Shop stewards as coordinators of employee-driven innovation: implications for trade unions

Abstract

Recently, there has been an increase in the attention paid to innovation. However, most of the attention seems to be devoted to innovation which takes place between organizations or between organizations and their customers. It is therefore useful to stand back a little and think about innovation within organizations: how does it take place, who are the actors involved, and how is it coordinated at different organizational levels. This article presents the results of qualitative research among seven Danish organizations, which have revolutionized their ways of organizing the production process. The article shows that shop stewards have become crucial organizational actors in coordinating employee-driven innovation (EDI) inside the firm by connecting different organizational and institutional levels. This has several implications for the European trade union movement.