In February 2025 members of the Organisation Studies Research Cluster, Dr Martyn Griffin, Professor Rachael Finn and Dr Stephen Allen, were awarded a White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership Collaborative Grant worth around £90,000. The grant pays for a PGR student to conduct research over three and a half years at Sheffield University Management School on a project called 'Developing a Democratic Culture of Voice and Participation for Employee-owned Businesses (EOBs): A Critical Action Research Approach'.
This exciting research opportunity will contribute to developing an effective and sustainable model of democratic culture of voice and participation for Employee-Owned Businesses (EOBs). It will take the form of a collaborative doctorate which will involve working with scholars at Sheffield University Management School and GLIDE – a group of EOBs located in Sheffield, UK.
Through a critical action research approach that involves working with employees within two selected members of GLIDE, a soon to be recruited PGR student will co-design methods (e.g. interview questions, surveys, observation) and interventions (e.g. an EOB “voice” program) that enable a deeper understanding of the possibilities and tensions of developing a democratic culture in EOBs. The findings will have transferable lessons across the EOB sector, driving sustainable economic growth and productivity in a way that prioritises the health and well-being of employees.
The project responds to calls for an interventionist and engaged approach within management studies whilst exploring democratic working practices that have the potential to transform working relationships by shifting ownership and control into the hands of workers, creating opportunities for them to learn to negotiate power and voice.