Employee Participation and Financial Ownership Scholarly Research Award

Thanks to sponsorship from the Beyster Foundation for Enterprise Development, the HR Division of the Academy of Management is pleased to announce an annual scholarly research award in the domain of employee participation and ownership.

The purpose of this award is to identify innovative research in management or management-related disciplines that considers high-impact ideas in the context of business and society’s needs for employee empowerment, participative workforces, and wealth creation through broad-based equity and profit-sharing mechanisms, work practices, organizational structures, and innovation and entrepreneurial models. Financial ownership is considered a key evaluation criterion in that nominated publications should include a specific focus on financial ownership as defined below.

This award will be presented to the author(s) of the most significant article in employee participation and ownership published in recognized journals and research annuals. Nominated papers must have a publication year of the calendar year prior to the award year and have been assigned volume and issue numbers; online-first publications are not eligible. The award is open to students, untenured faculty, and tenured faculty.

Award selection will be completed by a committee formed and chaired by someone selected by the Awards Committee (e.g., prior award winner).

Broadly defined, this award emphasizes the following:

1. Employee financial ownership:  Research on workplaces where employees are at least partial owners with broad-based financial participation (e.g., equity compensation plans, profit- and gain-sharing, stock options, restricted stock programs, employee stock ownership plans (ESOP), Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESPPs), worker cooperatives, and employee ownership trusts).
2. Employee participation in the context of employee financial ownership:  Research involving broad-based organizational employee influence and decision-making processes (e.g., distributed and empowering company cultures, autonomous work teams, quality circles, flat organizations, employee participation on boards of directors, and other employee representation processes) within the context of employee financial ownership.

Relevant research topics may include (but are not limited to):

1. The effects of various forms of employee ownership and participation on firm outcomes, including the attraction and retention of employees and performance (e.g., productivity, profitability, investment, and employment).
2. The role of employee ownership and participation in the creation, growth, survival, and stability of firms.
3. The effects of various forms of employee ownership and decision-making participation on worker outcomes (e.g., pay, job security, training, turnover, stress, satisfaction, cooperation, loyalty, voice, information sharing, relations with co-workers and/or management, well-being, and performance).
4. The role and relation of employee ownership and participation to corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, and sustainability impacts.
5. The role of worker-management relations and human resource practices in firms with employee ownership and participation.
6. How employee ownership and participation may help to address the growing levels of inequality in society.
7. Policy and/or work practice implications of research in this area for emerging fields associated with the future of work (e.g., platform cooperatives), or rapidly developing or evolving industries (e.g., big data analytics, natural resource privatization, renewable and alternative energy).

Criteria:

1. Relevance and importance, in relation to the purpose of the award.
2. The extent to which the design, findings, or orientation advances research or theory.
3. Research that has broad implications for company practice and/or policy, and that addressed pressing workforce motivation, firm performance, and social inequality and impacts are especially appropriate for this award.
   

The recipient(s) of this award will be announced at the Academy meeting during the HR Division Awards Ceremony and receive a plaque and a $1,500 honorarium.

In support of the HR Division's goal of increasing member involvement and its international reach, we strongly encourage submissions from the rich diversity, backgrounds, and perspectives of our membership.

Eligibility:

1. Nominated papers must have a publication year of the calendar year prior to the award year and have been assigned volume and issue numbers; online-first publications not accepted.
2. Eligible research may be within the management disciplines, or in any management-related discipline (including, but not limited to, industrial relations, organizational behavior, sociology, psychology, or human resource management).
3. Award recipients need not belong to the Academy of Management or to the HR Division.

Nominations should adhere to the following procedures:

1. Nominated articles can be peer-nominated or nominated by the Award Committee sub-committee, provided the nominated article meets the eligibility criteria. Self-nominations are encouraged.
2. Only members of the HR Division of the Academy of Management may nominate a paper for the award. Please double check that you or your nominee is a member of the HR Division.
3. All materials must be submitted in English.
4. Required nomination materials:
   • Full names of all the authors
   • Title of the article
   • Journal in which the article appeared, including year of publication, volume, issue, and page numbers (online-first publications are not accepted)
   • A cover letter detailing how the research fits within the theme of the award
   • A copy of the full article, including references, tables, and appendices
5. Please combine all required materials into a single PDF document (less than 100 MB) and CLICK HERE to complete an official nomination for this award. The deadline for nominations is March 1, 2025.