ASB4904 – Applied Business Project (Human Resource Management) ASSIGNMENT 2013
The ‘John Lewis Partnership’ and Employee-Owned Organizations
The assignment reflects the core themes addressed during the ABP HRM module. The aim is to encourage students to combine theoretical and practical knowledge of HRM by discussing HR strategy and HR practices at a case organization (John Lewis Partnership) and relate this to relevant academic theory/literature. Students who display accurate ‘critical analysis’ of relevant academic literature are likely to be awarded higher marks.
Background: the John Lewis Partnership (JLP) and Employee Ownership
The financial crisis and the subsequent international recession have stimulated a far-reaching debate about the future of capitalism and the way that companies are owned and run. This has led to renewed interest in employee ownership – and in the role that employee-owned companies could play in future economic sustainability and in improving HRM in organizations. Indeed, raising the proportion of employee owned firms is now part of mainstream government policy in the UK and is supported across the political spectrum. The employee-owned sector comprises companies that are wholly or substantially owned by their staff (in contrast to firms that are accountable to external share holders) indicated by the following definition by Nuttall (2012):
“Employee ownership means a significant and meaningful stake in a business for all its employees. If this is achieved then a company has employee ownership: it has employee owners.”
Research has identified a number of business and HRM-related benefits associated with employee-owned firms. It has been argued by advocates that employee-owned firms create new jobs more quickly than conventionally structured businesses and demonstrate the same levels of profitability. Employee-owned businesses appear more resilient, have lower risk of business failure, and their performance is more stable over business cycles. The employee ownership model offers particular advantages to small and medium-sized businesses and in knowledge and skill-intensive sectors, where employee-owned companies significantly outperform competitors. Employee-owned businesses also add more value to human capital and productivity. They recruit more employees at a faster rate and reward employees with higher wages, better terms and conditions of employment, improved well-being, and more robust employee voice/participation.
Employee-owned companies operate in a wide range of sectors in the UK – from retail, manufacturing and engineering to financial services. This assignment is based on the most famous employee-owned company in the UK, the John Lewis Partnership (JLP), in the retail sector.
Assignment questions:
In completing the assignment, you are expected to combine reading of relevant academic literature and the sources for JLP/employee ownership provided below (as well as any sources from your own research) to answer the following questions:
1. Strategy: firstly, briefly summarize John Lewis Partnership’s overall business strategy and then, secondly, identify JLP’s overall HR strategy.
2.HRM practices: secondly, analyse the various components of HRM policy and practice in JLP under the four main HR functions covered in the module: resourcing the organization, human resource development (HRD), employment relations, performance and reward. The list of HR policies and practices that might be assessed at JLP under these four areas include: talent management, recruitment and selection, employee engagement, training and development, employee voice and participation rights (industrial democracy), pay, reward & performance management. Discuss in relation to relevant academic literature.
3. To what extent is there ‘strategic HRM’ at JLP? Examine to what extent the various components of HRM support and contribute towards achieving JLP’S overall strategy (vertical integration). Evaluate to what extent the various components of HR practice at JLP are consistent and support each other in achieving the overall HR strategy (horizontal integration). Discuss in relation to relevant academic literature on strategic HRM (for example, ‘best fit’, ‘best practice’, ‘resource-based view’).
4. What are the main benefits of employee ownership in companies like JLP from an employer and employee perspective? Are there any problems? Refer to relevant literature.
5. Context of HRM: Critically evaluate the extent to which the JLP/employee ownership model can be replicated in other organizations, sectors, countries? Can you identify any barriers? Refer to appropriate academic literature.
Provide some conclusions based on your discussion of the above. In so doing, combine and summarize your assessment of academic literature with HRM practice at JLP/employee ownership generally.
Assignment sources:
References used and cited should consist of a combination of the following sources, as well as your own wider research and reading:
1. Information on John Lewis Partnership:
The John Lewis Partnership website has substantial information on employee ownership and HRM practices at JLP specifically:

http://www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/en.html

There are also online case study clips about JLP, including:
‘The Partnership Approach: Learning from John Lewis’ (2013)

http://www1.aston.ac.uk/aston-business-school/events/past-events/learning-from-john-lewis/

2. Information on Employee Ownership
The ‘Employee Ownership Association’ has substantial publications and information on its website about employee ownership more generally:

http://employeeownership.co.uk/publications/1

Including, recently:

http://employeeownership.co.uk/publications/new-publication-employee-ownership-impact-report-the-business-case-for-employee-ownership/

Download “Fit for Work? Health and well-being of employees in employee owned businesses” / EOA Research Nov 2012
Model Growth: Do employee-owned businesses deliver sustainable performance? Download pdf here
3. Academic reference sources on Employee Ownership
There are a number of academic sources on employee ownership, some directly downloadable from this page, and others available from the e-resources (e-journal) section of the library website, including:
Bakan, I., Suseno, Y., Pinnington, A. & Money, A. (2004). The Influence of Financial Participation and Participation in Decision-Making on Employee Job Attitudes. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 15, 3, 587-616.
Blasi, J., Freeman, R., Mackin, C. and Kruse, D. (2008). Creating a Bigger Pie? The effects of employee ownership, profit sharing, and stock options on workplace performance. Working Paper 14230, Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. http://www.nber.org/papers/w14230
Bryson, A. and Freeman, R. (2008). How Does Shared Capitalism Affect Economic Performance in the UK? Working Paper 14235, Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. http://www.nber.org/papers/w14235
Kramer, B. (2010). Employee ownership and participation effects on outcomes in firms majority employee-owned through employee stock ownership plans in the US. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 31, 4, 449-476.

http://eid.sagepub.com/content/31/4/449.full.pdf+html

Kruse, D., Freeman, R. and Blasi, J. (2008). Do Workers Gain by Sharing? Employee Outcomes under Employee Ownership, Profit Sharing, and Broad-based Stock Options. Working Paper 14233, Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. http://www.nber.org/papers/w14233
Pendleton, A., Wilson, N. & Wright, M. (1998). The Perception and Effects of Share Ownership: Empirical Evidence from Employee Buy-outs. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 36, 1, 99-123.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8543.00082/pdf

Robinson, A. M. & Wilson, N. (2006). Employee Financial Participation and Productivity: An Empirical Reappraisal. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 44, 1, 31-50.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8543.2006.00486.x/pdf

4. General academic reference sources on HRM
Please refer to the module outline and seminar slides on blackboard for relevant academic references on HRM.