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Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc.: Employee Ownership as a Next Step for a Fast-Growing Environmental Remediation Company

Lorin Busaan, Simon Pek | April, 2023

This teaching case study explores employee ownership at Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc. Milestone has long seen its employees as crucial to achieving its ambitious vision of becoming the general contractor of choice for governments, consultants, and engineers in an increasingly in-demand field in Canada. Recently, grounded in a desire to ensure that growth is more … Read More

Common Wealth Dividends: History and Theory

Brent Ranalli | April, 2021

Common wealth dividends are universal cash payments funded by fees on the private use of common resources like land, minerals, and the atmosphere as a carbon sink. Thomas Paine’s 1797 pamphlet Agrarian Justice and Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend are staples in the literature on Basic Income, but there is much more to common wealth dividends … Read More

Is Profit Sharing Good for the Environment? Positive Evidence From French Firms

Fathi Fakhfakh, Felix FitzRoy | September, 2018

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to look at the effect of profit sharing (PS) on the ability of the firm to take care of the environment. Design/methodology/approach In a large cross-section of French firms, the authors find strong associations between PS and various innovations with environmental benefits. With cross-sectional data from the Community … Read More

The End of Illth: In Search of an Economy That Won’t Kill Us 

Erik Reece | October, 2013

In the wake of the 2010 Massey mining disaster in West Virginia, the author asks whether employee ownership could improve workplace safety, and how such cooperatives might serve as a model for an alternative form of capitalism based on the sustainable use of natural and human resources.  

Amul Dairy 

Ian McKown Cornell, Ray A. Goldberg | July, 2013

How could the managing director maintain the firm’s cooperative structure, address the nutritional needs of all Indians, make use of emerging technology, and navigate the country’s dairy policies in the coming years? 

Collaboration That Goes beyond Co-Op-Eration: It’s Not Just ‘‘If’’ but ‘‘How’’ Sharing Occurs That Makes the Difference 

Benita W. Harris, Charles C. Manz, Frank Shipper, Karen P. Manz | April, 2013

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. 

GE and Google Call for Clean Energy Policies 

Ben Block | September, 2008

The recently announced alliance between technology giants General Electric and Google may provide the lobbying arsenal necessary for the U.S. to overhaul an outdated electric grid widely considered as a barricade to a low-carbon future. 

Davey Tree Stands Tall with Employee Ownership 

Karen Thomas | June, 2004

Over 25 years, The Davey Tree Expert Company’s employee owners built a good small company into one of the premier companies in its industry, with an entrepreneurial zest for new products and acquisitions. The company’s development would have pleased its inventive founder and provably surprised the family members who sold it to hesitant employees in 1979. 

Starbucks Coffee Company 

Alison Stanley, Paul A. Argenti | January, 2002

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

Employee Ownership as Catalyst of Organizational Change 

Barbara R. Bartkus | April, 1997

This article identifies several key factors as mediating links between employee ownership plans and organizational effectiveness: the initiator’s purpose of the employee ownership plan; perceptions of ownership; level of participative decision-making systems; and organizational culture.