Abstract
The Department of Human Work Sciences at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, has, since the autumn of 1991, been conducting a research project that offers a free advisory service regarding matters of the working environment to companies with fewer than 50 employees. The model used has offered the companies 16 hours' free advisory service and an additional 75 hours at half price. The project is financed by the Swedish Council for Work Life Research. We are offering this service to all types of small companies - both those, which produce goods and those, which produce services. A total of 148 small companies have contacted us. At present we are evaluating the improvement process in these companies. The material presented in this paper represents only a part of the evaluation. In the evaluation we have been interested in answering the following questions, among others.
- Why is the company interested in issues concerning the working environment?
- What advantages does the company derive from an improved working environment?
- Does an improved working environment, with the introduction of new technology, result in any financial gains?
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