The ESOP Communications Sourcebook, 7th Edition
This book from the National Center for Employee Ownership shows ESOP companies how to communicate the plan to employees as well as customers.
Research on Employee Ownership, Corporate Performance, and Employee Compensation
Over the years, the NCEO has reported on new research on employee ownership and corporate performance. Now that a substantial body of work exists on the subject, they thought it would make sense to summarize it in one place.
An Introduction to ESOPs, 18th edition
This short book from the National Center for Employee Ownership explains how ESOPs work in a clear and concise manner.
Using an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) for Business Continuity in a Closely Held Company
Congress designed ESOPs to be the most cost-effective means for both owners and companies to provide for business transition. One of the most difficult problems for owners of closely-held businesses is finding a way to turn their equity in a business into cash for retirement or other purposes. The decision to sell is more than … Read More
Wawa: Retailing Reinvented Through Blue Ocean Strategy
This case study focuses on Wawa, the convenience store, gas station and restaurant company. Founded in 1803, Wawa morphed over time from an iron foundry to a textile mill, to a dairy farm, dairy delivery business, grocery store, then convenience store. Dark clouds descended with the 2008 financial crisis. As competitors converged on Wawa, management … Read More
Broad-Based Employee Stock Ownership and Profit Sharing: History, Evidence, and Policy Implications
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the historical background for broad-based ownership in the USA, the development of forms of employee ownership and profit sharing in the USA, the research literature on employee ownership and profit sharing and related employee participation, the development of policy and options for new policies. Design/methodology/approach It … Read More
ESOP Plus Benefit Corporation: Ownership Culture with Benefit Accountability
Stakeholder capitalism seeks to benefit multiple stakeholders, rather than primarily shareholders. Two increasingly popular forms are the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) and the benefit corporation. But what happens when a company combines these structures? While the benefit corporation’s expanded stakeholder mandate may appear to come at the expense of employee-owner wealth and the potential … Read More
Having a Stake: The Potential of Employee Share Ownership for Workers and Businesses
In recent decades, workers’ paychecks have remained stagnant, despite increases in productivity. At the same time, returns to wealth have increased. Strategies that transform workers into owners, such as employee share ownership strategies, have the potential to give working people a stake in our growing economy and include them in the nation’s prosperity. With employee … Read More
Employee Ownership and Employee Involvement at Work: Case Studies
With a growing prominence of sophisticated econometric research in a much-expanded field of New Economics of Participation (NEP), it is of particular value to learn about real-world examples of participatory and labor-managed firms in the advanced market economies through extensive case studies. In this volume of Advances in the Economic Analysis of Participatory and Labor-Managed Firms, … Read More
Structuring Firms to Benefit Low-Income Workers: An Employee Ownership Case Study
The employee benefits of employee ownership are not fully studied. This case contributes to understanding how employee ownership may reduce gender and racial wealth gaps, build family well-being, and become a model for structuring opportunity for those traditionally left out of the economic mainstream.
Board Structure at Carris Reels: A Participatory ESOP Company
This case study provides an in-depth look at a company’s board of directors’ composition-related decision-making in the context of broad-based participatory processes and the desire to maintain a profitable and fully employee-owned and governed enterprise.
Atlas Container Corporation: Thinking Outside the Box
A review of the literature found that companies that practiced a progressive set of HRPP and made decisions based on democratic principles are rare. Thus, knowledge of such a company should be valuable.
Mid South Building and Supply: Surviving the Great Recession
Whereas prior studies have used across-industry data to find that employee-owned firms are more likely to survive recessions than others, what such firms do differently was unclear. A literature review failed to reveal a prior study that looked at the internal practices that may cause this to happen.
Why Are ESOP Acquisitions So Successful? A Qualitative Study From Consultants’ Perspectives
This qualitative research project focuses on a compare and contrast between acquisitions by ESOP and Non-ESOP organizations from a consultant’s perspective to obtain a third party viewpoint. Also discussed is a review of the academic literature on Mergers and Acquisitions, the reasons for failures, and possible solutions for successful acquisitions. An ESOP is an Employee … Read More
Slide Presentation on ESOPs and ESOP Acquisition Research
This is a slide presentation that Dr. Suzanne Cromlish developed for her classes. It introduces ESOPs and summarizes her research findings on ESOP acquisitions.
Is an ESOP Right for Your Remodeling Business?
In this podcast Anthony Mathews discusses succession planning, exploring questions including: What type of company sets up an ESOP? What is the process of establishing an ESOP? What are some of the challenges companies face? What makes an ESOP different than a 401k or other plan? What are the tax advantages? How does having many … Read More
Journal of Participation and Employee Ownership (JPEO) in the Changing World of Participative Work Practices and Pay
Work practices and modes of pay have changed in recent decades. The combination of an increasingly educated work force, new information and communication technologies, the influx of AI and big data into business practices from production and sales to human resources, the increased importance of teamwork and the growth of non-standard work arrangements which blur … Read More
The Economics of Participation and Employee Ownership (PEO): an Assessment
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss diverse matters concerning the field of Participation and Employee Ownership (PEO) coinciding with the launch of the JPEO. Design/methodology/approach This paper used mixed methods including bibliometric analysis. Findings Significant gaps exist in our knowledge of the scope and nature of PEO. Citation counts illustrate both the changing … Read More
The ESOP-erative
Businesses interested in transitioning into employee ownership are often presented with a structural dilemma: convert into an ESOP or a cooperative? Go for the democratic worker control and participation of a cooperative, or the tax benefits of an ESOP? In this article the author describes how he helped a company, Sun Light & Power, combine … Read More
A Firm of One’s Own
Why a low-cost program to educate employees about company ownership could produce huge financial benefits for the country.
Governance and Decision Making at Carris Reels
Synopsis Carris Reels, a reel-manufacturing company headquartered in Vermont, had long-standing goals of being employee owned and governed. They also had a strong organizational (ownership) culture. The Corporate Steering Committee (CSC), a committee composed of representatives from management and non-management employees, and the board of directors had a decision to make about adding two new … Read More
Employee Ownership: Building a Better American Economy
This easy-to-read guide to employee ownership introduces what employee ownership means and how it works, interspersing information with company profiles. Also see the companion website at www.esopinfo.org.
Employee Ownership and Union Labor: the Case of United Steel Workers of America
Union–management relations in the U.S. are best described as adversarial. However, under certain circumstances, they can become cooperative. One example of the latter was the role of trade unions in the conversion of firms to employee ownership. Firm ownership (entrepreneurship, capitalism) by employees has increased in recent years. Specifically, we focus on the use of … Read More
Down Home Capital Report
This 28-page report details the benefits of employee ownership in North Carolina as a way to preserve jobs and enhance community impacts.
California Center for Employee Ownership Update: CCEO Comes Online
Last May, we introduced you to a new effort aimed at spreading the word about employee ownership at local and regional levels throughout the country. Building on pioneering efforts in Ohio and Vermont, the idea of proliferating state centers throughout the U. S. was initiated by the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO)…