Previous research on employee-owned organizations has been limited in time frame and in the outcomes examined, which have been primarily attitudinal measures. This study examined the effects of an employee ownership program on employee attitudes and actual turnover behavior over an extended time period.
The concept of workplace democracy has long been vitally important to theorists and activists of the democratic Left. The author here tests some of the claims made for this system, asking: Do such alternative forms of work organization really decrease workers’ sense of alienation? Does participation in a democratic, cooperatively run business encourage political participation? Does such a workplace foster class consciousness as a strategy for superseding capitalism?