Employee share ownership and performance: golden path or golden handcuffs?

Using matched employer-employee data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey, it is suggested that the presence of employee share ownership at a workplace is not significantly associated with employee commitment to the organization. There is evidence of a significant negative relationship between share ownership and workplace turnover, which explains part of the positive share ownership/performance relationship. This calls into question the postulate that share ownership has its main impact upon performance via the closer alignment of employees' and employers' values and interests – the golden path – rather than the lowering of employee turnover – the golden handcuffs.     

Using tracking technology to improve marketing: insights from a historic town in Tasmania,Australia

ABSTRACT

This study examines the movement patterns of different market segments in an historic town. It combines traditional visitor surveys with a bespoke tourist tracking application. Two analytical stages were undertaken. The first involved analyzing the movements of tourist segments and revealed that “heritage” tourists tended to visit for the shortest lengths of time. The second phase revealed that a visit of between one and two hours seemed to provide the best opportunity to explore the village fully, while shorter and longer stays did not. The insights challenge traditional notions that heritage-oriented tourists should form the target market for historic communities.     

Hypothetical extractions from a global perspective

ABSTRACT

The hypothetical extraction method (HEM) has been widely used to measure interindustry linkages and the importance of industries. HEM considers the hypothetical situation in which a certain industry is no longer operational. HEM was developed for national economies, using national input–output tables. When performing HEM, it is assumed (often implicitly) that the input requirements that were originally provided by the extracted industry are met by additional imports in the post-extraction situation. Applying HEM to global multiregional input–output tables then causes serious problems. It is no longer sufficient to assume that the required inputs are imported. Instead, it is necessary to indicate explicitly how much is imported from each origin to replace the original inputs. Our adaptation of HEM is the global extraction method (GEM). As an illustration, GEM is applied to the extraction of the motor vehicle industry in China, the US, and Germany, using the 2014 WIOD input–output table.     

Reviews

“URBAN ECONOMIC CHANGE” Victor A. Hausner and members of the ESRC Inner Cities Research Programme, 1987: Urban Economic Change: Five City Studies. Clarendon Press, Oxford, £25.00.

“ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY” Robinson, F., Wren, C. and Goddard, J., 1987: Economic Development Policies-An Evaluative Study of the Newcastle Metropolitan Region. Oxford: Clarendon Press, £8.95 paper.

'URBAN REGENERATION ISSUES” London Strategic Policy Unit, 1987: Land for Industry: The need for industrial land in London until 1990. London: LSPU, no price stated.

Department of the Environment, 1987: Re-using Redundant Buildings: Case Studies of Good Practice in Urban Regeneration. HMSO £11.95.

Department of the Environment, 1987: Managing Workspaces: Case Studies of Good Practice in Urban Regeneration. HMSO £11.95.

Department of the Environment, 1987: Greening Crty Sites: Case Studies in Good Practice in Urban Re-generation. HMSO £11.95.

“VIEWS FROM THE DISTRICTS” Association of District Councils, 1987: A Blueprint for Urban Areas, Volumes 1 and 2. London: £12.00.

Association of District Councils, 1987: Economic Development Initiatives and Innovations: Best Practice Paper No. 6 (Revised). London: £4.00.     

A Final Appraisal of ‘Bridlington’? An Evaluation of TUC Disputes Committee Decisions 1974–1991

Abstract : This paper reviews decisions of TUC Disputes Committees from 1974 to 1991. It considers whether the rather different conclusions of studies of earlier periods are still valid and assesses the effectiveness of 'Bridlington' in resolving disputes over new issues, in particular 'single-union deals'. It concludes that there is still a role for a voluntary disputes resolution mechanism of this kind, although recent experience has shown that it has its [imitations. TUC-affiliated unions will therefore lose a useful mechanism for promoting the efficient use of their resources if the 1993 change in the law leads to Bridlington being abandoned.     

Reviews

“REDUNDANCY AND RECESSION” Danson, M. (editor) 1986: Redundancy and Recession: Restructuring the Regions? Norwich: Geobooks £25.00.

“BUSINESS FINANCE” International Management Centre, Buckingham for the Local Government Training Board 1986: Business Finance for Economic Development Officers. LGTB/Coventry Open Tech Unit. £48.50.

“NEW FIRMS” Johnson, P. 1987: New Firms, An Economic Perspective, London: Allen and Unwin £20.00.     

When teams can't decide. Are stalemates on your leadership team making you a dictator by default? Stop blaming your people--start fixing the process

Leadership teams that can't reach consensus wait for the CEO to make the final call--and often are disappointed by the outcome. Frisch calls this phenomenon the dictator-by-default syndrome. Many companies turn to team-building and communication exercises to try to fix the situation. But that won't work, the author argues, because the trouble is not with the people, it's with the decision-making process. Attempting to arrive at a collective preference on the basis of individual opinions is inherently problematic. Once leadership teams realize that voting-system mathematics are the culprit, they can stop wasting time on irrelevant psychological exercises and instead adopt practical measures designed to break the impasse. They must begin by acknowledging the problem and understanding what causes it. When more than two options are on the table, the scene is set for the CEO to become a dictator by default. Even yes-or-no choices present difficulties, because they always include a third, implied alternative: "Neither of the above." When the CEO and the team understand why they have trouble making decisions, they can adopt the following tactics to minimize dysfunction: Clearly articulate the desired outcome, generate a range of options for achieving it, test "fences" (which can be moved) and "walls" (which cannot), surface preferences early, state each option's pros and cons, and devise new options that preserve the best features of existing ones, Teams using such tactics need to adhere to two ground rules. First, they must deliberate confidentially, because a secure climate for conversation allows members to float trial balloons and cut deals. And second, members must be given enough time to study their options and assess the counterarguments. Only then can they achieve genuine alignment.