Shared Capitalism through Employee Ownership Award

 

Daphne Berry 's dissertation study focuses on how the quality of care provided by home health aides working in a direct care enterprise is influenced by the organization's ownership and governance. Direct care workers, who are primarily women and who work in nursing homes and in home or community settings, assist clients who are elderly and have mental or physical disabilities with activities of daily living and with health-related needs. Within the home health aide industry, care is delivered through several forms of organizations. These include non-profits, business entities such as sole proprietorships and corporations with multiple shareholders, and a few worker cooperatives. In addition to differences in organizational form, home health direct care organizations have different governance processes and different outcomes for workers, owners, and clients.

 

Partly due to aging baby-boomers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics ( BLS ) predicts a substantial increase in requirements for home health aides in coming years. BLS acknowledges that this occupation has “modest entry requirements, low pay, high physical and emotional demands, and limited advancement opportunities.” Turnover in direct care occupations is high. Among casualties of the high turnover occurring in this field are the productivity of the organizations employing direct care workers and the quality of care that customers receive. Berry 's research seeks to highlight organizational structure and processes in the management of organizations, including the influence of participatory management and shared ownership, and in day-to-day activities that impact the production of quality care.

 

You can view Daphne Berry 's CV here.

 

* The 2009-2010 Shared Capitalism through Employee Ownership Research Award

was co-sponsored by The Foundation for Enterprise Development and the Employee Ownership Foundation. For more information on this award, please click here.