Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld

The Impact on Economic Performance of a Transformation in Workplace Relations

This study examines how a transformation in patterns of conflict and cooperation affected economic performance in 25 work areas of a large, unionized manufacturing facility in the period 1984–87. Unlike most studies of industrial relations and economic performance, this study clearly distinguishes conflict from cooperation but evaluates the two together, rather than focusing on only one. An analysis of data collected from union and employer records and interviews strongly suggests that work areas with “traditional” labor-management relations, rooted in adversarial assumptions, had higher costs, more scrap, lower productivity, and a lower return to direct labor hours worked than work areas with “transformational” relations, characterized by increased cooperation and improved dispute resolution.

Taking stock: Collective bargaining at the turn of the century

Examining data from two national surveys of matched pairs of union and management lead negotiators, the authors evaluate the current state of practice in labor relations and test several propositions related to the transformation of American industrial relations. They find that 30–40% of the parties reported that they had introduced negotiated, workplace-level innovations or engaged in strategic-level interactions—both important aspects of transformation. Also, nearly half of the parties reported experience with use of interest-based bargaining practices. At the same time, relatively few parties reported relationships that were improving, and views on the extent of change differed between labor and management. Thus, there is an identifiable path supporting the transformation process, but only a minority of bargaining relationships are moving down that path.

In Whose Interest? A First Look at National Survey Data on Interest-Based Bargaining in Labor Relations

The first national survey data on interest-based bargaining (IBB) in labor relations reveal broad awareness of IBB, contrasting union and management views, and variation by negotiator experience and gender. A majority of negotiators are aware of IBB, and approximately one-third of management negotiators and nearly one-half of union negotiators report using IBB in prior negotiations. An exploratory analysis of the relationships between IBB preferences and contract outcomes suggests that the process is producing more than a simple “mutual gains” pattern of outcomes. Based on these initial results, two hypotheses are suggested as the focus for future studies of the diffusion and sustainability of IBB in collective bargaining.

Examining structure and process in ESOP firms

Purpose – To examine the role of three employee‐owner attributes (i.e. the level of employee influence in decision making, the amount of Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) information given to employee‐owners, and the extent to which the ESOP design provides employee‐owners with equity possession) in predicting variance in managerial perceptions of ESOP firm performance.Design/methodology/approach – Survey responses from management at 61 ESOP firms in the United States are analyzed. Based upon the ESOP literature, “ownership” is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct consisting of rights to influence, information, and equity. This framework is the foundation for several hypotheses linking ownership attributes and firm performance.Findings – Utilizing hierarchical regression analysis, we found that employee influence in operational decisions and information sharing with employee‐owners has a positive impact on managerial perceptions of firm performance. Equity possession appears to be only signif...

Collective Bargaining in Small Firms: Preliminary Evidence of Fundamental Change

This analysis of 481 negotiations in Michigan over the period 1987–91 suggests that fundamental changes may have occurred recently in collective bargaining in small firms. Only 33% of the negotiations conformed to the traditional model of arms-length collective bargaining; the balance involved either highly contentious or highly cooperative relations. Further, in only one-sixth (17%) of the cases was the contract settled within one week before or after the contract expiration. Delays were more common and longer in negotiations in which settlements were implemented unilaterally by management over labors objections than in cases involving strikes. Concessions figured prominently in the majority of the negotiations in the sample, with a shift from wage to benefit concessions occurring during the period examined.

Using system dynamics for safety and risk management in complex engineering systems

This paper presents a new approach to modeling and analyzing organizational culture, particularly safety culture. We have been experimentally applying it to the NASA manned space program as part of our goal to create a powerful new approach to risk management in complex systems. We describe the approach and give sample results of its applications to understand the factors involved in the Columbia accident and to perform a risk analysis of the new Independent Technical Authority (ITA) structure for NASA, which was introduced to improve safety-related decision-making

Employee Stock Ownership Plans: Union Influence and Stakeholder Interests

This article extends understanding of how institutional factors influence the degree to which employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) are or are not democratically structured. It examines how factors such as union member participation, industry, age of the ESOP, ownership structure and firm size influence a range of ESOP attributes, including: level of employee ownership, stock allocations, vesting and voting practices and the extent of employee participation in administration and decision-making. Based on a survey of 68 ESOPs, we found that when bargaining unit workers participated in an ESOP, the plan tended to be more participative and egalitarian. By contrast, the other factors examined had relatively little impact. These findings have important implications for unions, managers and policy-makers around what form of ESOP to advance.

Getting it Right: Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications from Research on Public-Sector Unionism and Collective Bargaining

The United States is in the throes of a public-policy debate about public-sector unionism and collective bargaining. The ostensible trigger of this debate is the fiscal crises that state and local governments have been experiencing since 2008. The debate largely centers on the extent to which public employee unions have contributed to this crisis through the pay and benefits they have negotiated for public employees. The role of government as employer is connected in this debate to the role of government as a taxing authority and provider of public services. These roles are often claimed to be in conflict with one another — that is, governments as employers are seen as not exercising the same due diligence in setting pay and benefits as private-sector employers. The research evidence indicates, however, that these claims about public employment are based on incomplete and in some cases inaccurate understanding.