Table 1

Components of coordination

Components of coordination Associated coordination processes
Goals Identifying goals (e.g. goal selection)
Activities Mapping goals to activities (e.g. goal decomposition)
Actors Mapping activities to actors (e.g. task assignment)
Interdependencies 'Managing' interdependencies (e.g. resource allocation, sequencing, and synchronising)

Source: Malone, T.W., and K. Crowston (1991)

Table 2

Two phases of EU coordination before and at the International Labour Conference in 2005.

Principals Primary agents Most important factors determining EU coordination Alternatives to EU coordination
First phase: before the ILO Conferences Member States Commission Treaty basis and discursive coordination No coordination
Second phase: at the ILO Conferences Member States Presidency Treaty basis IMEC coordination

Appendix

Institutions and organs in the paper

Name Description
International Labour Conference The yearly three-week conference held in Geneva by the ILO.
Commission The central executive organ of the EU.
DG Energy and Transport The General Directorate for Energy and Transport in the Commission.
DG Employment and Social Affairs The General Directorate for Employment and Social Affairs in the Commission.
DG Justice, Liberty and Security The General Directorate for Justice, Liberty and Security in the Commission.
Presidency The rotating presidency of the Council of Ministers.
Council of Ministers The primary legislative organ of the EU.
European Court of Justice The primary judicial organ of the EU.
Council of Ministers Working Group for Social Affairs The working group on social affairs that prepares initiatives for the Council of Ministers on Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs.
EU's Tripartite Advisory Committee for Labour The committee carrying out discussion on labour policy in which government, employer, and worker delegates are included.
Council of Ministers Working Group for Maritime Transportation The working group on social affairs that prepares initiatives for the Council of Ministers on Transport, Telecommunications and Energy.
Committee of Experts The Committee of Experts is an ILO organ that evaluates the state of application of international labour standards.
Committee on Freedom of Association The Committee on Freedom of Association is responsible for complaints submitted to the Governing Body alleging violations of freedom of association and for representations that concern such issues.
Governing Body of the ILO The Governing Body is the executive body of the International Labour Office (the Office is the secretariat of the Organisation). It meets three times a year in March, June, and November. It takes decisions on ILO policy, decides the agenda of the International Labour Conference, adopts the draft Programme and Budget of the Organisation for submission to the Conference, and elects the Director-General.
Committee on the Application of Standards The Conference Committee on the Application of Standards is composed of government, employer, and worker delegates. It examines the report in a tripartite setting and selects from it a number of observations for discussion.
UN's Commission on Human Rights Commission on Human Rights procedures and mechanisms are mandated to examine, monitor, and publicly report on human rights situations in either specific countries or territories.
UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) The principal organ to coordinate economic, social, and related work of the 14 UN specialized agencies, 10 functional commissions and 5 regional commissions.
IMEC The coordinating organ in the ILO consisting of the Industrialized Market Economic Countries (in practical terms, the OECD countries).

Source: Compiled by the author

©2008 by Peter Nedergaard
formated and tagged by KH, 16.5.2008