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The paper seeks to addresses the ethically and strategically important question: “How can managers sustain the equality of employee voice in a dynamic environment?”.

To address the above question, this paper conceptually integrates two theoretical streams that are prominent in their respective traditions: Amartya Sen's capabilities approach (SCA) in the economics and ethics literature and the dynamic capabilities approach (DCA) in strategic management.

Adapting SCA, this paper conceptualizes “voice” as employees' “capability” or “freedom” to achieve what they morally “value” in an organization, and “justice” as the equality of employee voice. Following DCA, it outlines a framework for “dynamic capability” (“voice management capability”) building by managers. It describes the processes by which executives leverage their knowledge to find new ways of creating equality in employee voice and continually remedy inequities in a changing environment. The creation of paths during the discovery of such processes and the subsequent path dependence can influence the persistence of employee voice equality.

The paper is unique in that it extends Sen's notion of “equality of individual capabilities” to employee voice. Although SCA overcomes several flaws in the competing ethics theories, it remains seriously underexplored in organizational analysis. DCA is valuable in explaining how the equality in employee voice can be sustained over time. The equality of employee voice is important not only because of its moral implications but also because of its potential desirable consequences (e.g. employee trust, commitment, and loyalty).

The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent and under which conditions restructuring processes allow workers to effectively voice their concerns, with a view to influencing the restructuring logic and transforming its outcomes.

In‐depth case studies with semi‐structured interviews, documentary analysis and a survey, all conducted at firm‐level (taking also into account the impact of the European Workers’ Council when relevant).

Both settings (be it the Swiss flexible labour law and collective labour agreements or the protective professional status enjoyed by the French workers) do not guarantee the enhancement of workers’ capability set in restructuring processes. Whatever the entitlements and the cognitive and political resources available to the workers, two conditions are crucial to enhancing their capability for work and for voice: workers’ ability to re‐build collectives; and an adequate regulatory framework imposing on employers and shareholders the duty to negotiate.

The paper suggests another way of assessing restructuring processes and outcomes based on the capability approach, and demonstrates its greater relevance compared to economic or managerialist views of restructuring, based on efficiency and profitability.

This paper aims to use the Capability Approach in order to shed light on the capability for voice of workers in an industrial restructuring process.

The research relies on conceptual frames and distinctions borrowed from Amartya Sen, Jon Elster and Jürgen Habermas. It is based on an empirical case study: the restructuring of the Brussels plant of the Volkswagen (VW) group in 2006‐2007.

The central distinction established in the paper is the one between deliberation and bargaining. The structures that characterized social dialogue at the VW plant in Brussels did not totally deprive Belgian workers of capability for voice. But they seriously limited its scope.

The empirical investigation is focused more on trade unions than on internal management relationships.

The paper presents an analysis of the real opportunities for deliberation and bargaining that goes beyond the mere formal implementation of social law.

The paper discusses application of the Capability Approach to empirical procedures of collective bargaining in the context of a globalised restructuring process in the automotive sector.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of the current trend towards integrating employment policies against Amartya Sen's capability approach. By contrast with the conventional efficiency measures, it focuses on two main issues: to what extent does the integration of policies result in more performing programs when it comes to empowering the beneficiaries? What is the impact of integrated programs in terms of freedom to choose and capability for voice? These issues are investigated against a Swiss case study, i.e. the CII‐MAMAC project.

An investigation relying on qualitative interviews conducted with 25 local agents and managers belonging to the various institutions engaged in the CII‐MAMAC project and an in‐depth documentary survey of the official texts (laws, directives, etc.).

Integrating employment policies is very ambivalent in terms of both empowerment and freedom to choose. On the one hand, it can certainly lead to an increased effort in terms of empowerment, while on the other hand, it may reinforce paternalistic views of the welfare state envisaging the beneficiary as an obedient subject, rather than an active citizen. All in all, integration cannot be seen as the panacea to problems of inefficiency and unfairness in social policies.

The paper focuses on one case study. Other in‐depth investigations are needed for issuing more general conclusions.

The paper demonstrates that using the capability approach to assess public policies opens new paths for evaluation research in this field.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the French reform of employees’ access to lifelong learning by addressing the issue of the relationship between corporate training policy and employees’ capability to aspire for learning.

The investigation is based on the French linked employer‐employee survey DIFES1, which allows for responses from employees and human resource management to be analysed together. From a mixed ascending hierarchical clustering, the paper highlights the different ways in which the reform was applied within firms, and identifies capability‐friendly backgrounds. From bivariate probit models, it examines what factors affect employees’ capability to aspire.

First, the results identify 10.5 per cent of French firms as capability‐friendly. Second, it reveals that the capability to aspire is even more influenced by the environment as shaped by the corporate training policy than by professional pathways, occupational groups and other determinants, whilst training experiences themselves have no influence. Third, it raises the key issue of capability for voice as a matter of fundamental importance.

Because of the cross‐sectional nature of the survey, the research is not able to address the temporal dynamics of the capability to aspire, how it evolves over time.

In contrast to political pronouncements attributing employees’ lack of aspiration to a personal inclination, the results show how corporate training policies may increase employees’ capability to aspire for training by making it a collective issue and provide insights to combat adaptive preferences.

The research provides, for the first time, an understanding of the relationship between corporate training strategies and the capability to aspire.

The purpose of this paper is to engage with the theme of activation policies and organisational innovation in the capability perspective, from the viewpoint of active labour market policies in the UK.

The focus of the article is the City Strategy initiative in Great Britain, which encourages institutions to work together to develop solutions to concentrations of worklessness. The article presents findings from a case study of the introduction of the City Strategy in one English sub‐region: Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. The empirical investigation is based on analysis of documentary evidence including strategy papers and “grey literature” such as minutes of meetings and internal briefings. In addition, the case study draws on in‐depth qualitative interviews conducted with 18 local actors involved in the City Strategy.

The empirical investigation provides selected evidence of successful public action undertaken through the City Strategy. It discusses issues concerning the benefits of partnership working and inter‐agency cooperation, but also limits that are reached.

The paper identifies elements of the capabilities approach – the idea of situated public action, the importance of local actors, and key concepts of empowerment and voice – as providing a helpful framework for analysis. While the City Strategy represents an interesting example of situated public action to tackle worklessness, it can be argued that what is missing in this instance is what the capabilities approach identifies as key elements of empowerment and voice for local actors.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief introduction to activation policies, then discuss the capability approach, in particular highlighting a number of key concepts relevant to the analysis of active labour market policies. The second section presents the articles in this special issue, which address organisational innovation in activation policies and cover: six European countries (including Scandinavia and East and West Europe); an historical perspective; and policies aimed at the general workless population along with those targeted at specific groups e.g. disabled people. The final section emphasises three important teachings from this special issue. This paper introduces the special issue on the theme of activation policies and organisational innovation in the capability perspective.

The paper presents a normative and analytical framework. Its relevance for empirical fieldwork is then illustrated through a synthesis of the case studies presented in the special issue.

It is argued that the capability approach provides a highly useful framework for analysis of activation policies. Across the diverse range of organisational innovation examined in the articles in the special issue, a capability perspective allows for identification of a number of common themes and failings.

The originality of the paper lies in the presentation of a diverse range of organisational innovation in relation to activation policies, and using a capability approach as a framework for analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an empirical research examining how local agencies interpret and implement a policy instrument that aims at reorganising fragmented interventions for disabled people employment in Milan. The main aim of this research is to analyse the organisational difficulties and opportunities that this new employment instrument faces and how it changes the courses of action and organisational logics of the local agencies.

This issue is examined through the analysis of the design and implementation phases. The analytical framework used combines two concepts: capability and policy instruments. The empirical research is based on an in‐depth empirical investigation.

The paper shows that the Emergo Plan could not transform the way the agencies work: measures are bent and adapted to agencies' organisational routines or to labour market's logics and they do not guarantee adequate social support in order to promote disabled people's capabilities. This has consequences in terms of: chance of projects personalisation; participation and activation of disabled people; and job opportunities.

The paper focuses on one specific case study, the Emergo Plan, and the recipients were not interviewed. Further research is needed in order to assess the discussed issues at a more theoretical level and consider the beneficiaries' voices.

The paper presents some indications about the relation between public administration and local agencies and its implications and consequences in terms of organisational arrangements for public policies and related services.

The purpose of this tri‐sectoral comparative study is to analyze the scope and content of vocational training policies, and their practical implications and outcomes for employers and employees at three French‐based companies, one in the pharmaceutical sector, the second in the consultancy and information technology sector, and the third in the automobile industry.

The paper is a qualitative study and relies on a cross‐fertilization of methods valorizing the triangulation approach: in‐depth informal interviews with different categories of personnel, participant and non‐participant observation, and documentary investigation.

Our results show that though the three companies investigated rank as training friendly organizations both in terms of the level of financial investments and training densities, these statistical regularities mask significant qualitative differences. The focus, goals, opportunities and outcomes of training policies at the three firms share few common attributes. The paper goes on to propose a typology identifying three types of training organisations: skill up‐dating, learning, and capability enhancing.

The paper demonstrates that product specificities and the technology associated with it matter less than the system of work organisation and the mode of management in determining the scope and content of training programmes as well as their outcomes in matters of professional development. Whereas researchers have invariably monopolized the term of learning organizations to designate service‐sector corporations, staffed by highly skilled workforces, operating at the core of the knowledge economy, our findings shows that even neo‐taylorist industrial firms can justifiably qualify to be learning organizations. Finally, the paper proposes a comprehensive analytical grid to facilitate further qualitative research in the field of vocational training.

The aim of this paper is to introduce the special issue of the International Journal of Manpower on capabilities, work and human resource policies and practices. After presenting the main concepts of the capability approach, inspired by Amartya Sen's work, the paper goes on to review the major findings of the contributions to this issue.

Bringing together economists and sociologists, the special issue develops a relevant range of qualitative and quantitative research methods.

The special issue adopts the capability approach as a yardstick to assess corporate policies from the combined perspective of economic and human development. It asks how firms can contribute to developing sustainable human capabilities at work.

Human resource management is mainly oriented towards optimising workers’ labour for the benefit of employers and shareholders. The papers in this issue provide some well‐documented suggestions on how to break with a reductionist understanding of employees as “human capital”, considered from the sole viewpoint of economic efficiency, by introducing a shift in perspective towards an integrated approach, embracing both economic and human development.