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In this paper, we assess the development of financial participation schemes, employee share ownership and profit-sharing in selected European countries and the degree to which they are correlated with strategic human resource management, and industrial relations, that is collective bargaining, unionization and works councils, and national context. This study adds a more dynamic perspective to the literature on the incidence of financial participation by using a longitudinal approach rarely found before. Our hypotheses are based on the theoretical frameworks of strategic human resource management (HRM), industrial relations and institutional approach. We use data drawn from the waves of the Cranet surveys on Human Resource Management: 1999/2000, 2005/06, 2010/11 and 2015/16. We find that both time and national location are important. The national context matters in particularly for profit-sharing and less for employee share ownership. For both forms of financial participation, the country regulative context is also more important than industrial relations factors and HRM strategies. In general, industrial relation factors gain importance over time and become more important than the HRM strategy for employee share ownership (ESO) but not for profit-sharing (PS). In general, over the whole period, commitment HRM is more important for the incidence of ESO and PS than control HRM, but the relative importance of these strategies varies per year.

Contains fulltext : 227908.pdf (Author’s version preprint ) (Open Access) Background Previous studies on the effects of providing feedback about quality improvement measures to nurses show mixed results and the factors explaining the variance in effects are not yet well-understood. One of the factors that could explain the variance in outcomes is how nurses perceive the feedback. It is not the feedback per se that influences nurses, and consequently their performance, but rather the way the feedback is perceived. Objectives This article aims to enhance our understanding of Human Resource attributions and employee engagement and burnout in a feedback environment. An in-depth study of nurses’ attributions about the ‘why’ of feedback on quality measurements, and its relation to engagement and burnout, was performed. Design and Methods A convergent mixed-methods, multiple case study design was used. Evidence was drawn from four comparable surgical wards within three teaching hospitals in the Netherlands that volunteered to participate in this study. Nurses on each ward were provided with oral and written feedback on quality measurements every two weeks, over a four month period. After this period, an online survey was distributed to all the nurses (n = 184) on the four participating wards. Data were collected from 91 nurses. Parallel to the survey, individual, semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with eight nurses and their ward manager in each ward, resulting in interview data from 32 nurses and four ward managers. Results Results show that nurses – both as a group and individually – make varying attributions about their managers’ purpose in providing feedback on quality measurements. The feedback environment is associated to nurses’ attributions and these attributions are related to nurses’ burnout. Conclusions By showing that feedback on quality measurements can be attributed differently by nurses and that the feedback environment plays a role in this, the study provides an interesting mechanism for explaining how feedback is related to performance. Implications for theory, practice and future research are discussed. 30 januari 2001

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain how and why HR practitioners perceive the need to develop international HRM practices to support short-term assignments, international business travel and virtual assignments for internationally operating organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe authors interviewed 29 HR practitioners from multinationals located in the Netherlands.FindingsAlternative international assignments seem not to belong to the traditional expatriate jobs, nor to regular domestic jobs and show a liminal character. However, over the last few years we have gradually seen a more mature classification of the Short-term Assignment, International Business Traveler and Virtual Assignment categories and more active use of these categories in policymaking by organizations; this reflects a transition of these three categories from a liminal position to a more institutionalized position.Research limitations/implicationsFor this research, only international HRM practitioners were interviewed. Future studies should include a broader group of stakeholders.Practical implicationsInternational HRM departments should take a more proactive role regarding alternative forms of international assignees. Furthermore, HR professionals may develop training and coaching and consider rewards and benefits that could provide allowances for specific working conditions that are part of international work.Originality/valueThis study is among the first to relate the framework of institutional logic and liminality to explain the why of HR support for alternative international assignees.

Ziekenhuizen gebruiken in toenemende mate feedback over kwaliteitsindicatoren als instrument om de zorgkwaliteit te verbeteren. De onderliggende aanname is dat feedback over kwaliteitsindicatoren aan verpleegkundigen hen in staat stelt om hun eigen (manier van) werk(en) te beoordelen en aan te passen. Echter, een sterke focus op enkel kwantitatief meetbare kwaliteitsindicatoren kan ook een vervreemdend en demotiverend effect hebben. In deze studie onderzoeken we op basis van een voor- en nameting bij vier ziekenhuisafdelingen (N = 77) op welke manier de implementatie van frequente feedback bijdraagt aan het welzijn van de verpleegkundigen en de zorgkwaliteit. Op basis van attributietheorie, de feedbackomgeving en het Job Demands-Resources model laten we zien dat feedback over kwaliteitsindicatoren niet meteen leidde tot een verbetering van het welzijn en de zorgkwaliteit. De manier waarop de verpleegkundigen de feedback attribueren, de context waarbinnen de feedback wordt gegeven en de mate waarin de feedback als extra belasting (job demand) wordt ervaren, blijken wel van invloed op het welzijn en de zorgkwaliteit. Dat betekent dat het van belang is om feedback op een positieve manier in te zetten ter verbetering van het welzijn van verpleegkundigen en de zorgkwaliteit.

Contains fulltext : 166168.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) This study investigates how nation-level cultural values (‘individualism’ and ‘collectivism’) and intra-organizational task control mechanisms influence the level of organizations’ use of formal telework practices. Employing a multi-level analysis on survey data (2009/10), including 1577 organizations within 18 nations, we found that ‘high use of formal telework practices in organizations’ was more likely when: (1) organizations operated in nations characterized by strong national values; and when they employed (2) ‘hard’ indirect controls (i.e. individual performance-related pay and 360º performance-evaluations). High telework use was less likely when organizations employed direct controls (i.e. higher proportions of managers) and ‘soft’ indirect controls (i.e. higher proportions of professionals). ‘Low use of formal telework practices’ was more likely when organizations employed ‘soft’ indirect controls. Our findings suggest that national cultural values can function as ‘soft’ indirect controls to mitigate the ‘telework risk’ of high levels of telework practices. Internal ‘soft’ task controls only sufficed for managing low levels of telework practices. We discuss the smart and dark sides of telework and how these relate to the management of telework practice. Implications for future telework research and practices are discussed.

Taking an international comparative approach, this chapter investigates the variance in the adoption of employee share ownership and stock option arrangements across countries. In particular, we investigate the influence of multinational enterprises (MNEs), industrial relations factors, HRM strategies, and market economies on the adoption and spread of the arrangements across countries. We find that industrial relations factors do not explain the variance in adoption by companies in their respective countries. MNEs and HRM strategies are important drivers of adoption. Market economy does not moderate the influence of MNEs on adoption, suggesting that MNEs universally apply the arrangements across borders.

This chapter investigates the differences in share-plan participation among various employee groups and why these differences exist. For strategic and tactical reasons, inequality may result from an employer’s choice to distinguish among groups when allocating or offering shares. Differences among groups are also based on employee preferences. In addition, differences may be caused by social stratification, which limits access to plans for certain groups. Using these three perspectives, this study found important demographic differences in participation and received benefits. The study revealed that employers tend to focus on high-level personnel. It also found that employees may differ in how knowledgeable they are regarding share plans and how they value the usefulness of participating in share schemes.

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.

This study explores patterns of human resource management (HRM) practices across market economies, and between indigenous firms and foreign MNE subsidiary operations, offering a novel perspective on convergence and divergence. Applying institutional theorizing to improve our understanding of convergence/divergence as a process and an outcome, data collected from nine countries at three points in time over a decade confirm that convergence and divergence occur to different extents in a nonlinear fashion, and vary depending on the area of HRM practice observed. Patterns of adoption and convergence/divergence are explained through the effect of institutional constraints, which vary between liberal and coordinated market economies, and between indigenous firms and foreign MNE subsidiaries. Specifically, we expected, and largely found supporting evidence confirming that compensation and wage-bargaining level practices show more evidence of being institutionally constrained, and hence were less likely to converge, than contingent employment, training, and direct information provision practices. The study contributes a more graded conceptualization of convergence/divergence (from constant no difference, through robust convergence, non-robust convergence, non-robust divergence, and robust divergence to constant difference), allowing us to tease out the subtle manifestations of the process that can incorporate the complex dynamic reality of international business.

Contains fulltext : 148914.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Contains fulltext : 148914_pre.pdf (Author’s version preprint ) (Open Access) This study investigates the relationship between broad-based financial participation plans (which target all employees) and financial performance, using a panel dataset of listed, companies (excluding financial institutions) during the period 1992–2009, comprising 2,153 observations. We make a distinction between broad-based profit sharing, share and stock option plans. The panel data allow us to take into account time-lag effects, as profit sharing is usually said to have short-term effects, while share plans and stock options and are intended to have longer term impact. Our results show that broad-based profit sharing and share plans and combinations of these plans are positively related with financial performance when compared with companies without such plans. However, the results are inconsistent for the associations between broad-based stock option plans and financial performance in the longer term. These findings extend the literature on financial participation plans by including different forms of broad-based financial participation and showing that the different forms affect companies’ financial performance differently. Our results also support earlier reports in the literature, which suggest that there are important synergies between broad-based profit-sharing and share plans, in terms of a better combination of intrinsic ownership behaviors and extrinsic motivation of employees as well as a stronger focus on collective interest and performance when compared with single plans. 21 december 2014 26 p.

This article investigates the relationships between human resource management practices associated with New Ways to Work (employee empowerment, home-based teleworking, and creating trust relationships) and work-related flow as experienced by employees (absorption, work enjoyment, and intrinsic work motivation). Hypotheses, based on a combined perspective integrating insights from the HRM-process model and the job demands-resources model, are tested using multiactor multilevel data comprising employees (N = 1,017) and their line managers (N = 89), across 89 job categories in 30 organizations. Although organizations may implement management practices aimed at empowering employees in particular job categories, this study showed that anticipated effects on work-related flow (particularly work enjoyment) are not achieved when employees themselves do not experience being empowered, and when they do not use and experience their working conditions as job resources (home-based teleworking and trust relationships characterized by supporting leadership, collegial support, and collegial commitment). The article concludes with recommendations regarding organizational change aimed at implementing New Ways to Work and suggestions for future research

Using Dutch data, we examine the characteristics of establishments that operate performance appraisal systems. Our estimates provide a couple of interesting results: (1) Several indicators of multitasking are positively associated with the use of performance appraisal systems. There is also a positive relationship between teamwork and performance appraisal. (2) While a shared corporate culture, the sharing of information and a professional personnel management emerge as positive determinants, unions appear to play a negative role. (3) Employers fostering career development and promotion opportunities make greater use of performance appraisal. (4) Public sector affiliation, establishment size and establishment age also play a role.

Contains fulltext : 175504.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) BACKGROUND: Providing nursing teams with feedback on quality measurements is used as a quality improvement instrument in healthcare organizations worldwide. Previous research indicated contradictory results regarding the effect of such feedback on both nurses' well-being and performance. OBJECTIVES: Building on the Job Demands-Resources model this study explores: (1) whether and how nurses' perceptions of feedback on quality measurements (as a burdening job demand or rather as an intrinsically or extrinsically motivating job resource) are respectively related to nurses' well-being and performance; and (2) whether and how team reflection influences nurses' perceptions. DESIGN: An embedded case study. SETTINGS: Four surgical wards within three different acute teaching-hospital settings in the Netherlands. METHODS: During a period of four months, the nurses on each ward were provided with similar feedback on quality measurements. After this period, interviews with eight nurses and the ward manager for each ward were conducted. Additionally, observational data were collected from three oral feedback moments on each of the participating wards. RESULTS: The data revealed that individual nurses perceive the same feedback on quality measurements differently, leading to different effects on nurses' well-being and performance: 1) feedback can be perceived as a job demand that pressures nurses to improve the results on the quality measurements; 2) feedback can be perceived as an extrinsically motivating job resource, that is instrumental to improve the results on quality measurements; 3) feedback can be perceived as an intrinsically motivating job resource that stimulates nurses to improve the results on the quality measurements; and 4) feedback can be perceived neither as a job demand, nor as a job resource, and has no effect on nurses' well-being and performance. Additionally, this study indicates that team reflection after feedback seems to be very low in practice, while our data also provides evidence that nursing teams using the feedback to jointly reflect and analyse their performance and strategies will be able to better translate information about quality measurements into corrective behaviours, which may result in more positive perceptions of feedback on quality measurements among individual nurses. CONCLUSIONS: To better understand the impact of feedback to nursing teams on quality measurements, we should take nurses' individual perceptions of this feedback into account. Supporting nursing teams in team reflection after them having received feedback on quality measurements may help in eliciting positive perceptions among nurses, and therewith create positive effects of feedback on both their well-being and performance.

Vergeleken met een aantal concurrerende economieen komt werknemersaandelenbezit in Nederland nog relatief weinig voor. Wel lijkt het fenomeen aan een opmars bezig. Het kan dan ook een positieve rol vervullen te midden van een aantal actuele ontwikkelingen (bijvoorbeeld de (on)gelijke verdeling van vermogen, de toenemende robotisering en de toenemende flexibilisering van de arbeidsrelatie). Er is ook een bedrijfslogica voor de implementatie van een aandelenregeling voor werknemers. Desalniettemin bezien de sociale partners het fenomeen werknemersaandelenbezit nog niet als zodanig. Vroeger of later zal het besef doordringen dat financiele participatie en vormen van directe en indirecte participatie elkaar versterken. Fiscale stimulering kan het vliegwiel helpen aanzwengelen.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer a timely assessment of the influence of human resource (HR) processes and policies on expatriates’ employability, using a Dutch international engineering firm as the study setting. Design/methodology/approach The qualitative study, based on in-depth interviews with 15 respondents in various roles, such as expatriates, repatriates, HR managers and line managers, is complemented by a document analysis of HR policy reports about expatriation processes. Findings Expatriation management influences the internal employability of engineering expatriates, yet most HR policies related to expatriation work are counterproductive in terms of in-company employability of expatriates. Research limitations/implications Further research could extend this single case study by differentiating engineering from management functions and addressing employability implications for other assignments and other forms of expatriation. Comparisons are also possible across various stakeholders with regard to social support. Practical implications HR management can follow several prescriptions revealed by this study to increase expatriates’ employability within the organization. Originality/value This study is among the first to relate expatriation processes to the dimensions of employability.

This special issue aims to bring together contributions that take a dynamic approach to the development of financial participation, employee share ownership and profit sharing. The approach is premised on the notion that companies have ‘space’ to take a set of key decisions about financial participation. From different angles and experiences in different corners of the world, all contributions show that institutional pressures may be coupled with responses of different actors shaping the form and use of financial participation. The special issue also highlights the importance of future multilevel and mixed methods research to take into account the different institutional forces as well as actors decisions on different levels in shaping the form and use of financial participation.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose an “extended conceptualization of the business case” including both organizational characteristics and institutional conditions to analyse employer involvement in extra statutory childcare and leave arrangements. Special attention is given to Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries.Design/methodology/approachThe (multi‐level) multinomial regression analyses included company‐level data on human‐resource practices of 2,865 firms nested in 19 countries, representing all European welfare state regimes.FindingsThe extended business case appeared fruitful in order to explain variations in employer involvement. Particularly, state support was found to be negatively related to employer involvement. In the liberal regime, employer involvement was high, but variations across organizations were significant. In CEE‐countries, employer involvement was lowest, and did not vary by organizational business‐case factors.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper used data from a cross‐sectional survey. To capture the long‐term trends, dynamics and nuances in employer involvement within and across various institutional contexts, a longitudinal in depth study is needed.Practical implicationsWhile state support in many CEE countries is declining, the analyses showed that employers will not automatically step in by providing additional work‐family arrangements. Social partners could use institutional pressure to stimulate a balance between state support and employer involvement.Originality/valueThe extended business‐case perspective contributes to the theory on the institutional embeddedness of decision making of employers. Moreover, it adds to the knowledge on employer involvement in institutional contexts which have hardly been studied before.

PurposeThis paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the concept of “global management competencies”.Design/methodology/approachAn extensive review of most of the relevant literature on global management competencies was done. By investigating four constructs, i.e. the global mindset, cross‐cultural competence, intercultural sensitivity and cultural intelligence, all related to “global management competencies” the authors made an in‐depth investigation of the contributing organizational behaviour components, the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other personality characteristics (the KSAOs), useful for a construct of global management competencies.FindingsA configuration of the above components as an integrative model was developed. This model could serve as the basis for the development of measurement instruments.Originality/valueThe construct of global management competencies, albeit with different labels and in different disguise, has received a lot of attention in the last two decades but has not been conceptualised satisfactorily. This article is an attempt to do so.

Contains fulltext : 68598.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) The impact of institutionalized contexts on the HRM activities of multinational firms has become a focus of increasing attention in recent literature. However, theories of how different types of business systems or market economies may influence HRM, and the impact of context on multinational corporations (MNCs) operating under these different conditions are still not fully tested. In this paper the influence of the extent of institutional embeddedness of different national contexts (based on varieties of capitalism theory) on the HRM activities of MNCs is explored through the use of extensive survey data from four countries: the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. Evidence is found of differences in HRM practices between foreign- and domestic-owned MNCs, as well as between MNCs and domestic organizations. Although less than expected, the restricted amount of leeway within a coordinated economy also appears to have differential effects on the various HRM practices explored in these foreign and domestic organizations. 15 p.

PurposeThis paper sets out to present a detailed empirical investigation of the entrepreneurial intentions of business students. The authors employ the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), in which intentions are regarded as resulting from attitudes, perceived behavioural control, and subjective norms.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology used was a replication study among samples of undergraduate students of business administration at four different universities (totaln=1,225). Five operationalisations of intentions are used as well as a composite measure. Prior to the main study, qualitative research conducted at two other universities (totaln=373) was held to operationalise the components of the TPB.FindingsThe results show that the two most important variables to explain entrepreneurial intentions are entrepreneurial alertness and the importance attached to financial security.Research limitations/implicationsVarious research design features are used that result in better and more detailed explanations of entrepreneurial intentions.Practical implicationsShould one want to stimulate entrepreneurship in educational or training settings, then this paper's results provide guidance. Several suggestions are offered on how entrepreneurial alertness can be improved and financial security concerns can be reduced.Originality/valueThe study provides detailed and solid results on entrepreneurial intentions which are positioned in the career literature.

Contains fulltext : 175505.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) AIM: This contribution develops a conceptual framework that illustrates how feedback on quality measurements to nursing teams can be related to nurses' well-being and quality improvement. BACKGROUND: It is assumed that providing nursing teams with feedback on quality measurements will lead to quality improvement. Research does not fully support this assumption. Additionally, previous empirical work shows that feedback on quality measurements may have alienating and demotivating effects on nurses. EVALUATION: This article uniquely integrates scholarly literature on feedback provision and strategic human resource management. KEY ISSUE: The relationship between feedback provision, nurses' well-being and quality improvement remains unclear from research until now. CONCLUSION: Three perspectives are discussed that illustrate that feedback provision can result in quality improvement at the expense of or for the benefit of nurses' well-being. To better understand these contradictory effects, research should examine nurses' perceptions of feedback as mediating variables, while incorporating context factors as moderating variables. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nursing management can use feedback on quality measurements to nursing teams, as a tool for enhanced quality and as a motivating tool. However, nurses' perceptions and contextual variables are important for the actual success of feedback.

Contains fulltext : 148925.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) This article compares the spread of broad-based individual performance-related pay practices (PRP) in Central and Eastern European (CEE) and Western European companies. The article investigates the dominance effect of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the constraining effects of industrial relations, i.e. collective bargaining and union influence. A key finding is that we did not find stronger influence by US MNEs compared with other MNEs. Regarding the determinants of industrial relations, in general decentralised firm-level bargaining supports the adoption of PRP schemes, whereas a greater degree of unionisation tends to reduce it. However, the latter effect is not found in CEE countries with their more permissive industrial relations system. The fact that there are high levels of broad-based individual PRP in CEE, that there is no negative association with unionisation and a positive relationship with firm-level bargaining and no effect of MNEs suggests that this practice is well established in firms in CEE. 17 februari 2015 26 p.

This article explores the relationships between financial participation and other forms of participation drawing on data collected from listed companies in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. The authors provide evidence on two questions. First, does the presence of either direct or indirect participation predict the use of profit sharing and employee equity plans? Second, to what extent is employee participation in profit sharing and equity plans influenced by the presence of other forms of participation? Overall, the results provide little evidence of complementarity between financial participation and other forms of participation. There are also clear differences between types of financial participation. It is found that indirect participation has a weak relationship with use of profit sharing and participation in profit sharing plans. Direct participation is not associated with the use of equity plans or profit sharing but with participation in stock acquisition plans. Employee participation in plan design is strongly associated with participation in profit sharing and stock acquisition plans but not stock options.

The aim of this paper is to trace and explain variations in calculative and collaborative human resource management (HRM) practices between companies and across national borders. Variations and similarities are explained in terms of the convergence and divergence of HRM practices determined by national institutions, and the increasing influence of multinational companies (MNCs). We explore the diffusion of HRM practices in Europe over time, using data sets from two surveys conducted in several European countries in 1995 and 2000. We use institutional explanations for the development of three selected bundles of HRM practices: individual, calculative performance-oriented practices; collective incentive schemes for the alignment of interests; and collaborative practices that seek to enhance the commitment of employees. We found substantial effects of country-specific institutions and of the country of origin of MNCs, which clearly support the institutional duality thesis. Foreign-owned MNCs, especially those that are US-based, appear to moderate country-specific institutional effects on the diffusion of the three HRM bundles.

This article embeds employee ownership within a strategic human resource management (SHRM) framework, and in so doing, aims to redress in part a lack of attention in previous employee ownership and SHRM literatures. The study extends the configurational approach to SHRM to include the construct of the workforce philosophy as the factor that determines the coherence of HRM systems. Companies that have employee ownership as a central element and core HRM practice should do two things in order to ensure that their HRM system is coherent and potentially a high-performance work system (HPWS). First, these firms should propagate the idea that employees deserve to be co-owners and take employees seriously as such. Second, the HRM system should reflect this workforce philosophy: the HRM system should contain HRM practices that mirror the rights that make up the very construct of ‘ownership’. The core HRM practices of the ‘ownership-HPWS’, in addition to employee ownership, are: participation in decision-making, profit sharing, information sharing, training for business literacy and mediation.

Contains fulltext : 46629.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) 14 p.

7th Eur IIRA Conf.: Study Group HRM: The relationship betwee HRM and Organisational and Employee Performance, 7 september 2004

The debate on convergence and globalisation of national economies emphasises the role of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) with regard to the export of homecountry policies in countries where they have their plants. MNCs set a process of change in motion in which local companies attempt to catch up with the more internationalised companies, particularly those from the Anglo-Saxon world. This process is called Anglo-Saxonisation. In this paper we focus on share (option) schemes. Analysing a European survey of HRM practices in workplaces in selected countries, we can trace a US-MNCs effect in the case of the narrow-based executive type of share (option) schemes in continental Europe. We can also trace a minor effect in the case of broad-based schemes open to all employees. The diversity we find in predictors between countries and the strong significant effects of country suggest that local corporate and institutional factors are more important in the case of broad-based share schemes than in the case of the narrow, executive type of share schemes.

The idea to offer employees the opportunity to participate financially in their companies has enjoyed a considerable renaissance during the last decade. Pivotal for this renewed attention have without doubt been respective initiatives by the European Union, but also measures taken on the national level like, for instance, tax incentives for employee capital participation models in Germany. First and foremost, however, financial participation was welcomed in various quarters as a powerful instrument to overcome the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009.The "great debates" for and against financial participation -which, from a history of thought perspective, can be traced back to the central ideas of reform movements of the 19th century, accompanied the ascend of capitalism, which are highlighted again after World War II, while opening the scope for new forms of self-government in companies - have long given way to a sober, more pragmatic view of the functioning of different participation models and the boundary conditions under which they are operated. Today, attention is devoted in the first place to the differences between the models that have evolved on the national level, regarding both the institutional framework as set by the state as well as the positions different agents assume in the field of labour relations. Do conflict partners regard employee participation as an appropriate instrument to reconcile both economic progress and social justice?Against this backdrop we organised the "spring seminar" at the Inter-UniversityCenter Dubrovnik in 2012. Aim was to investigate different approaches to participation that are in place in different countries, to discuss the characteristics of different forms of public sponsorship and the stance employers and unions take with regard to financial participation, and to present case studies which address the level of the firm. The contributions made in the seminar were subsequently discussed and refined, for instance on a follow-up conference in Hamburg (Fietze & Matiaske, 2016).The contributions compiled in this special issue have in common that they deal with the phenomenon of financial participation from an empirical perspective while putting specific theoretical details and methodological aspects into the limelight. Country-focus is on Germany where, during the debates surrounding the taxation of capital participation, the unions' perception of financial participation evolved considerably. We hope that the research presented in this special issue is not only informative but also inspires the reader both theoretically and methodologically. …

This paper uses a substantial international database to provide the widest and the most detailed analysis to date of financial participation across Europe. It explores the antecedents of broad-based share ownership and profit sharing schemes. It is found that country effects are important predictors of both profit sharing and share ownership schemes. Share ownership schemes are also associated with company size, stock market listing and some measures of HRM 'sophistication'. Employee participation and representation have weak relationships with financial participation.

This article presents an overview of participation schemes in European companies. It is based on a secondary analysis of data from the 1996 EPOC mail survey among managers of profit sector establishments in 10 EU countries. The article describes the diverse extent and nature of participative workplaces in European countries. It analyses the inter relationships between several forms of participation schemes and indicators for the participative nature of the workplace: schemes for direct participation (DP) of employees, i.e. group consultation and individual and group delegation; schemes for financial participation (FP), i.e. employee ownership and profit sharing; and the arrangements for indirect, employee representative participation (ER). Based on a multivariate analysis of the intensity of the participation schemes, a profile of participative workplaces is presented. To categorize these workplaces, we focused on country factors, management practices and workplace characteristics.

This article examines the incidence of financial participation across the European Union at the end of the 1990s. The main findings are that the incidence of both profit-sharing and share ownership differ considerably across member states and that this correlates broadly with the extent of differences in legislative and fiscal support for them. Other factors, such as domestic ownership, stock market listing, size (in the case of share ownership) and workforce composition, are also important. On the whole clear or strong relationships between union density and financial participation were not identified.

The main objective of this contribution is to provide an account of the development during the 1990s of what has been called PEPPER. PEPPER is an acronym used by the European Commission that stands for Promotion of Employee Participation in Profit and Enterprise Results (including equity). This paper is based on a review of available international research and publications and interviews with country-experts. It makes an attempt to present a systematic overview of existing forms of employee financial participation and the preconditions for its existence. Special attention is given to the policies of governments of the EU Member States and the views of social partners that support or hinder the development of financial participation in Europe.

This chapter broadens our understanding of the added value of employee financial participation. Financial participation is a generic term for the participation of employees in profit and enterprise results including equity of their employing firm. In general, there are two forms of employee financial participation: profit-sharing and employee share ownership (including options). While profit sharing is considered as an incentive for employees with positive individual and organizational level outcomes, employee share ownership adds to that a share holding element where employees may consider themselves as co-owners of the firm, including the possibility of voice and control. In this chapter we review the current literature on the impact of financial participation and show that in most cases the literature shows positive effects on outcomes. However, the literature also shows that financial participation is not a HR instrument that produces the results mainly in a generic way, but that the best results can be achieved when embedded in a configuration of HR policies and practices, which we call ‘high performance ownership system’.

Increasingly, hospitals use the data from their quality measurement activities, as feedback information for their nurses. It is argued that feedback on quality measurements can result in quality improvement at the expense of or for the benefit of nurses' well-being. The proposed relationship is assumed to be mediated by (1) nurses' attribution about management's purpose in providing feedback, and (2) nurses' perception of feedback as a job demand versus a job resource. This contribution describes the development and validation of an instrument to measure these constructs, based on research on HR attributions (Nishii et al., 2008) and the Job Demands-Resources model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). The measure has been discussed with several experts and practitioners, and pilot-tested among 55 nurses. Our pilot study reveals promising results regarding the content, construct and predictive validity of our measure.

Contains fulltext : 127384.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Cultural intelligence (CQ) is an important construct attracting growing attention in academic literature and describing cross-cultural competencies. To date, researchers have only partially tested the relationship between CQ and its dependent variables, such as performance. In this study, the relationship between CQ and communication effectiveness and job satisfaction is measured in a sample of 225 Chinese managers working for foreign multinational enterprises in China. The results show that CQ plays an important role in reducing anxiety and influencing both communication effectiveness and job satisfaction positively. Another outcome is the unexpected influence of anxiety on job satisfaction but not on communication effectiveness. These findings contribute to the development of theory with regard to the CQ construct. 10 januari 2014 20 p.

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.

Employee share ownership involves employees acquiring shares in their employer so that they become shareholders. It takes a variety of forms, some of which may have greater significance and effects than others. The extent to which employees possess profit sharing, information, and participation rights varies considerably. This variety means that generalizations about employee share ownership have to be made with caution, as becomes evident in this article. The article provides more details of the various types of employee share ownership plans, before providing information on the incidence of employee share ownership. It examines the factors associated with the use of employee share ownership plans by companies (‘determinants’). The article also reviews the extensive literature on the effects of employee share ownership on attitudes, behaviour, and performance.

PurposeThis paper aims to introduce the theme of the special issue – diversity management beyond the business case. It addresses two main questions: first, how increased diversification within workgroups or labour is dealt with via diversity management, and second what the effects are of this increased diversity for group performance.Design/methodology/approachThe different contributions are embedded into two important discussions in the literature: problems with the concept of diversity and problems with outcomes of diversity management.FindingsReflecting on the contributions to this special issue, it is argued that solely emphasizing business case arguments for supporting the implementation of diversity management may be rather risky. They conclude with a plea for emphasis on arguments of justice and sustainability of the employment relationship and discuss future avenues for research.Originality/valueThe paper shows the difficulty of universally applying the concept of diversity and diversity management. In addition, it shows that the claimed positive impact of diversity management is contingent on several factors.

Managers and employees need global leadership competencies in order to operate effectively in international business. In order to prepare both managers and employees for operating in the global arena an instrument measuring global leadership competencies would be very useful. In this article we design a framework for systematically assessing measurement instruments designed to measure Global Management Competencies (GMC). Based on an elaborate search, we found 23 instruments of varying quality, that measure GMC, with a special focus on measuring ways of coping with cultural diversity. These instruments mostly involve self-reporting survey questions only, often measuring attitudes, without referring to actual behaviour in cross-cultural interaction. Using the assessment framework we selected a limited number of instruments that may be useful for assessing global management competencies.