The aim of this article is to investigate how the formal competence development activities provided by the Production Leap, a workplace development programme (WPDP), were interwoven with everyday work activities and to identify the conditions that enabled learning and employee-driven innovation that contributed to production improvement, in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Sweden. The study adopts a qualitative case approach and draws on evidence from research conducted in four manufacturing SMEs that participated in this Swedish WPDP. Funded by EU authorities, WPDPs provide competence development activities to SMEs in order to boost their production capabilities and/or promote innovation. The findings reveal that the competence development activities provided by the programme triggered learning in everyday work activities and fostered the development of different approaches to employee-driven innovation in the enterprises. The conclusion is that it is essential to consider that employee-driven innovations may take different forms and involve functions that can support innovative learning that goes beyond minor adjustments to the existing standards of production. Moreover, employee-driven innovation may impose new demands on management leadership skills. The findings provide important guidance for future WPDPs, for vocational education and training or university activities that are customised to SME contexts to promote production capabilities, and for SMEs that aim to strengthen employee-driven innovation.

Purpose: This article examines the role of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in a green transition of industry. In the world of industry, battling climate change is often treated as a technical issue, but recent research on VET has tried to balance the technological paradigm with more human-centric approaches. The literature review addresses emergent VET research that presents various and partially competing perspectives on the purpose of VET in relation to climate change. Methods: We use an integrative literature review to investigate this complex topic. This technique is particularly useful for making sense of emergent research concepts, as well as various, and partially competing, theoretical and methodological approaches. It also allows us to incorporate literature from different countries and VET systems. The main search was performed in Scopus during March 2023, and included studies published within a timespan of eight years (2016–2023). Findings: Through a qualitative content analysis, we have identified five cross-cutting themes in the literature: Conceptualising ill-defined concepts of green jobs and skills; high-tech solutions in the movement towards a fourth industrial revolution versus inclusive growth for VET greening; towards sustainable work-based learning for green skills in VET; radical transformative approaches to a just green transition; and the co-creation of skill-formation ecosystems. The analysis has highlighted the ways in which VET can take on different roles in the green transition, and that these roles can be developed successively in parallel with a green transition in industry. In the development of the role of VET, it is also relevant to consider the contrast between transitional approaches and transformative approaches in VET research. While transitional approaches are recurrently marked by empirical research in specialised areas and subsystems within society, transformative approaches are characterised by a stronger focus on societal transformation (large-scale changes), power dynamics, and social justice. Conclusion: In conclusion, we suggest an analytical model that synthesises research on what role VET can play in a green transition of industry. The development model highlights that VET can take on different roles in a green transition and can gradually develop in parallel with a green transition in industry.

Purpose: This study focuses on a transformation effort in a social welfare department of a Swedish municipality where continuous improvement, which is a Lean principle, was introduced in employees’ everyday work via a workplace development programme (WPDP). The aim of this paper is to explore the conditions (internal and external) that enabled or constrained employee learning during the introduction of continuous improvement into employees’ everyday work in a WPDP-supported social welfare department. Design/methodology/approach: This case study is based mainly on 22 semi-structured interviews with individuals holding different positions in the department and overarching municipality. Findings: The findings show that multiple and emerging conditions, both internal and external, shaped a predominantly restrictive learning environment during the introduction of continuous improvement into the social welfare department. The major conditions identified were related to the initial implementation and top management’s steering and monitoring of the “Lean investment”, activities and support provided by the WPDP, activities and support provided by the internal Lean support team and first-line managers’ abilities to facilitate employee learning. Originality/value: Apart from unique empirical material depicting an effort towards change under conditions far from favourable for employee learning, the value of this study lies in the attention given to the external dynamics that drive change in line with the concept of new public management in public service organizations, including a WPDP that supported the social welfare department.

The demands and preferences of men are often prioritized in societal challenges, despite women comprising half of the world’s population. Gender-Responsive Research and Innovation (GRRI) offers an approach to address this bias, promoting comprehensive and equitable solutions to better-understood real-world problems. The successful implementation of GRRI depends on recognizing obstacles, staying informed about relevant initiatives, and using this knowledge to develop effective strategies, ultimately contributing to a fairer and more responsive society. This research, using a mixed-methods approach, identified 10 critical GRRI concerns, measures, and strategies to address them, as well as 18 noteworthy initiatives across research, industrial, and regulatory contextual fields. It also enhances the understanding of GRRI, laying the groundwork for an ontology of GRRI that can benefit policymakers, organizations, and researchers seeking more inclusive strategies and practices.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the development of a workplace development programme (WPDP) targeting small and medium sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) by focussing on the people who acted as brokers providing cross-boundary connections between its collaborating partners. Design/methodology/approach: The material, from interviews with 32 individuals and 11 meetings, was analysed in a boundary-crossing framework, which provided tools to reveal how the roles of brokers at different levels (operative, strategic and national) of the WPDP affected its development. Findings: The findings indicate that cross-boundary connections were made by persons who acted as brokers within and between different levels of the WPDP. The brokers who provided cross-boundary connections between different levels of the WPDP were found to play the most important role for the prompt development of the WPDP. Originality/value: Apart from unique empirical material depicting the development of a collaborative venture between national and regional stakeholders of the manufacturing industry, the value of this study is the attention given to the people behind the policymaking of publicly funded national WPDPs, revealing the complex business of developing policy-driven competence development activities to employees in SMEs.