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.
The Evergreen Cooperative Laundry Begins Construction
Although the Evergreen Cooperative Laundry will be a small enterprise within the multibillion dollar initiative to redevelop Cleveland’s Greater University Circle area, its many creators have launched it with the expectation that it will play a very large role in establishing a new generation of worker cooperatives in Cleveland.
The Carris Companies: Doing the Next Right Thing
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…
The Inherent Motivation to Work Productively: A Brief Look at Employee Ownership and Industrial History
Until the industrial revolution, work was performed in the U.S. (outside of the slave economy) by individuals who had direct and obvious motivation to maximize the quantity and quality of their production.
The Fabric of Creativity
At W.L. Gore, innovation is more than skin deep: The culture is as imaginative as the products.
A Positive Movement Forward: Carris Companies Employee-Governance
This chapter presents William (Bill) H. Carris’s distinctive organizational design for a positive and practical model of 100% employee-governance in the movement toward 100% employee-ownership of the Carris Companies, a manufacturer of wood, plastic, and metal reels in six United States locations and one in Mexico…
New Social Investing Option: In Equal Exchange
Fair trade and beverage pioneer, Equal Exchange, has teamed up with socially progressive bank, Wainwright Bank, to raise capital, protect its independence, and create a new financial product for investors.
Employee Ownership Measures Up: A Discussion Guide for Corporate Citizenship, Sustainability and Social Accounting
Every employee owner worries about the bottom line. But, successful employee owners look beyond the here and now.
The Ultimate Employee Buy-in
Sell the company to your employees? It’s a great idea–both for you and for the business you’re leaving behind.
Ottawa Devices, Inc. (B)
The Rollins family assembly was meeting to choose between several business strategies, including an employee stock ownership plan.
Groundings of Voice in Employee Rights
The author considers the idea that employee ownership of the organizations they work in can influence the dynamics of ‘sustainable peace.’
Working Toward Transparency and Accountability: Carris Companies Governance
This conceptual paper based on a case examines some of the devastating impacts of the recent spate of corporate wrongdoing, noting the widespread interconnectivity and interrelationships these demonstrate; revisits the roots of capitalism and the underpinnings of corporate citizenship; and explores the efforts of the Carris Companies as they implemented their plan for 100% employee ownership and governance, working toward full transparency and accountability in their decision-making.
Carris Companies’ Practice of Employee Governance
Distinguishing the Carris Companies’ transition to 100% employee ownership was its more unusual movement towards 100% employee governance. This paper examines the Carris Companies’ practice of governance and the process used to prepare stakeholder citizens for their changing roles and relationships.
Starbucks Coffee Company
This case traces the origins of Starbucks and its rapid growth through joint partnerships and diversified products, and its rapid expansion of retail cafes. A profile of Starbuck’s financial contributions to community development and literacy projects, and its efforts to promote progressive workplace conditions is presented. Despite this, criticisms of pushing out local businesses, homogenization … Read More
Sportasia LTD.: A Community Company
Evident in the case are important themes such as the transformational leadership of its senior management, the effective use of human resource strategies to control organisational growth, and the adoption of values similar to Charles Handy’s ‘Citizen Corporation’.
The Carris Companies: Making 100% Employee Governance the Practice—Shifting Stakeholder and Citizen Rights and Responsibilities to the Employees
Following a brief description of the methodology employed within this chapter, background information is provided on the Carris Companies. Changing stakeholder relationships highlighted in the segment on employee ownership provide a foundation for understanding the transitional process within the Carris Companies and, specifically, the practice of governance.
Carris Companies Experience: Corporate Values in Practice
Organizational leadership sets the standard for ethical conduct in the workplace. Christianity’s “Golden Rule” was used by William H. (Bill) Carris, owner of the Carris Financial Corporation (CFC), as the central ethical principle in his Long Term Plan (UP), describing the transition to 100% employee-ownership and governance…
Carris Companies’ Long and Winding Road to Employee Ownership and Values Based Governance
A rapidly expanding entrepreneurial company, the Carris firm is—by its owner’s design—gradually becoming an employee-owned and-directed organization…
Carris Corporation: Incentive Plan Program
For several years, William H. (Bill) Carris (President and CEO) looked for ways to bring employees into the business. From the beginning Michael (Mike) Curran (Vice-President and COO) had been not in favor of implementing short-term incentives at that time. But having worked with Bill for 20 years, Mike knew when Bill’s mind was set on proceeding…
McKay Nursery Company (A, B)
McKay Nursery Co., founded in 1897 in Waterloo, WI, had a longstanding history of commitment to employees. The close-knit organization was a pioneer in the agricultural industry of several employee-friendly policies. But in the early 1980s, as McKay’s owners grew older and senior management neared retirement, the next generation of managers feared for the future of the profitable, debt-free company…