Summary
Presented in this case is the Carris Companies’ movement towards 100% employee shared ownership and governance with an emphasis on and investment in education; focus on ‘quality of life’; economic, educational and social accessibility provided by the company for its employees, many of whom are unskilled at the time of initial employment; encouragement of employee wellness; employee involvement in corporate decision-making and philanthropy; companies’ increased efforts to reduce waste and energy use and the overall positive effects on the companies’ profitability. Internally, the transition wasn’t seen as socially responsible or innovative but rather as ‘doing the next right thing’. The case makes the point that single company innovations and positive change initiatives with their human scale offer a window on sustainability that seems to be increasingly significant to understand and to replicate. The 100% employee-owned Carris Companies present a new model of socially responsible business and organisational life at a time when increasingly complex expectations demand that ‘responsible management’ creates wealth, facilitates economic security, and sustains physical and social environments within a local community and global context – all with increased consciousness and awareness of impact.