The Age of Autonomy
Why is Southwest so uniquely able to succeed where others can’t? The thing that makes Southwest employees a powerful force for success is that they are autonomous workers working toward a common goal…
Somewhere Between Complacency and Fear
Cecil Ursprung, the former CEO of Reflexite Corporation, once described his ideal organizational culture as being a permanent ‘state of mild dissatisfaction.’ You may not agree with the word ‘dissatisfaction,’ but I expect you would agree that innovation flourishes when employee owners are constantly seeking ways to improve the company and that happens when employees are not satisfied with the status quo. Creative energy flows when people refuse to walk away from situations that are ‘good enough.”
Sharing Success: The Nuttall Review of Employee Ownership
This review took evidence from a wide range of sources, covering, in particular, employee owned companies, sector representatives, professional advisers and employer and employee groups. The broad categories of obstacles to employee ownership were soon identified, and were continually reinforced as this review proceeded. They fall into the following three categories: a lack of awareness … Read More
Improving State-Level Policy Advocacy for Employee Ownership
If undertaken nationwide, initiatives to support employee ownership at the state level could dramatically improve not only the welfare of prospective employee owners, but also revitalize an important source of U.S. firms’ competitive advantage in the global marketplace…
Owning Our Future: The Emerging Ownership Revolution
Looking around at the wreckage left in the wake of the world economy’s latest crisis, veteran business journalist Marjorie Kelly noticed that some institutions were left relatively unscathed. What did they have in common? The key, Kelly realized, is seemingly obscure: ownership. Prominent among the survivors were organizations that combined the flexibility of traditional private ownership with a focus on the common good…
Client Profile: Dini Partners, Inc.
Dini Partners, Inc. became an S-Corporation as of Jan. 1, 2012. ‘It was clearly a way to define an ownership transition. The ESOP provided a path to an orderly transition of ownership. Also, as some of our senior members of the staff transition into retirement, we needed a vehicle to incentivize the younger, talented professionals to have a long-term stake in the firm.’
Democratic Enterprise: Ethical Business for the 21st Century
Designed for undergraduate students, Democratic Enterprise provides an open access, introductory-level analysis of democratic models of enterprise, namely co-operatives and employee-owned businesses.
California Center for Employee Ownership (CCEO)
The California Center for Employee Ownership provides information and resources to promote a better understanding of employee ownership in California.
Sundt Construction Company
Sundt had its share of ups and downs, but in 1992 when J. Doug Pruitt took over as the company’s COO, the company was headed toward bankruptcy. Today, the 100 percent ESOP-owned company operates out of eight offices located in Arizona, California, Texas, and North Carolina, and works on large construction projects in both the public and private sectors…
Worker Cooperative Case Study: Isthmus Engineering & Manufacturing
While the U.S. manufacturing sector has shrunk over the past 30 years, the fully worker-owned Isthmus Engineering & Manufacturing (IEM) cooperative has thrived in the automated manufacturing industry.
Creating a High-Performing Workplace
Beyster Institute Senior Consultant Martin Staubus is teaching a course entitled ‘Management 269: Creating a High-Performing Workplace.’ In this interview, Professor Staubus describes the course’s five themes.
Employees Matter: Maximizing Company Value Through Workforce Engagement
Increasing numbers of businesses view their employees not as a mere cost but as invaluable contributors for business success. These firms are implementing strategies to fully engage employees at all levels. The Employees Matter report identifies sixteen fast growing entrepreneurial firms that employ employee ownership and engagement strategies which they perceive as directly linked with improved business performance. Eight other notable companies with key lessons to share are included as sidebar profiles.
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.
Employee Ownership Australia and New Zealand
Employee Ownership Australia and New Zealand (EOA) was formed in July 2011 out of the Australian Employee Ownership Association (AEOA). EOA has the same principles as those shared of the AEOA’s founders. When AEOA was formed by 20 companies in 1986 its principles were to be a member-focused, non-profit association. Its purpose was to assist members with their employee ownership (or co-ownership) plan, employee engagement and involvement and employee participation levels
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.
CHART Rehabilitation of Hawaii
Frieda Takaki took a deep breath, filling her senses. She was about to make a very difficult decision. She took off her shoes, placed them next to her desk and started pacing her office barefoot as she was thinking aloud. “I can’t let this business close down,” she whispered. “I have to do something about it.” The answer was now abundantly clear: why wouldn’t the employees buy the business from the owners?
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.
The Employee Ownership Effect: A Review of the Evidence
The report is a rigorous study of the available international evidence into how companies with significant employee ownership perform, on a range of key business indicators.
Making Employee Ownership Work: A Benchmark Guide
‘Making employee ownership work’ is a new guide from the Employee Ownership Association and co-ownership advisers the Baxi Partnership, based on a survey of 25 EOA member companies including John Lewis, Unipart, Arup and Mott MacDonald.
Gainsharing as Organizational Learning: An Analysis of Employee Suggestions Over Time
This paper addresses the issue of how gainsharing programs work by proposing a model of gainsharing as an organizational learning system.
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…
Employee Ownership Culture Building: Process and Success Measures
This presentation outlines ways to measure success in an employee owned company, how to achieve positive results, and learn from the ‘best companies to work for.’
Who Runs an ESOP Company?
This presentation discusses the governance structure of employee-owned companies, including trustees, fiduciaries, administrators and plan participants…