Doctoral Dissertation Research: Worker Ownership in US Machine Manufacturing

博士论文研究：美国机械制造业的工人所有权

• 批准号: 1203350
• 负责人: Erik Wright
• 金额: $ 0.7万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-04-15 至 2013-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1203350&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Worker; Ownership

AbstractApproximately 2,500 majority employee owned firms operate in the contemporary US economy and their ownership structure constitutes a drastic alternative to the traditional investor or family-owned firm, yet their productive potential has never been rigorously studied. This project utilizes a three-case comparative ethnography of firms in the U.S. industrial machine manufacturing industry to examine the effects of majority employee ownership and high performance work organization on strategic and operational decision-making. First, how do majority and non-majority employee owned firms govern and implement strategic and operational decision making? Second, how is high productivity work organization governed and implemented in majority employee owned and non-majority employee owned firms? The three selected firms all utilize extensive high productivity work organization practices and operate in the industrial machine manufacturing industry, a particularly challenging context for employee ownership. Two majority employee owned cases serve as critical cases, in that their performance will suggest the possibilities for employee owned firms in less adverse environments. The two employee owned firms vary in the degree of employee direct participation in strategic governance, in order to parse out the effects of employee ownership and employee control. The third firm will be privately owned and will serve as a benchmark. In order to capture the decision-making processes and subjective orientations of workers towards the firm, data will be collected through a combination of in-depth interviews and participant observation, organized around six month internships in each of the firms.Beyond its intellectual merit, this dissertation will have a range of broader impacts. I am partnering with the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives to develop educational case studies from the two majority employee owned firms. These cases will be made available on the Center's website and will offer guidance for entrepreneurs considering employee ownership as an organizational strategy. Second, part of my agreement with the organizations will be to share my findings and collaborate on research projects to improve their human resource practices and increase the involvement of employees in governance.

摘要在当代美国经济中，大约有2,500家员工持股的公司，它们的所有权结构构成了传统投资者或家族企业的一种激烈的替代方案，但它们的生产潜力从未被严格研究过。本项目利用美国工业机械制造业公司的三个案例的比较民族志来研究大多数员工所有权和高绩效工作组织对战略和运营决策的影响。首先，多数和非多数员工拥有的公司如何治理和实施战略和运营决策？第二，高生产力的工作组织是如何管理和实施在多数雇员拥有和非多数雇员拥有的公司？这三家公司都采用了广泛的高生产力工作组织实践，并在工业机械制造业运营，这对员工所有权来说是一个特别具有挑战性的环境。两个大多数员工拥有的情况下作为关键的情况下，他们的表现将表明员工拥有的公司在不太不利的环境的可能性。两个员工所有制企业在员工直接参与战略治理的程度上存在差异，以分析员工所有权和员工控制权的影响。第三家公司将是私营的，并将作为基准。为了捕捉决策过程和工人对公司的主观取向，数据将通过深入访谈和参与观察相结合的方式收集，在每个公司组织了大约六个月的实习。除了其智力价值，本论文将有一系列更广泛的影响。我正在与威斯康星州大学合作中心合作，从两个大多数员工拥有的公司开发教育案例研究。这些案例将在该中心的网站上公布，并将为考虑将员工所有权作为组织战略的企业家提供指导。其次，我与各组织达成的协议的一部分将是分享我的调查结果，并在研究项目上进行合作，以改善其人力资源实践，并增加员工对治理的参与。