made solutions rather than blanket solutions – NETP Joined up design and delivery of business support and skills support. Developing expertise among advisors, RDAs, SSCs, Business Links, etc. This represents a major challenge for RDAs, SSCs, LSC, LLSCs and other players.