Reimagining Capitalism
This special edition of The Nation brings together a wide range of articles on new ways to shape capitalism, and to work on economic recovery.
Employee Ownership and the Entrepreneurial Spirit: The Case of HCSS
An overview of the Case of HCSS, also found in the CLEO database.
Taking Stock: Are Employee Options Good for Business?
Many workers view stock options as a way to get a piece of their company’s action and share a stake in its overall performance. But what’s in it for employers?
Client Profile: Los Angeles Engineering
Learn more about a unique engineering company that has been providing critical infrastructure services throughout southern California since 1986…
Inclusive Capitalism for the American Workforce: Reaping the Rewards of Economic Growth through Broad-based Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing
What can be done to reverse the economic disparity in our nation and restore prosperity for all? This paper lays out a policy reform that will help restore the link between economic growth and the earnings of workers so that the recovery re-establishes a prosperous middle class. The reform encourages firms to develop broad-based incentive compensation systems that link employee earnings to the performance of the firm. This reform would give employees access to the capital-related earnings of their companies comparable to that of the senior executives who run these firms.
Elizabeth Jacobs: Price-Earnings Ratios and Employee Stock Option Grants
Elizabeth had a number of concerns related to the heavy use of employee stock options as incentives and employee compensation in the high-technology sector…
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) (A, B)
At the start, Dr. Beyster made the decision that SAIC would be employee owned and that ownership would be based on merit and contribution to the company, not tenure. Using employee ownership as a selling point to prospective hires, Dr. Beyster was able to recruit talented employees and build a successful organizational culture. However, changes made after Dr. Beyster stepped down would have implications for SAIC’s company culture…
Employee Ownership, Democratic Control, and Working-Class Empowerment
Organizational scholars and workplace equality advocates have largely dismissed the ability of democratic employee ownership to deliver power and autonomy to working-class employees. This chapter addresses this gap by investigating how two 100% employee-owned and democratically governed worker-owned cooperatives (businesses where employees are both the owners and the directors of their workplaces) succeeded and failed … Read More
ESOP: Everything You Need to Know About ESOPs (Part I and II)
Ronald J. Gilbert, President of ESOP Services, Inc,. discusses the leveraged Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), highlighting the mechanics, advantages, and financing sources. ESOP Services, Inc.’s professionals are experienced in preliminary analysis, plan and financial transaction design, implementation, financing, ESOP termination and litigation support.
Trends in Employee Ownership: Important Demographic Developments
As the baby boom approaches retirement, prospects for employee ownership are ramping up…
More than Merely Sustainable
The sustainability debate continues in the employee-ownership community. The fear that employee-owned companies will not be strong enough to survive without significant outside capital, which will end their employee ownership, is still very widespread…
Mid-Missouri Energy: Ethanol from Corn
Mid-Missouri Energy is a farmer-owned cooperative created to take advantage of the growing interest in ethanol as an automotive fuel.
Agricultural Cooperatives: Origins, Structure, Financing and Partnerships
This technical note explains how agricultural cooperatives are structured and financed, as well as how they form partnerships with one another and other elements of the food system.
Heavy Construction Systems Specialists, Inc. (HCSS)
Heavy Construction Systems Specialists, Inc. [HCSS] designs and sells hi-tech software to the heavy/highway construction industry. The case describes a unique corporate culture that has made HCSS a business success in a highly competitive industry.
KCI Technologies, Inc.: Engineering the Future, One Employee at a Time
KCI, a multi-disciplined engineering firm, has undergone a number of transformations over the last several decades. It started as a basement dream, was acquired and sold-off by a larger firm, and has emerged as a multi-million dollar employee-owned organization.
Starting Over in Lexington: Taking Ownership
The folks at our Lexington, Ky. plant are well on their way to becoming owners of their company, all part of our plan to turn the operation around and make it profitable again.
Employee-owned Company Marks 100-year Milestone
The way the McElhanney Group is organized has helped foster a positive, profitable culture. Forty per cent of the key staff, around 320 staff members, own 100 per cent of the shares. Mr. Newcomb says this drives the success of the company collectively.
Jimmy Fu and Moog, Inc.: Understanding Shareholders’ Equity
The case introduces students to the concepts of employee stock options, stock-splits and buybacks, multiple share classes, and the basics of equity investment and diversification.
Namaste Solar
Should a fast-growing, employee-owned solar electric company accept a buyout offer from a private equity investor? Could it do so without sacrificing its distinctive, high-involvement culture? Namaste Solar, a 55-person firm based in Boulder, Colorado, designed and installed solar electric systems for residential, commercial, non-profit and government customers. In 2008, the company had been growing … Read More
Challenges of Growth at Protegra
Protegra is a small company established in 1998 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The company specializes in the area of computer software development and business performance consulting. Protegra features a unique organizational design, characterized by a lack of hierarchy and a collegial, professional culture centred on employee and customer values. Various information systems support Protegra’s design. In the process of expanding into foreign markets and enlarging staff, Protegra has been concerned with preserving its way.
ESOP: Employee Ownership of Companies on the Rise
The ESOP – Employee Stock Ownership Plan – is, slowly, on the rise. These worker-owned businesses are more productive and could benefit the American economy.
Using an ESOP to Liquidate a Portion of the Value of a Family Business
Technically, an ESOP is a retirement plan and serves the purpose of accumulating retirement savings for the company’s employees. In practice, however, they can act as a cash buyer of private company stock, thus creating a source of liquidity for the company’s owners.
Equity on Demand: The Netflix Approach to Compensation
Netflix was among a small group of Silicon Valley companies to emerge from the technology bubble of the late 1990s a clear winner in terms of growth, market share, and profitability. That Netflix was able not only to prevail over this competition but also to thrive was largely attributable to the culture of freedom and … Read More
Privately Held Employee Owned Socially Responsible Business, Sustaining Inspiration: The Challenges & Opportunities of Running a Privately Held, Employee Owned, Socially Responsible Business
Kevin Cleary, President and COO of Emeryville, California based Clif Bar & Company, explores how this privately held, employee owned company is also socially responsible. Series: ‘UC Davis Graduate School of Management’s Dean’s Distinguished Speaker Series’
Client Profile: Coast Citrus Distributors
At Coast Citrus, the employees are eligible to participate in the ESOP after completing 500 hours and/or three months of service. Currently the company is 70 percent employee owned.