The Nordic region: defying economic theory

The Nordic Model combines competitiveness and growth with strong emphasis on welfare on a national level. But the model is also found on company level, and in other workplaces.

At the National Research Centre for the Working Environment in Denmark the term social capital is used to describe the quality of an organisation when it comes to the relations between management and employees, as well as between employees themselves.
A company can be more competitive because it has a high social capital. In such an organisation the employees have few conflicts and show a greater ability to change and to
be flexible.
Trust, respect and fairness are the central factors describing an organisation with a high social capital. The leadership trusts the employees to do their best.
Peter Hasle and Niels Møller have done a study of the abattoir industry in Denmark which has attracted a lot of attention. They found that a trust culture which had developed between the production manager and shop steward team at some abattoirs later spread to the whole
company.
The new trust culture was based on involvement of both first line managers and employees. The involvement resulted in a better psychosocial work environment resulting in positive statistics showing low absenteeism, labour turnover and strike frequency.