Do employee-owned firms produce more positive employee behavioural outcomes? If not why not? A British-Spanish comparative analysis

Whether ‘employee ownership’ takes the form of worker cooperatives, co-ownership or simply employee share ownership plans, there are normally high expectations that a range of positive outcomes will result. Yet many empirically-based studies tend to find a much more complex picture. An influential segment of that empirical literature has posited the need for a number of mutually-reinforcing workforce management components to be in place alongside co-ownership. Drawing on detailed case research in two large and successful co-owned retailers in Spain and Britain this paper examines the role of these wider elements supporting employee ownership. We find that employee ownership can be linked to higher productivity and lower employee turnover, while at the same time being linked to higher absenteeism and mixed effects on attitudes. Expectations held by managers and employees are higher; these expectations are not always fully met. The role of managers was also found to be crucial

Coopetition and innovation. Lessons from worker cooperatives in the Spanish machine tool industry

This is an electronic version of the accepted paper in Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing[EN] Purpose – This paper aims to investigate how the implementation of the inter-cooperation principle among Spanish machine-tool cooperatives helps them to coopete–collaborate with competitors, in their innovation and internationalization processes and achieve collaborative advantages. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a multi-case approach based on interviews with 15 CEOs and research and development (R&D) managers, representing 14 Spanish machine tool firms and institutions. Eight of these organizations are worker-cooperatives.. Findings – Worker -cooperatives achieve advantages on innovation and internationalization via inter-cooperation (shared R&D units, joint sales offices, joint after-sale services, knowledge exchange and relocation of key R&D technicians and managers). Several mutual bonds and ties among cooperatives help to overcome the risk of opportunistic behaviour and knowledge leakage associated to coopetition. The obtained results give some clues explaining to what extent and under which conditions coopetitive strategies of cooperatives are transferable to other types of ownership arrangements across sectors. Practical implications – Firms seeking cooperation with competitors in their R&D and internationalization processes can learn from the coopetitive arrangements analyzed in the paper. Social implications – Findings can be valuable for sectoral associations and public bodies trying to promote coopetition and alliances between competitors as a means to benefit from collaborative advantages. Originality/value – Focusing on an “ideal type” of co-operation -cooperative organisationsand having access to primary sources, the paper shows to what extent (and how) strong coopetitive structures and processes foster innovation and internationalization

La Visión de la empresa Basada en los Recursos: las personas y la formación como fuentes de ventaja competitiva desde dicha visión.

Este documento corresponde a un capítulo de tesis doctoral. Si citas este documento, cítalo por favor como: Basterretxea, I. (2008): La política de formación como fuente de ventaja competitiva en la experiencia Mondragón. Un análisis desde la visión basada en los recursos, Tesis Doctoral, Universidad del País Vasco, Dpto. Economía Financiera II. ISBN:978-84-9860-117-6A lo largo de este capítulo, hemos realizado una revisión de la principal literatura que conforma la Visión Basada en los Recursos, detallando las condiciones básicas que esta visión exige a los recursos y capacidades para que puedan constituir una fuente de ventaja competitiva sostenible. Partiendo de este marco teórico, hemos analizado la literatura que destaca a las personas y a las prácticas de recursos humanos como fuente de ventaja competitiva, haciendo especial hincapié en aquéllos trabajos que analizan el impacto de la política de formación en los resultados empresariales

Intercooperation, flexicurity and their impacton workers: The case of Fagor Electrodomésticos

This is an electronic version of the accepted paper in the journal Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics.Mondragon cooperatives have used flexible employment, training and labour protection policies to deal with economic crises since the 1970s. These policies were also used in 2013 to alleviate the social consequences of the demise of their biggest industrial cooperative, Fagor Electrodomésticos. This article aims to analyse – through 40 interviews with different stakeholders – the advantages and limitations of wage, working time and functional flexibility policies by framing them under the flexicurity concept. In contrast with previous research on Mondragon cooperatives, this study has found a strong worker-owner resistance to flexicurity policies, mainly before the firm’s bankruptcy. The study has also found the main reasons for worker resistance and for some successful Mondragon cooperatives’ reluctance to offer permanent relocations to redundant Fagor Electrodomésticos’ members. This research will help cooperatives to maintain and improve their flexicurity policies and their resilience. Some findings can be extrapolated to the growing number of firms that aim to implement flexicurity policies without harming their workers’ social welfare.This article is a result of a research funded by the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU (GIU-19/035) and Fundación Emilio Soldevilla para la Investigación y el Desarrollo en Economía de la Empresa (FESIDE)

Does training policy help to attract, retain and develop valuable human resources? Analysis from the Mondragon case

This is an electronic version of the accepted paper in the journal:Advances in the Economic Analysis of Participatory and Labor-Managed Firms. Volumen. 12Purpose - The aim of this article is to ascertain the degree to which a training policy developed through corporate training centers is recognized as a source of competitive advantage for attracting, developing and retaining valuable staff. Design/methodology/approach – The fieldwork is based on a survey of Human Resource managers from 66 cooperatives of the Spanish Mondragon cooperative group. Findings – The empirical test carried out confirms that Mondragon's training policy, backed up by its corporate training centers, is perceived by HR managers as a tool that provides advantages to attract, develop and retain valuable human resources. The results also suggest that those advantages are more moderate than has been cited in classic literature on Mondragon. Practical implications – The results of this study can be helpful for the growing number of companies choosing to create and reinforce corporate training centers. The link between training policy and the perceived ability to attract and retain valuable employees showed in this case, can also be helpful for other companies that, as Mondragon, face limitations in wage policy. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the literature on the educational fabric of Mondragon adding updated empirical evidence and incorporating the point of view of HR managers of the group's cooperatives. With respect to the contribution of this paper to the literature on training policy, the paper's findings, in particular those regarding the effect of training on worker attraction and retention, add empirical evidence to the few studies on the subject

Close to me. Intercooperation between Cooperative Retailers, Local Food Suppliers and Public Institutions to boost Regional Agrifood Systems. The case of Eroski

This is an electronic version of the accepted paper in the journal CIRIEC-España, Revista de Economía Pública, Social y Cooperativa.[EN]This paper analyses the intercooperation between public administration, small agricultural producers and the supermarket cooperative Eroski in the Basque and Navarre to promote a local agrifood system. Through a case study with 22 interviews with different members of the system, certain advantages and limitations of intercooperation are identified. The retailer emerges as the main agent with the potential to drive the supply of the local agro-livestock sector and promote its professionalisation through the formation of agricultural cooperatives and other associative networks. The relevance of a correct organisational culture alignment between the retailer and its suppliers and the influence of codependence and power imbalances between these two parties are highlighted. The case offers clues to other retailers who are interested in improving their local positioning, to small local producers wishing to develop their business in a sustainable way with large scale distribution, and to public institutions wishing to promote local agrifood systems in collaboration with large retailers[ES]Este trabajo analiza la intercooperación entre la administración pública, los pequeños productores agrarios y la cooperativa de supermercados Eroski en el País Vasco y Navarra para promover un sistema agroalimentario de proximidad. A través de un estudio de caso con 22 entrevistas a diferentes miembros del sistema, se identifican ciertas ventajas y limitaciones de esta intercooperación. El minorista emerge como el principal agente con potencial para impulsar la oferta del sector agroganadero local y promover su profesionalización a través de la formación de cooperativas agrarias y otras redes asociativas. Se destaca la relevancia y necesidad de un correcto alineamiento entre la cultura organizativa de los minoristas y la de sus proveedores y la influencia de la codependencia y los desequilibrios de poder entre ambas partes. El caso ofrece pautas a otros minoristas interesados en mejorar su posicionamiento local, a pequeños productores locales que deseen desarrollar su negocio de forma sostenible con la gran distribución y a instituciones públicas que deseen promover sistemas agroalimentarios locales en colaboración con la gran distribución

Corporate governance as a key aspect in the failure of worker cooperatives

The article analyses governance difficulties at Fagor Electrodomésticos, for decades the world’s largest industrial cooperative, and sheds light on how the cooperative model and governance might have contributed to the firm’s bankruptcy. The case study examines how the cooperative model influenced the speed and quality of decision making. The roles of the main cooperative governing bodies (the General Assembly, Governing Council and Social Council) are evaluated and their limitations to effectively supervise and work with management to make difficult strategic decisions. Several governance improvement measures are proposed in order to help other large cooperatives combine democratic control and economically sound governance

Mediation effects of trust and contracts on knowledge-sharing and product-innovation: evidence from the European machine tool industry

This is an electronic version of the accepted paper in European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 21 Issue: 2, pp.274-293 (2018)[EN] This paper analyzes the mediating role of contracts and trust on the generation of product innovations stemming from buyer-supplier knowledge-sharing among the members of the supply chain. Together with the individual effects of trust and contracts, their joint effect is examined in order to determine whether these are complementary or alternative mechanisms of safeguarding and control

Collaborative relationships with customers: generation and protection of innovations

This is an electronic version of the accepted paper in Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing[EN]Purpose: To discover the key elements for generating and protecting innovations based on the customer‐supplier relationship in industrial sectors Methodology: Exploratory qualitative study performed using semi‐structured interviews with CEOs and innovation managers of 22 industrial firms and institutions from the machine‐tool (MT) industry Findings: Key forms of knowledge must be shared by the two agents. Producers have to obtain in‐depth knowledge about customers’ needs and customers need knowledge on producer's absorptive capacity. Producers distinguish between three types of customer: reference customers, necessary for innovations with greatest scope, clientes amigos or test users, required to test innovations currently being developed, and traditional customers, associated with incremental innovations. The traditional means of protecting innovations is the detailed contract between customer and supplier; patents are used for innovations of greater technological scope, as a form of defense against third‐party patents and as a signaling element of absorptive capacity. Originality: The paper draws on the direct experience of executives from companies whose innovation is based on a close relationship with customers, in order to answer questions to which the literature has yet to provide definitive answers: What sort of information to be shared is relevant for the generation of innovations? Are all customers equal or are there profiles that contribute more effectively to the development of innovations? What attitude and mechanisms are most effective for protecting the knowledge and competitiveness generated through knowledge‐sharing