Vision, Mission, Credo
This note contains examples of mission and vision statements from a number of employee-owned companies, including Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Whole Foods, King Arthur Flour, and more.
Transitioning Ownership in the Private Company: The ESOP Solution
Using a leveraged ESOP to buy out a departing or retiring business owner is a strategy with considerable benefits for all involved.
Employee Ownership and Organizational Outcomes
The relationship between employee ownership and desirable organizational outcomes is well documented, but the cause, if any, is not.
Conscious Growth: Why South Mountain Co. Pursues Deliberate Rather Than Maximum Growth
Is it true that small businesses are just big businesses that haven’t succeeded yet? John Abrams’ company pursues conscious growth not maximum growth.
SRC Holdings: The ‘Open Book’ Management Culture
The case examines how Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation Holdings (SRC), a key player in the engine and parts remanufacturing market in the US, turned itself around by implementing the ‘Open Book Management’ (OBM) philosophy.
Employee Governance and the Ownership of the Firm
By law, shareholders have an exclusive right to make certain corporate decisions, and this arrangement is generally justified by the shareholder’s role as the owner of the firm. However, many thoughtful observers hold that such a privileged position for shareholders is morally objectionable, in part because it neglects the important role played by employees.
The United Airline Bankruptcy and the Future of Employee Ownership
UAL suffered from particular design flaws in its stock ownership plan and, more seriously, the absence of complementary institutions focused on the distinctive problems of employee-owned firms.
Molded Dimensions, Inc.
Mike Katz, an MBA with several years of manufacturing management experience, talks about purchasing Molded Dimensions, Inc. (MDI), a Wisconsin-based plastics manufacturer, with his wife Linda, who also has a manufacturing background.
Governing the Firm: Workers’ Control in Theory and Practice
Many explanations for the rarity of workers’ control have been offered, but there have been few attempts to assess these hypotheses in a systematic way. This book draws upon economic theory, statistical evidence, and case studies to frame an explanation.
Beyond Empowerment: Building a Company of Citizens
The Athenian model of organizational democracy offers a window into how sizable groups of people can, in an atmosphere of dignity and trust, successfully govern themselves without resorting to a stifling bureaucracy.
Leader Values, the Structure of Employee Stock Ownership Plans, and Organizational Outcomes
What is the relationship between the personal philosophy (as it relates to the management of the firm) of leaders of employee-owned companies and the structure of their employee stock ownership plans?
The Strategic Use of Individual Employment Agreements: Three Case Studies
In light of varying outlooks on the process of individualisation in the hitherto collectively regulated industries, it was thought worthwhile revisiting the three disputes (those involving CRA Weipa, BHP, and the Commonwealth Bank) and thoroughly documenting them with a view to discovering what light they shed on the objectives of the individualisation process.
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.
Compensation at Level 3 Communications
Level 3’s unique compensation plan rewarded managers for the firm’s performance only if the firm’s stock price movement exceeded that of the market. This design was intended to maximize shareholder value by tying managers’ performance more closely to that of the firm.
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.
Worker Participation: Lessons from the Workers Co-Ops of the Pacific Northwest
The purpose of this book is to consider some consequences of worker participation in production and to provide an accessible economics perspective on two groups of worker co-ops in the Pacific Northwest: the plywood co-ops and the forestry worker co-ops.
Southwest Airlines Corporation
Southwest Airlines, consistently ranked as one of the top performing airlines in the business, began a profit-sharing plan in 1974.
Values at Work: Employee Participation Meets Market Pressure at Mondragon
Values at Work is an analysis of organizational dynamics with wide- ranging implications in an age of market globalization. It looks at the challenges businesses face to maintain people-oriented work systems while remaining successful in the larger economy.
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.
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
TWA: The Second Bankruptcy
In May 1995, about 19 months after emerging from the Chapter 11 bankruptcy it filed in 1993, Trans World Airlines issued a proxy statement to seek the consent of its shareholders and certain creditors for another debt restructuring plan.
DIENA
In 1997, seeking new sources of growth, A/S DIENA expands outside the Latvian capital to set up the Regional Press Group, a decentralized network of community newspapers emphasizing employee ownership and a separation of roles between editors and publishers.
Shared Modes of Compensation and Firm Performance: UK Evidence
This paper examines the use and consequences of shared compensation plans (profit sharing, profit related pay, SAYE schemes and company stock option plans) in a sample of UK workplaces and firms in the 1990s.
Managing for Value: It’s Not Just about the Numbers (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)
The authors argue that properly applied, a VBM program will put your company’s profitability firmly on track.
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…