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THE CENTRE'S SIGNIFICANCE
 
DOMESTIC
This is the only research group or Centre in Slovenia that systematically conducts research on employment, system and the social aspects of education and training and HRM, and in particular on the interface of these areas. Primarily, it is focused on the reorientation of Slovenia’s development strategy from one based on the increasing intensity of labour utilisation to the knowledge-based economy which also respects the social dimension. Some specific topics recently dealt with have been: the state of HRM in Slovenian organisations, competency-based management, employment policy, activation of the unemployed and their social inclusion, various aspects of education and training, industrial relations, the balance between work and family life, indicators of the knowledge society, factors for the stimulation of innovations and innovativeness and similar. Members of the Centre have participated in various development projects in the country such as the development of national strategies of social and economic development, special strategies for the development of employment, education and training and industrial relations. They have also carried out development activities for corporations and the public administration. The research work of the group serves as a basis for the development and evaluation of various public policies and for the dvelopment of managerial practices.
INTERNATIONAL
Members of the Research Centre contribute to the body of knowledge with their publications in international journals and books, presenting their papers at international conferences and their participation in international projects and networks. In the COST A13 programme they have participated in the revival, development and empirical verification of concepts such as social citizenship and activation of the unemployed. In the international project on the integration of work and learning, our research team has, together with experts from Hungary, Germany and the Netherlands, proposed some new forms of integration of work and learning in companies and schools and thus contributed to the development of the learning organisation. It has also contributed to the elaboration of scenarios for the development of VET in Europe. In co-operation with the European Foundation on Social Quality they have contributed to development of the concept of social quality and the indicators for its monitoring. On the basis of informal co-operation regarding the balance between work and family life, an international research project ‘Gender, Parenthood and the Changing European Workplace’ financed within the FP5 has evolved. We should also mention the international research of industrial relations, which resulted in another FP5-financed programme. Since 1999 the Research Centre has been collaborating as an exclusive Slovenian partner in the all European CRANET network, which makes research on the HRM in organisations. In 2004 an international conference ‘HRM in the Knowledge Based Economy’ was organised in Ljubljana by our research team. Two years later we organised the Industrial Relations in Europe Conference (IREC). Its main topic was the Future of Social Models. Collaboration with networks dealing with corporate identity has also intensified. Our Research Centre is a partner of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions situated in Dublin. The contribution of our researchers can also be observed in promoting the corporate and institutional understanding of the labour market and the role of elites in the management of complex systems. They have pointed to regional specifics, the process of the devolution of HRM and the variations in the commitment of employees to their organisations in Europe. The specifics of transition countries are especially dealt with in such projects. Team members are often invited to take up roles of international experts in peer reviews, expert meetings, editorial committees and so on by organisations such as the European Training Foundation, European Journal of Vocational Training, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, European Trade Union Confederation, OECD and VRC IPTS Sevilla.