What do people think employee share ownership schemes do for them? A qualitative study of participants’ experiences in three UK share schemes

© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Research has produced mixed findings about the impact of participation in employee share ownership (ESO) schemes on employee attitudes and behaviours. Analyses of how participants themselves interpret ESO’s effects could contribute to both theory-building and empirical evidence, but have not, to date, been undertaken. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 37 participants in three tax-advantaged ESO schemes in nine companies within the United Kingdom. Employees tended to feel that ESO had not increased their motivation, commitment or performance because they were already exhibiting these at a high level, as any good employee should. Even where this occurred, there was little evidence that employees thought ESO had strong effects, with the exception of staying with the company long enough to get a financial payoff. For some, this payoff was far from certain to materialise. There was some evidence that ESO was perceived to lead to a greater general sense of inclusion and that feeling special (e.g. being selected to participate) enhanced the perceived effects of ESO. We highlight the important roles of expectancy and instrumentality (expectancy theory) and conclude that the employee experience of ESO reflects theory in some respects, but also offers new elements that theory may need to incorporate

Employee share ownership, psychological ownership, and work attitudes and behaviours: A phenomenological analysis

This study uses qualitative data to explore how employees perceive the relationships between employee share ownership (ESO) scheme participation, their attitudes and behaviours at work, and their feelings of psychological ownership (PO). We contribute to two areas of (largely quantitative) research literature. First, we advance understanding of PO by examining participants' explanations of how they feel their sense of PO is affected by participating in a company ESO scheme. Second, we examine the role of PO in employees' explanations of the attitudinal and behavioural changes they feel they have experienced as a consequence of participating in an ESO scheme. To explore the subjective meaning of ESO participation and its PO impact, 37 semi-structured interviews were conducted in nine companies with participants in three tax-advantaged ESO schemes in the United Kingdom: SIP, SAYE, and EMI. Data were coded and analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Participants perceived little effect of ESO schemes on PO or on the organizational features anticipated to give rise to these feelings. In turn, PO was found to play little or no part in employees' explanations of how share schemes had, or did not have, an attitudinal or behavioural impact. Practitioner points: Interviewees reflected on their experiences of joining employee share ownership (ESO) schemes, holding options, exercising options, and owning shares in the company. There was very little evidence that employees felt that any of these stages of ESO participation had any noticeable effect on their feelings of psychological ownership (PO). Other factors seemed to satisfy PO routes before, and possibly better than, ESO. Psychological ownership played little or no part in employees' explanations of how the ESO scheme impacted upon their attitudes or behaviours. The findings contrast with the conventional wisdom, that participating in an ESO scheme inevitably causes employees to feel a sense of ownership over the company. We find that ESO had very little to do with ownership in the minds of employees. Instead, it was much more about investment. ESO was not seen as a mechanism for employees to have a sense of ownership over the company and employees did not appear to regard ESO as providing experiences of the three ownership rights, or the routes to PO which parallel these

Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2014: Attitudes to violence against women in Scotland

This report presents findings from the 2014 Scottish Social Attitudes survey (SSA) on public attitudes to violence against women in Scotland. The research presented in this report is intended to address a gap in the evidence base about people’s attitudes towards different forms of violence against women: sexual violence, domestic abuse (physical, verbal, mental and emotional), sexual harassment and commercial sexual exploitation. Commissioned by the Scottish Government it will provide a baseline measure of views about violence against women in Scotland against which progress towards the objectives outlined in Equally Safe (an ambitious new strategy launched by the Scottish Government to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls) can be assessed

A systematic review of population based epidemiological studies in Myasthenia Gravis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim was to collate all myasthenia gravis (MG) epidemiological studies including AChR MG and MuSK MG specific studies. To synthesize data on incidence rate (IR), prevalence rate (PR) and mortality rate (MR) of the condition and investigate the influence of environmental and technical factors on any trends or variation observed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Studies were identified using multiple sources and meta-analysis performed to calculate pooled estimates for IR, PR and MR.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>55 studies performed between 1950 and 2007 were included, representing 1.7 billion population-years. For All MG estimated pooled IR (eIR): 5.3 per million person-years (C.I.:4.4, 6.1), range: 1.7 to 21.3; estimated pooled PR: 77.7 per million persons (C.I.:64.0, 94.3), range 15 to 179; MR range 0.1 to 0.9 per millions person-years. AChR MG eIR: 7.3 (C.I.:5.5, 7.8), range: 4.3 to 18.0; MuSK MG IR range: 0.1 to 0.32. However marked variation persisted between populations studied with similar methodology and in similar areas.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We report marked variation in observed frequencies of MG. We show evidence of increasing frequency of MG with year of study and improved study quality. This probably reflects improved case ascertainment. But other factors must also influence disease onset resulting in the observed variation in IR across geographically and genetically similar populations.</p

Hail to the Chief: Former Law Clerks for William Rehnquist Recall What They Learned and How He Touched Their Lives

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who died Sept. 3, is remembered for his disarming warmth and humor, breadth of knowledge about the law, and insistence that there is life outside the office. Few knew him better than the legions of clerks who tolled with and learned from him. Indeed, the sheer number who attended his funeral testifies to how highly he was regarded. Here, four former clerks from the decades of the 1970s, \u2780s and \u2790s write about their own particular memories of the late chief justice

Hail to the Chief: Former Law Clerks for William Rehnquist Recall What They Learned and How He Touched Their Lives

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who died Sept. 3, is remembered for his disarming warmth and humor, breadth of knowledge about the law, and insistence that there is life outside the office. Few knew him better than the legions of clerks who tolled with and learned from him. Indeed, the sheer number who attended his funeral testifies to how highly he was regarded. Here, four former clerks from the decades of the 1970s, \u2780s and \u2790s write about their own particular memories of the late chief justice

The Role of Sphingomyelin and Ceramide in Motor Neuron Diseases

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Spinal Bulbar Muscular Atrophy (SBMA), and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) are motor neuron diseases (MNDs) characterised by progressive motor neuron degeneration, weakness and muscular atrophy. Lipid dysregulation is well recognised in each of these conditions and occurs prior to neurodegeneration. Several lipid markers have been shown to predict prognosis in ALS. Sphingolipids are complex lipids enriched in the central nervous system and are integral to key cellular functions including membrane stability and signalling pathways, as well as being mediators of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. This review highlights the metabolism of sphingomyelin (SM), the most abundant sphingolipid, and of its metabolite ceramide, and its role in the pathophysiology of neurodegeneration, focusing on MNDs. We also review published lipidomic studies in MNDs. In the 13 studies of patients with ALS, 12 demonstrated upregulation of multiple SM species and 6 demonstrated upregulation of ceramides. SM species also correlated with markers of clinical progression in five of six studies. These data highlight the potential use of SM and ceramide as biomarkers in ALS. Finally, we review potential therapeutic strategies for targeting sphingolipid metabolism in neurodegeneration