J. Hyman, H. Ramsay, J. Leopold, L. Baddon and L.C. Hunter
There has been a considerable amount of interest in employee shareownership schemes in the last few years, and this has been mirrored byan increase in publications relating to the…
Abstract
There has been a considerable amount of interest in employee share ownership schemes in the last few years, and this has been mirrored by an increase in publications relating to the subject. However, the authors argue that this literature leaves much to be desired, in particular in its implicit assumption that management and employee interests will converge with share ownership. The evidence from two of their case studies indicates a divergence between management objectives and employee responses. It also suggests that trade union attitudes to share ownership may be changing as well.
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L Baddon, L.C. Hunter, J. Hyman, J.W. Leopold and H. Ramsay
Government initiatives for involving employees in company affairs have turned towards attempting to forge deeper‐rooted links between employers and employees than those provided…
Abstract
Government initiatives for involving employees in company affairs have turned towards attempting to forge deeper‐rooted links between employers and employees than those provided through contractual pay alone. These include three ways of encouraging share ownership.
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Robert Luther and Paul Keating
The 1986 Green Paper on Profit‐related Pay (PRP) saw the initiativeas contributing to the elimination of the “them and usmentality” from British industry. Considers the impact of…
Abstract
The 1986 Green Paper on Profit‐related Pay (PRP) saw the initiative as contributing to the elimination of the “them and us mentality” from British industry. Considers the impact of PRP and shows the Green Paper’s view to be optimistic. This conclusion derives from an examination of the PRP scheme and its context within government policies on taxation, employment, industrial democracy and industrial relations. These are shown to be exacerbating the inequalities of reward and power out of which the categories “them and us” are structured. Given this, it is difficult to see PRP promoting industrial unitarism.
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The paper presents findings from a case study organisation which has ostensibly adopted an empowerment programme. The findings indicate a rather different trajectory for…
Abstract
The paper presents findings from a case study organisation which has ostensibly adopted an empowerment programme. The findings indicate a rather different trajectory for empowerment than anticipated by most prescriptive accounts. Both employees and their empowered managers expressed high levels of discontent with the programme and its effects. Little sign of increased commitment was evident after the introduction of the initiative and management controls seemed to have tightened rather than loosened. The apparent failure of the empowerment initiative to raise morale and commitment is attributed to lack of resources allocated to the project, lack of management preparation; an unsympathetic cultural context; supremacy of operational issues, and weakened presence and authority. The paper concludes that empowerment projects are unlikely to engage the commitment of employees without addressing the major shortcomings identified above. Nevertheless, resultant work intensification might lead to increased physical productivity.
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Senior management in the newly privatized water companies have beenkeen to secure employee commitment to the new commercial goals they arenow pursuing. Considers the use of profit…
Abstract
Senior management in the newly privatized water companies have been keen to secure employee commitment to the new commercial goals they are now pursuing. Considers the use of profit sharing as a rhetorical device for this purpose. The introduction of profit sharing schemes was intended by management not only to assist in the construction of a new version of organizational reality, but more particularly to communicate to organizational members the quite different ideological conceptualization of organizational purposes and activities associated with the change in status from public sector water authority to private sector water company. Reports research based on documentary evidence and interviews with managers from six of the new water companies which provides scope for comparisons between the companies high‐lighting different interpretations of the role profit sharing may play in the processes of organizational change.
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Michael J. Peel and Nick Wilson
Using a random sample of 49 UK engineeringcompanies, the influence of profit sharing, share‐optionschemes and the perceived degree ofemployee participation in decision making on…
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Using a random sample of 49 UK engineering companies, the influence of profit sharing, share‐option schemes and the perceived degree of employee participation in decision making on inter‐firm labour absenteeism rates are investigated. After controlling for a number of firm‐specific factors, suggested as theoretically appropriate in the extant literature, the key empirical results indicated that firms which had adopted sharing schemes appeared to experience significantly lower absenteeism rates than their non‐sharing counterparts.
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Alternative hypotheses for the personnel function are presented, based on findings from four case study organisations which have devolved personnel responsibilities from a…
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Alternative hypotheses for the personnel function are presented, based on findings from four case study organisations which have devolved personnel responsibilities from a designated personnel department to line managers. The views of line managers and employees are sought to assess the effects of these changes. The study finds that devolved responsibilities of personnel are formally geared to securing commitment from employees by promoting an integrative culture of employee management through line managers. In practice, though, we find little evidence that personnel has succeeded in catalysing such changes. The case study findings do not point to any clear evidence of a general increase in influence for personnel practitioners following devolution. Tensions exist between line managers and personnel and the function appears to be vulnerable to further contraction. The study concludes that prospects for personnel following devolution are at best uncertain.
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Nigel Haworth and Harvie Ramsay
Unions are the potential but secure democratic counterforce to capital. The creation of “objective conditions” for international co‐operation has preceded but must result in…
Abstract
Unions are the potential but secure democratic counterforce to capital. The creation of “objective conditions” for international co‐operation has preceded but must result in “subjective conditions”. This theme survives little challenged as a central tenet of the official labour movement in country after country. The pervasive complacency in other circles concerning the prospects for industrial democracy to be achieved through the internationalisation of the evolutionary, pluralistic collective bargaining model, particularly at a time when that model seems unable to cope with born again free market philosophies even at a national level.
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Schemes of profit sharing and employee share‐holding have a 19th century origin. The objects of profit sharing vary according to its proponents. The primary focus of this paper…
Abstract
Schemes of profit sharing and employee share‐holding have a 19th century origin. The objects of profit sharing vary according to its proponents. The primary focus of this paper will be on managerial schemes of financial participation and the expectations that their installation will lead to an improvement in organizational performance and employee behaviour. Using a survey of 2,827 private sector firms in 11 European countries we test for the effect of profit sharing on profitability, productivity and employee turnover and absenteeism. In addition, the effect of profit sharing on union influence is examined. In common, with other research in this area, our results show that while there is some evidence of a positive relationship between profit sharing and organizational performance, this was not definitive. In the case of union influence, there was some evidence of an adverse effect of these schemes on the solidarity of the collective.
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Keith Whitfield, Andrew Pendleton, Sukanya Sengupta and Katy Huxley
A range of studies have shown that performance is typically higher in organisations with employee share ownership (ESO) schemes in place. Many possible causal mechanisms…
Abstract
Purpose
A range of studies have shown that performance is typically higher in organisations with employee share ownership (ESO) schemes in place. Many possible causal mechanisms explaining this relationship have been suggested. These include a reduction in labour turnover, synergies with other forms of productivity-enhancing communication and participation schemes, and synergies with employer-provided training. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper empirically assesses these potential linkages using data from the 2004 and 2011 British Workplace Employment Relations Surveys, and provides comparisons with earlier analyses conducted on the 1990 and 1998 versions of the survey.
Findings
Substantial differences are found between the 2004 and 2011 results: a positive relationship between ESO and workplace productivity and financial performance, observed in 2004, is no longer present in 2011. In both years, ESO is found to have no clear relationship with labour turnover, and there is no significant association between turnover and performance. There is, however, a positive moderating relationship with downward communication schemes in 2004 and in 2011 in the case of labour productivity. There is no corresponding relationship for upward involvement schemes.
Research limitations/implications
The results are only partially supportive of extant theory and its various predictions, and the relationship between ESO and performance seems to have weakened over time.
Originality/value
The study further questions the rhetoric offered in support of wider ESO.