Worker takeovers under a competence perspective: managing resources at the micro/macro levels

Theme: TOPIC 19 – STAGE 2 - MICRO Key Words: Capability; Co-operative; Micro-foundations; Reconfiguration; Resource; Worker takeover. Worker takeovers have attracted the attention of scholars from many sciences and... [ view full abstract ]

Theme: TOPIC 19 – STAGE 2 - MICRO

Key Words: Capability; Co-operative; Micro-foundations; Reconfiguration; Resource; Worker takeover.

Worker takeovers have attracted the attention of scholars from many sciences and research traditions –sociology, economics, history, politics, law, psychology and anthropology, among others. However, mainstream strategic management has almost ignored this phenomenon. This is a remarkable gap because both corporate turnaround policies and employee ownership are frequent research topics of this discipline. According to the competence perspective of strategic management, sustained competitive advantage depends on effectively combining valuable, rare and inimitable resources that deliver superior capabilities. On the contrary, firms experiencing severe commercial /financial distress are short of these strategic resources and tend to accumulate value-destroying ones, due to previous managerial decisions. It is widely acknowledged that most worker takeovers arise from this type of unbalanced situation. Relative to starting anew and considering path dependencies, the challenge of rebuilding from deficit appears formidable. Therefore, the rationale for worker takeovers needs to be explored.
The paper develops a theoretical model for analysing successful worker takeover processes under the lens of the competence perspective. Three key issues at the firm/macro level are discussed: (i) removing, (ii) adding and (iii) recombining and integrating resources. Beyond these three elements, the model also incorporates the psychological micro-foundations of strategy. For this purpose, the distinction between ownership as an objective state and as a psychological state is introduced. The firm (macro level) will benefit from enhanced human capital -in terms of flexibility and motivation- only if workers individually (micro level) assume their role of collective entrepreneurs. Thus, the hidden cornerstone of the competitive advantage of worker takeovers relies on an elusive psychological transformation. Such transformation can be nurtured, so governance, culture, human resource management and external support act as enabling devices.
These theoretical considerations will be illustrated with qualitative evidence from a multi-case study of 12 worker takeovers that took place in Asturias (northern Spain) after the second oil crisis.