La dirección en la empresa de trabajo asociado: una revisión de estudios empíricos

The difficulty in running a self-managed firm has been one of the arguments used in economics literature to prove the non-viability of the model. People who are sufficiently talented and willing both to manage worker-owners and to assume processes of collective decision-making are a scant resource, one which would involve unsustainable incentives for these companies with their own peculiar characteristics. However, the development of self-managed firms has demonstrated that such a task is possible, a fact with gives the lie to the argument of non-viability. This work systematically draws together the findings of empirical studies from a range of disciplines on managerial work and its peculiarities with regard to other kinds of businesses, in a European Community country with a significant presence of self-run firms. The work is structured into four parts, the first being a delimitation of the subject, object and theoretical framework. The second part sets out the conclusions obtained on the figure of the manager at a level of values, knowledge and management style. The third section goes into detail on the context in which managers must carry out their work and collaborate in the governance of associated work firms. The fourth part deals with findings concerning how managers of this type of firm promote action, either directly or indirectly, by delegating to other people. Finally, the scope of the ideas set out is evaluated, and possible lines of interest are formulated.Direction, management, manager, associated work, Spain.

Modas de gestión en el siglo XX y modelo cooperativo: convergencias implícitas hacia una empresa de alto rendimiento

In this study we endeavour to expose the falseness of a certain sense of underlying inferiority in the company model advocated by the social economy. We will do so by describing and analysing certain “recent” management trends whose origins run from the end of the Second World War to the close of the 20th century and which can be grouped into four tendencies. Teamwork training in the ‘forties, self-managed teams in the ‘eighties and the internal marketing in the ‘nineties could be seen as trends that lean towards democracy. We could classify participation in profits and various collective incentive mechanisms (through profits or shares) as tendencies with a slant towards economic participation. Quality circles and total quality management could be considered trends that lie within a tendency towards excellence, in the sense that they require everyone’s involvement. Lastly, we would group trends such as values-based management and corporate social responsibility within a tendency that places particular emphasis on values. Our hypothesis is clear: the business approach represented by the “specific” management model employed in cooperative enterprises entails an implicit convergence of these tendencies and trends due to their particular emphasis on achieving the objectives of social and economic participation. By assuming this convergence, be it only in part, we would have to question the unfounded nature of democracy and participation, and the “competitive disadvantage” of the alternative model and its unacknowledged originality.Management trends, quality, values, participation, economic democracy, excellence, cooperatives.

El imaginario social de la participación y el modelo cooperativo como arquetipo empresarial "tipo O"

The effects of worker participation have been evaluated and recognised as positive from all points of view. This evidence is confirmed, under certain conditions, by the motivational, industrial and business relations paradigms. The problem faced today does not lie in its necessity – shared with the diverse sphers of the organisation – nor in the creation of areas in which to develop it – working groups, task forces – but rather in the will to exercise it responsibly. The access to ownership, together with a policy of participative management -the “O” (Ownership) Theory- is formulated from this point of view as an alternative which improves the conhugation of decisions, incentives for their development and implication in the destiny of the organisation.Participation, economic democracy, co-operatives, O theory, associated work, organisational commitment.

La democracia industrial en España: orígenes y desarrollo de las empresas de trabajo asociado en el Siglo XX

This paper aims to explain the evolution of the worker co-operatives phenomenon in Spain, going beyond the mere juxtaposition of the dispersed data in the bibliographic sources available. However, as well as this task, we have tried to establish causal relations at the economic, political and social levels which favour or slow the development of this kind of business. Firstly we make reference to the most significant events of the end of the XIX century related to the co-operative movement, above all in the legal sphere, and in the attitudes of the workers movement. Secondly we deal with the different phases that can be seen in over the XX century: from the beginnings of the XX century up to the end of the civil war, the age of Franco and the inauguration of democracy up to Spain’s incorporation in the European Union, and the last decade. Lastly, we make some final conclusions.Economic democracy, industrial democracy, worker co-operatives.

Sociedad, economía social y universidad ante los desafíos del siglo XXI

El presente trabajao pretende justificar cómo la economía social se encuentra en el trasfondo de las demandas económicas y sociales que acontecen en el siglo XXI y cómo la universidad contribuye a responder, desde su nivel específico de actuación a través de la docencia e investigación, a dichos problemas. Una vez expuestos los argumentos y los datos que dibujan el escenario actual de la sociedad y la universidad sobre todo en el contexto del estado español, se exponen una serie de problemas que dificultan el avance para la intercooperación de dichas realidades sociales e instituciones y se realizan una serie de propuestas para superar los obstáculos que ralentizan dicho progreso hacia una contribución significativa en el campo científico y universitario

Valores, actitudes y motivaciones en la juventud ante el emprendimiento individual y colectivo

En el presente trabajo se recopilan una serie de datos recientes –extraídos de diversas fuentes estadísticas acerca de la situación de la juventud y sus expectativas laborales en España y en Andalucía– para contrastar en qué medida las formas de emprendimiento individual y colectivo se presentan como una alternativa cada vez más asequible para este colectivo. En primer lugar se contextualiza hasta qué punto crear una empresa es una opción de inserción laboral en la juventud española. Seguidamente se profundiza en la vocación emprendedora, el asociacionismo y en el conocimiento de la economía social –en este caso de la juventud andaluza–. Por último se proponen algunas ideas conclusivas, a raíz de los datos expuestos, ya que las actitudes manifestadas pueden ser un indicador de las oportunidades u obstáculos que existen para el desarrollo de este tipo de fórmulas empresariales para el futuro

The “Bullied” Manager: An Empirical Study of Individual, Organizational and Contextual Factors

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to study the determinants of workplace bullying in a group of employees with a privileged position within the company: managers. First of all, we define the phenomenon. After, we make a review of literature with the object to set related variables in a global model of workplace bullying. A sample population of 608 managers was obtained from the microdata file of the last European Working Conditions Survey (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions). The methodology used to achieve our research objectives is based on the binary logistic regression model. With this statistical technique we determine the probability of the occurrence of an event-workplace bullying in this case-compared to the probability of the occurrence of the opposite event. The global model is integrated by individual, organizational and contextual factors and predicts the likelihood of workplace bullying in 68% (61.6% between bullied managers and 75.9% between non bullied managers). The resulting model for managers is similar to models of workplace bullying for employees in general. Key words: Workplace bullying; Power; Harassment; Mobbing; Manager