Employee ownership, work attitudes, and power relationships

The relationships of employee equity in the firm with work attitudes, information, and desired influence are examined in a prosperous company transformed to employee ownership by its management. Two specific issues are examined: 1. whether the relationships of stockholding with organizational identification and job satisfaction differ among employees with varying degrees of control, and 2. whether the relationships of stockholding with financial information and desired decision-making influence differ among employees with varying degrees of control. Employees' tenure in the organization is controlled for. Questionnaires filled out by 87% of the firm's employees indicate that relationships of shareholding with organizational identification and financial information are moderated by employees' authority and status in the company. The relationship of shareholding with organizational identification is more positive among those with lesser authority.