Jens Hemphälä

What are the factors in the work environment that contribute both to the firm’s sustainable competitive advantage and a sustainable working life? This critical question regards both the firm's capability to obtain and sustain its competitiveness and the employees' capability to develop in their profession.

Optimally, both of these two competencies are satisfied in an organization. This is described as competence to create sustainable work systems.

Obtaining sustainable competitive advantage has proven to be a difficult quest. This is manifested in the difficulty of assertaining what successful organizations do that really makes them competitive, and the complexities that other firms encounter when they try to emulate successful practices.

Where should the organization focus its efforts? Previous research has suggested several factors that contribute to the creation of sustainable work systems. These theories point to the importance of learning and interaction as facilitators of both competitiveness and individual development. Open communication and accessible information on all levels in an organization may have the potential to contribute to our notion of sustainability. The question is how these relationships look in practice on a more specific level and what information channels organizations should prioritise when they develop their communication strategy. The risk is that too-narrow approaches (e.g. with the focus on only information technology) does not yield the expected returns, due to the fact that concern is not placed on how people in the organization communicate in practise. To study these complex information and communication patterns, we need support from previous research as well as developing new methods.

This research has the potential to contribute to our knowledge of organizational processes that yield improved performance and innovativeness to aid both leaders and employees in creating sustainable work systems.