After completing the course, students will have an understanding of the numerous techniques of information sharing and participative management which seem to define an ownership culture.
Employee Ownership 101 is designed as a concept exploration two unit elective course. After completing the course, students will have an understanding of the role of private capital in the development of wealth and the evolution of private capital from its earliest forms to our modern capitalist system.
One of the common misconceptions about employee stock ownership plan companies among the general public is that they are inefficient…
Take-aways from an international tour featuring the documentary film, “We the Owners: Employees Expanding the American Dream.”
After hearing so much about how employee stock ownership plans (ESOP) and other ownership plans in the U.S. transform companies, it seemed logical to think that other countries, like Mexico, should have similar incentive plans in place. This assumption, however, turned out to be incorrect….
In order to better understand what inspires employees in the workplace, three entrepreneurs share what motivates them to get in the office everyday and put in those long hours to turn their dreams into reality…
We the Owners: Employees Expanding the American Dream is a documentary from the Foundation for Enterprise Development that follows three companies of different sizes in different industries and regions (New Belgium Brewing, Namaste Solar, and DPR Construction) that use employee ownership in diverse ways (an ESOP, a worker cooperative, and a phantom stock plan respectively). … Read More
Aimed at emerging as well as established social entrepreneurs, for-profit leaders who want to introduce an element of social responsibility into their companies, and nonprofit organizations who want to increase their stability by generating income, The Art of Social Enterprise is the definitive guide to doing well while doing good.
Equal Exchange is a cooperative organization that taps into the full capacities of everyone involved in a socially responsible way. This article describes how it has used the wisdom of its multiple stakeholders to create a collaborative community, to be profitable, and to have significant positive impact on people’s lives and the environment in approximately 20 countries.
To make an economy that serves us, we need to own the jobs and the businesses—together. How cooperatives are leading the way to empowered workers and healthy communities…
This case study describes Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications equipment company, which heavily utilizes ESOP ownership, and applies Huawei’s results to describe ESOPs as a powerful tool for achieving corporate efficiency and growth.
This film tells the little known stories of employee-owned businesses that compete successfully in today’s economy while providing secure, dignified jobs in democratic workplaces. The film highlights examples including Mondragon in the Basque Country in Spain and the Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as smaller businesses including coffee shops and bakeries.
Any business owner who evaluates their succession options without investigating the concept of an employee stock ownership plan will be making a mistake. What is an ESOP, and how does it work?
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…
Communication benefits the employee-ownership plan of a company in many ways. A well-communicated plan and a well-planned communication campaign are much more likely to accomplish your objectives…
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.’
It is time to make the case that employee ownership is a solution to a lot of what is wrong with our country, and we need to continue to promote the concept until we have 30,000 or 40,000 employee-owned companies rather than the static 10,000 we have had for the last decade or more. If we can do that, we will have put a large part of the country on a much stronger footing, and moved toward solving some fundamental economic and social problems…
Integrating art, business and education, this documentary film captures inspiring stories of employees and founders from three companies, each structured with distinct forms of broad-based employee ownership, who share an insider’s view of shared wealth and responsibility, high involvement culture, and their approaches and challenges in creating opportunity and prosperity through ownership.
With ESOPs now formed almost entirely at very healthy companies – and many of those enjoying the unique cash flow benefits of operating as ESOP-owned S corporations – a growing number of these companies have become the predators of the M&A jungle…
The California Center for Employee Ownership provides information and resources to promote a better understanding of employee ownership in California.
CMC Rescue became 92 percent employee owned in 2011. Jim came to the realization that employee ownership could realistically be the only way to assure continuation of CMC with its current operations and employees…
The ideas of employee ownership and various forms of profit sharing in corporations have been around for a long time. The shorthand proposition under study is this: If employees observe that they have a meaningful stake in the fortunes of the enterprise, they create value. More specifically, if they have a financial and emotional stake in the performance of the venture, then as individuals and as a workplace community they will raise the level of their performance and productivity.
This book describes the full spectrum of equity compensation plans (such as stock options, stock purchase plans, stock grants, restricted stock, phantom stock, and stock appreciation rights) available to private and public companies as well as LLCs. Unlike most books on equity compensation, it focuses on helping decision-makers decide what kinds of equity to choose, and who should get how much and when.
n-Link Founder Sandra Green explains that in the early days she wasn’t exactly certain what employee ownership entailed but knew intrinsically that it was a good thing for the company and the employees.
What do veteran ESOP companies have much to teach us about what it takes to sustain employee ownership over the long term?