Arthur Hochner

Sources of Motivation to Choose Employee Ownership as An Alternative to Job Loss

Survey data from 943 supermarket-chain employees facing a shutdown indicated that those inclined toward employee ownership held stronger entrepreneurial and collective attitudes than other employee...

Are Women Interested in Saving Their Jobs Through Employee-Ownership?

This report compares sex differences in motivation to pledge money to become an employee-owner among 943 men and women workers faced with an area-wide shutdown of supermarkets. Women and men were equally likely to desire employee-ownership, but some differences exist in factors related to their decision. Among women, support for the union contract and entrepreneurial ideals was related to desire for employee-ownership, and having insufficient income was the most important barrier. Among men, entrepreneurial ideals, risk taking and collective ideals were important predictors of pledging while protecting seniority benefits was the most important detractor.

Worker Ownership, Community Ownership, and Labor Unions: Two Examples

What role do or should US unions play in democratic or worker-owned enterprises? The three major types of US industrial democrats-those favoring collective bargaining, those favoring nonunion, management-run participation, and those favoring setting up alternative organizations-disagree and/or are hostile to each other on this question. This study presents two cases: (1) a set of long-unionized worker-owned companies; and (2) a community-owned economic development organization with unionized workers and union representatives on its board of directors. Qualitative observational and interview data are combined with statistical analysis of attitudinal data. The findings indicate that union presence is problematic for itself and the enterprise. Moreover, the union tends to play a traditional conservative role, emphasizing protection of workers from management abuses, which stem from the imperfect nature of worker/community ownership arrangements and the imperfect nature of democratic management.

Antecedents of Emergency Medical Service High-Risk Behaviors: Drinking and Not Wearing a Seat Belt

A repeat-respondent complete sample of 345 Emergency Medical Service (EMS) professionals was used to investigate demographic, situational, and work attitude antecedents of two risk behaviors: drinking and not wearing a seat belt. Reliable scales were used for measuring each behavior. Significant results included drinking was associated with being male and single, whereas being male resulted in lower seat belt use. Greater work absences in the past year and lower normative occupational commitment were associated with higher drinking, whereas lower job satisfaction and perceived limited occupational alternatives were associated with not wearing ones seat belt. Limitations and future research issues are discussed.

Perceived learning and timely graduation for business undergraduates taking an online or hybrid course

ABSTRACT An online survey tested the impact of background, technological, and course-related variables on perceived learning and timely graduation for a complete data sample of 263 business undergraduates taking at least one online or hybrid course in the fall of 2015. Hierarchical regression results showed that course-related variables (instructor effectiveness, student motivation) were the most effective in explaining perceived learning, while perceived learning accounted for additional significant variance in explaining timely graduation.

Book Review: International and Comparative Industrial Relations: Workplace Democracy and Social ChangeWorkplace Democracy and Social Change. Edited by LindenfeldFrank and Rothschild-WhittJoyce. Boston: Porter Sargent Publishers, 1982. vii, 447 pp.

Admitting that worker ownership may be only transitory, the argument continues that this is often a politically and economically necessary phase that may help the long-term adjustment of the workforce and the political economy. In other words, worker ownership may be an important stage in vital structural change in manufacturing areas. In this comparatively slim volume, Bradley and Gelb admirably accomplish their goals: