Implementation and Impact of Dynamic Shared Ownership

Background and objectives

The project analysed the implementation of Dynamic Shared Ownership within the Bayer Group. It examined the impact of the new model on work organisation, working conditions and employee representation. The findings were used to identify the challenges that such reorganisation processes and agile forms of work and organisation pose for employee representation.

The introduction of agile forms of work and organisation is one of the fundamental transformation processes currently taking place in companies and is regarded as a means of improving efficiency and competitiveness. This creates new challenges for works councils and trade unions. They must consider how such reorganisation processes can be shaped in the interests of employees and how they themselves should operate in agile organisational settings. One example of such a transformation can be found at Bayer, where a new organisational model – Dynamic Shared Ownership (DSO) -has been introduced. The model aims to shift decision-making and responsibility to decentralised teams while reducing the number of hierarchical levels.

Research questions

The project focused on three questions:

• Strategic objectives: What strategic objectives do management and employee representatives pursue in implementing DSO? What reasons and rationales do the actors involved provide for the reorganisation?
• Work organisation and working conditions: How does work organisation change, and what consequences do these changes have for working conditions?
• Challenges for employee representation: What challenges does the implementation of DSO create for works councils and the trade union?

Methods

The project used different methods. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of the central works council and group works council, members of the committee representing executive employees, trade union representatives on the supervisory board and management representatives. These interviews explored the actors’ strategic objectives and provided insights into points of conflict, compromises reached and agreements concluded. Second, group interviews with team members examined how the new form of work organisation operates in practice and how it affects working conditions. Third, local and central works council members and trade union workplace representatives were interviewed about their experiences with the implementation of DSO. To capture the process as it unfolded, interviews were conducted at different points in time. The interviews were complemented by an analysis of agreements relating to DSO and newspaper articles.

Findings

The findings show that co-determination rights remain formally intact, but exercising them in practice becomes more demanding. Issues relevant to co-determination must be identified at an early stage in open-ended change processes, decisions must be attributed to accountable actors, and accelerated decision-making processes must be aligned with works council procedures.