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1 – 10 of over 66000The purpose of this paper is to examine which forms of compensation are more efficient at affecting employee attitudes, thus extending efficiency wage theory from wage-based…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine which forms of compensation are more efficient at affecting employee attitudes, thus extending efficiency wage theory from wage-based compensation to profit sharing and stock-based compensation.
Design/methodology/approach
Three models of efficiency wage theory were tested: shirking, turnover and gift exchange. The effects of those three modes of compensation (wages, profit sharing and stock) were contrasted for the three models of efficiency wage theory.
Findings
The findings were that raising wages is the most efficient form of compensation in the turnover and shirking models, while in the gift exchange model profit sharing and stock-based compensation may function like efficiency wages.
Originality/value
This is the first study of this particular issue.
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Joseph Blasi, Douglas Kruse and Richard B. Freeman
The purpose of this paper is to review the historical background for broad-based ownership in the USA, the development of forms of employee ownership and profit sharing in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the historical background for broad-based ownership in the USA, the development of forms of employee ownership and profit sharing in the USA, the research literature on employee ownership and profit sharing and related employee participation, the development of policy and options for new policies.
Design/methodology/approach
It is a literature review.
Findings
There are four reasons to be interested in employee stock ownership and profit sharing today: first, employee share ownership and profit sharing can increase worker pay and wealth and broaden the overall distribution of income and wealth, a key ingredient for a successful democracy. To be a tool for reducing inequality, employee stock ownership and profit sharing must be spread more widely and meaningfully than it is today. Second, employee share ownership and profit sharing provide incentives for more effort, cooperation, information sharing and innovation that can improve workplace performance and company productivity. Third, employee share ownership and profit sharing can save jobs by enhancing firm survival and employment stability, with wider economic benefits that come from decreasing unemployment. Fourth, employee share ownership and profit sharing can create more harmonious workplaces with greater corporate transparency and increased worker involvement in their work lives through access to information and participation in workplace decisions.
Research limitations/implications
Growth has been extraordinarily sluggish in the recovery from the Great Recession and has weakened in advanced countries over a longer period, leading some analysts to believe that the authors have entered a new economic era of small to modest growth. This may turn out to be true, which will increase the importance of growth-enhancing policies. The evidence that firms with employee stock ownership and/or profit-sharing perform better than others suggests that policies that extend ownership would boost the country’s lagging growth rate. The evidence that employee share ownership firms preserve jobs and survive recessions better than others suggests that policies that extend ownership could help stabilize the economy when the next recession comes down the pike.
Practical implications
Because there may be informational or institutional barriers about the benefits of ownership and sharing and the ways firms can introduce such programs that government can help overcome. Government has often played a role in promoting performance-enhancing work practices to enhance overall economy-wide outcomes from higher productivity and innovation, such as the long history of agricultural extension services (since 1887) to spread information on best practices in farming, and employer education on safety practices conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Social implications
Because of the “externalities” – effects that extend beyond the firm and its members – that greater ownership/profit sharing can bring us. If employee ownership and profit sharing lead to fewer layoffs and firm closures, this can reduce recession-created drops in consumer purchasing power and aggregate demand; government expenditures on unemployment compensation and other forms of support; decreased tax base for supporting schools and infrastructure; and potentially harmful social and personal effects, such as marital breakups and alcohol abuse. Apart from unemployment, more broadly shared prosperity and lower inequality may also have wider benefits for macroeconomic growth, stability and societal outcomes, as described by a number of social scientists. To the extent the ownership and profit sharing is a public good, a nudge in policy to consider the idea makes sense.
Originality/value
Because it is hard to find policy options that are as bipartisan as the shares policy. In The Citizens’ Share, and in other articles and venues, the authors lay out the areas in which there is evidence or logic for in-depth development of, and experimentation with, several broad policy directions, with the details to be worked out by members of Congress based on their deliberations.
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Patrik Jonsson and Stig-Arne Mattsson
The development of information technology has made it possible for companies to get access to information about their customers ' future demand. This paper outlines…
Abstract
Purpose
The development of information technology has made it possible for companies to get access to information about their customers ' future demand. This paper outlines various approaches to utilize this kind of visibility when managing inventories of end products on an operative level. The purpose is to explain the consequences, for capital tied up in inventory, of sharing four different types of planning information (point-of-sales data, customer forecasts, stock-on-hand data, planned orders) when using re-order point (R,Q) inventory control methods in a distribution network.
Design/methodology/approach
A simulation study based on randomly generated demand data with a compound Poisson type of distribution is conducted.
Findings
The results show that the value of information sharing in operative inventory control varies widely depending on the type of information shared, and depending on whether the demand is stationary or not. Significantly higher value is achieved if the most appropriate types of information sharing are used, while other types of information sharing rather contribute to decreased value. Sharing stock-on-hand information is valuable with stationary demand. Customer forecast and planned order information are valuable with non-stationary demand. The value of information sharing increases when having fewer customers, and when the order quantities are large. Sharing point-of-sales data is not valuable, regardless of the demand type.
Research limitations/implications
The use of simulation methodology is a limitation, because the study has to be limited to a specific model design, and because it is not based on primary empirical data. The study is especially limited to dyadic relationships in supply chains, and to distribution networks with a rather limited number of customers.
Practical implications
Guidance is given about what type of information should be appropriate to share when different types of demand patterns and distribution networks, and how order batch sizes and lead times affect the value of information sharing when using re-order point (R,Q) methods.
Originality/value
Very limited research providing specific assessments of potential inventory control consequences when sharing planning information in various contexts has been found in the literature. The findings and conclusions also question some previous research on information sharing.
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In the last 15 years, legislation has been passed in many WesternEuropean countries clarifying the tax treatment of stock options. Theintent of the legislation has been to…
Abstract
In the last 15 years, legislation has been passed in many Western European countries clarifying the tax treatment of stock options. The intent of the legislation has been to encourage holders of stocks and shares to take a long‐term investment outlook. A general background to how these stock option and profit‐sharing schemes are taxed in Europe is provided and some of the dangers and advantages of such schemes are indicated.
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This study investigates the relationship between financial participation plans, that is profit sharing, share plans and option plans, and firm financial performance using a…
Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between financial participation plans, that is profit sharing, share plans and option plans, and firm financial performance using a longitudinal panel data set of non-financial listed companies for the period 1992–2009 comprising 2,216 observations. In addition, it makes a distinction between financial participation plans that are narrow based, directed to top management and executives only, and broad based, targeted to all employees. The panel data also allow us to take into account time lag effects, as profit sharing is usually said to have short-term effects while stock options and share plans are more targeted to longer term impact. Our results show that broad-based profit-sharing plans and combinations of broad-based profit sharing and share plans are positively related with many firm financial performance indicators relative to companies without these plans. However, the results consistently show negative associations between both narrow- and broad-based option plans and firm financial performance.
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Erik Poutsma and Paul E. M. Ligthart
This chapter analyzes the determinants of adoption of sharing arrangements by companies. Using propositions from agency and strategic human resource management frameworks…
Abstract
This chapter analyzes the determinants of adoption of sharing arrangements by companies. Using propositions from agency and strategic human resource management frameworks predicting the adoption of sharing arrangements, we test the relationships with a large international dataset. The study finds that adoption of sharing arrangements is related to human capital investments, individual incentives, involvement practices, and human resource management practices and that adoption is affected by country differences.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore how various performance related pay (PRP) schemes influence employee turnover. It also tests whether profit sharing has a differential…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how various performance related pay (PRP) schemes influence employee turnover. It also tests whether profit sharing has a differential impact on turnover in comparison to other forms of PRP.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilizing a nationally representative longitudinal dataset of individuals, analysis begins with a parsimonious specification of the determinants of turnover and then progressively adds various sets of controls known to influence turnover decisions to observe how their inclusion influences PRP coefficients. Estimations employ both standard probits and panel data models.
Findings
Empirical evidence reveals a negative relationship between an aggregate measure of PRP and turnover. Disaggregating performance pay measures by type reveals a robust negative relationship between profit sharing and turnover. Although one would expect the influence of other PRP schemes to mimic that of profit sharing, evidence suggests otherwise.
Research limitations/implications
Data lack information on how much earnings are based on PRP. Consequently, estimates may be biased when combining those who receive little earnings from PRP with those who receive substantial amounts of PRP into a single PRP measure.
Practical implications
Although PRP schemes are often introduced to improve incentives and productivity, profit sharing based on firm profitability may allow labor costs to vary with firm profits hence enhancing retention and reducing the incidence of unemployment during recession.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the literature and fulfils an identified need to study how other types of PRP besides profit sharing influence turnover.
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Esra Ekinci and Adil Baykasoğlu
The purpose of this paper is to present how complexity on retail supply chains should be recognized and its relationship with the performance. Different supply chain structures…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present how complexity on retail supply chains should be recognized and its relationship with the performance. Different supply chain structures and planning horizons have been analyzed to support practitioners taking action on the short, mid and long terms. Confronted complexity in the supply chain has been categorized as system, perceived and value adding. This would also help practitioners to understand the sources of the complexity and if the complexity is useful for the system or not.
Design/methodology/approach
Three different retail supply chain scenarios – each concentrating on different planning horizons – have been simulated on system dynamics software STELLA. Using the new classification scheme for complexity and suggested performance metrics, a multi-perspective analysis has been performed on the STELLA output.
Findings
The results and the methodology can be easily applicable in practice to support decision-making process and to answer “what-if” type scenario analysis on systems design and configuration. Using the selected complexity metrics, complexity of the system considering time factor – static and dynamic – and different information levels – system, perceived and value adding – has been evaluated. Used complexity metrics indicate the problematic areas in the systems to be distinguished.
Originality/value
This paper uses system dynamics modeling in retail supply chains to derive insight about dynamic behavior and to represent the complex interactions and a new classification scheme for system complexity.
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Esra Ekinci and Adil Baykasoglu
The purpose of this paper is to describe the characteristics of complexity and how a retail supply chain can contain complexity in itself. A case has been provided to show the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the characteristics of complexity and how a retail supply chain can contain complexity in itself. A case has been provided to show the measurement of complexity with/without information sharing and the relation of complexity with the performance measures. Quantification of the complexity will help the practitioners to take strategic actions.
Design/methodology/approach
System dynamics simulation has been used to model the retail supply chain with and without information sharing and data visibility. Entropy-based metric used for quantification and comparison of complexity based on the outputs of the models. Performance measures proposed for the retail supply chains to understand the effect of data visibility.
Findings
Paper provides insight about the complexity of retail supply chain perspective. Using system dynamics modelling can be a useful way to perform what-if type analysis before business process changes. Including both complexity and performance measures can be useful to understand if the complexity is good or bad for the business and if it is in manageable amount.
Research limitations/implications
Paper can encourage the future research on retail supply chains.
Practical implications
Approach can be useful to analyse what-if type analysis in practice easily. It can support strategic decision making process.
Originality/value
Combines retail supply chain with complexity and performance measurement.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore employee participation in ownership and control in a modern corporation and its impacts on intra-organizational social capital and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore employee participation in ownership and control in a modern corporation and its impacts on intra-organizational social capital and workplace dynamics.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the National Bureau of Economic Research Shared Capitalism Survey, it explores the varieties of organizational governance and tests the effects of shared capitalist programs and policies via multivariate regression analyses.
Findings
It presents empirical support for the main working hypothesis that employee participation in ownership and control enhances worker trust for the firm, which in turn promotes commitment to performance and innovation at workplace.
Practical implications
The empirical findings here imply that scaling worker participation can enhance productivity potentials of a firm.
Originality/value
Above all, this paper takes a look at shared capitalism and workplace participation in decision making through the lens of social capital.
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