While the need to utilise knowledge from social research in processes of development in working life is growing, there is also a growing recognition of the problems posed by this utilisation. As the belief in universal reason and general theory about topics like work organization and leadership has faded, research has to find a place as a local development actor. As such it is part of broad groups of actors, or development coalitions, as they are called in this book. Each coalition acquires unique characteristics and demands unique contributions from participating researchers. At the same time there is still a need for generalisable knowledge since all local processes are linked to global ones. Using an ongoing research-supported development program in Norwegian working life as the basis, this book explores the issues and problems associated with a new role for research as a mediator, not between general theory and local application, but between local workplace actors and global trends. The program in case encompasses a substantial number of enterprises — many of them organized in networks — and more than 50 researchers organized in seven groups, or modules.

While the need to utilise knowledge from social research in processes of development in working life is growing, there is also a growing recognition of the problems posed by this utilisation. As the belief in universal reason and general theory about topics like work organization and leadership has faded, research has to find a place as a local development actor. As such it is part of broad groups of actors, or development coalitions, as they are called in this book. Each coalition acquires unique characteristics and demands unique contributions from participating researchers. At the same time there is still a need for generalisable knowledge since all local processes are linked to global ones. Using an ongoing research-supported development program in Norwegian working life as the basis, this book explores the issues and problems associated with a new role for research as a mediator, not between general theory and local application, but between local workplace actors and global trends. The program in case encompasses a substantial number of enterprises — many of them organized in networks — and more than 50 researchers organized in seven groups, or modules.