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The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical examination of industrial relations in Denmark.

The approach is based upon available data and a mixture of Marxist theory and systems theory. The theoretical position is discussed in relation to the academic discourses on the main characteristics of Danish industrial relations and provides a review of the foundation and historical development of the Danish system.

From this basis, it is analysed how the stagnation or decline has taken place in recent years regarding representation of workers’ interest as well as the ability of the Danish system to maintain its key importance when challenged by decentralisation, decreasing union affiliation rates, cuts in unemployment insurance and social dumping due to labour migration.

It is an original paper which offers a critical analysis of the institutional decline and increasing inequality that are the result of the liberalist political-economic hegemony.

This paper evaluates why activation programmes are still an important and core component of most European countries’ social‐ and labour market policies when it has become increasingly clear that the employment effects are most often either unknown or very small.

To answer this issue, an in‐depth investigation of the evolution of activation programmes in the specific national context of Denmark is investigated.

Charting in detail the evolution of labour market activation (or workfare) programmes in Denmark, this paper displays the ongoing intensification of activation policies and ways in which this has reduced the living standards of marginalised groups and explains this to be the result of a power block that has a wider intent of disciplining the whole workforce, not least by encouraging more people to work harder and for longer hours, and rarely with overtime compensation.

This paper explains the reasons for the continuing use of labour market insertion programmes when there is a lack of evidence that they are effective in achieving their goal of inserting people into employment.

This paper uses the notion of a power block to understand the reasons for advanced economies persisting with labour market activation programmes.

This paper aims to explore the role and meaning of openness for the purpose of enhancing the understanding of collaborative innovation from an industrial network perspective.

The theoretical framework is based on the Industrial Network Approach, and the concepts of activity links, resource ties and actor bonds are used as a starting point for capturing the content and dynamics of the interaction. The empirical part consists of five case studies: two historical and three contemporary cases dealing with collaborative innovation projects. The cases are analyzed with regard to openness in business relationships and their connections in the network.

The main contribution is a conceptualization of openness in business relationships and relationship connections. The paper describes various forms and contents of openness – and closeness. It is postulated that the concept of openness can be used as an analytical tool for digging deeper into relationship and network-related issues of relevance to firms’ behavior in the context of collaborative innovation. Openness, as it is defined in this paper, is also put forward as an explanation of why (or why not) collaborative innovation projects become successful.

The conceptualization of openness differs from openness as it is commonly described in the open innovation literature. There, openness is the opposite of closeness, that is, a pattern where the innovation activities take place internally within the company. In this paper, openness, instead, has to do with how firms interact with other network actors in the context of collaborative innovation.

This paper aims to investigate the nature and dynamics of the interaction between university spin-offs (USOs) and academia.

The theoretical framework is grounded in an interactive view based on the industrial marketing and purchasing literature on USOs and their development. The concepts of activity links, resource ties and actor bonds are used as a starting point for capturing the content and dynamics of the interaction. The empirical part of the paper consists of four case studies captured through interviews as the main data source and analysed to conclude how the interaction between the USO and academia developed over time.

The study identifies a multi-faceted and dynamic content of the interaction. The paper discerns and discusses research and development links, knowledge and equipment ties and social, legal, financial and organizational bonds with inventors, other academic partners and innovation support organizations. The dynamics are manifested both through changes within individual relationships and by adding/ending relationships. One main conclusion regards the existence of wave-like patterns of interaction with academic partners driven by the USOs’ needs and the establishment of customer relationships.

Most of the previous research has described a linear process in which the USO leaves academia once the idea has been transferred to a company. This paper contrasts this view by developing and using an analytical framework to capture the dynamic and continuous interaction between USO and academia.

The research purpose is to analyse when and how innovation support programmes (ISPs) can affect collaboration between universities and established small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The paper specifically considers SME’s absorptive capacity.

A Swedish research centre is studied in the context of innovation support and two of its SME-ISPs are examined with regards to industry–university collaboration and impact on firm innovation capabilities. Data collection and analysis are performed, using interviews, survey answers, document search and reflectional analysis to evaluate processes and effects of the centre and the programmes.

A developed research centre, integrated into both academia and industry, can support translational collaboration and promote SME innovation absorptive capacity. The action learning elements and the organisational development approaches used when coaching in the ISPs contribute to the SMEs internal absorption capacity and collaborational skills. Organising collaboration into ISPs can provide a relational path to future collaboration with universities, which, for example start with student projects.

The study, though limited to one Swedish region, adds to empirical innovation research as it connects industry–university collaboration and absorptive capacity to organisational learning.

The empirical results indicate possible long-term gains for industry and universities in building collaborative innovation into SME-ISPs.

The contribution of this study pertains to the practice of innovation support for established SMEs with the inclusion of absorption capacity and collaborative innovation development.

Through the prism of intimacy, this chapter discusses how experiences of pain and loss in relation to bereavement by suicide is expressed in the black metal music and lyrics by Danish band Orm. Orm's 2019-album Ir ‘verdigris’, entangles the emotional complex and personal relations to the local, natural surroundings of the island Bornholm, including a named tree and lake, as well as local folklore and Norse mythology. As part of fieldwork, the author muddles with intimacy to define an approach sensitive enough to deal with strong and unspeakable emotions, including the idea of cultural intimacy and public embarrassment related to the issue of suicide. The author also reflects on how my participation in the pain of others informs the interpretation. The chapter suggests that Orm's black metal is doing important pain work, opening to listeners a path towards disembarrassment.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how perceptions of fair treatment impact voluntary behaviors of information technology (IT) professionals beneficial to the achievement of organizational goals. Specifically, social exchange and psychological contract theory provide a framework to consider whether equitable treatment of employees and preservation of implied contracts are indicators of beneficial, extra‐role behaviors.

The study employs a questionnaire targeting IT professionals to test a model derived from theory and prior IT personnel literature.

IT employees reciprocate demonstrations of equity and maintenance of implied contracts by added beneficial behaviors not explicit to their job requirements. This relationship is partially mediated by their trust held in the organization.

This study considered two related but distinct social exchange concepts in the same model of IT personnel behavior that had previously been considered independently indicating the need to consider both in future models. Generalizations of the observed result are limited by the use of cross‐sectional data from a single culture.

Managers of IT personnel must design and implement procedures that guarantee equitable distribution of resources and rewards. Management honoring contacts that are merely implicit and derived internally by the IT employee is crucial in promoting beneficial behaviors that fall outside explicit job requirements.

The paper highlights how IT employees reciprocate in the technology work environment. In exchange for an organization honoring contracts that are merely perceived and providing an equitable structure, IT professionals are willing to go beyond required job descriptions to achieve goals.

Historically, a transactional perspective has dominated the business negotiation literature. This perspective includes the notions that business negotiations are a linear process that follows episodic or stage models, business negotiations are geared toward an outcome in the form of a one-time transaction, business negotiations focus on a single negotiator or negotiation in a dyad and the research has historically viewed negotiation as a “zero-sum” game. Inspired by a long tradition of empirical studies of business relationships, there is good reason to apply a conceptual analysis to challenge these four assumptions and propose an alternative view on the negotiation process. The purpose of this paper is to contrast how aspects of business negotiations are commonly conceptualized with the industrial marketing and purchasing (IMP) perspective and develop propositions that will contribute to future research by offering guidelines for the development of business negotiation literature.

To contribute to a discussion on the relation between conceptualization and research results, definitions within the existing literature regarding business negotiation are contrasted with similar definitions of concepts from the IMP perspective.

Four propositions have been formulated that further the conceptual understanding of business negotiation. Moreover, a need for future methodological deliberations is demonstrated, and suggestions for future research in the field are offered.

Introducing a relational perspective into the conceptually rather underdeveloped stream of research would help to develop the existing critique within the business negotiation literature of its transactional, linear and dyadic focus.