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.
Why a low-cost program to educate employees about company ownership could produce huge financial benefits for the country.
This research report from the United Kingdom shows that the arrival of millennials in the workplace is not a threat to the employee owned business model. On the contrary, employee ownership works well to meet the aspirations of millennials, as it does for other generations. The ability of the employee ownership model to harness the … Read More
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)…
In December, my family finalized a very personal, and we hope impactful, gift titled, J.R. Beyster Papers, to UCSD Library’s Special Collections. After about one year of pre-processing, the collection includes more than 200 boxes of documents covering more than 50 years of hundreds of advanced scientific innovations, small- to billion-dollar business experiments, and discontinued to transformational government program development.
In 1993, Mack Hembree, a successful real estate businessman, was invited to invest in opening a business that he had some commonly held reservations about. The business was a pawn shop… By fostering and aligning employee satisfaction, collaboration, and commitment at every level, Mack has developed an ownership culture that differentiates Gems N’ Loans from its peers and has been instrumental in the company’s success.
Two major shifts in contemporary work organizations—“employee participation” and “diversity management”—have typically been studied in isolation from one another. Building on theoretical work by Acker (2006a,b), we ask how the interaction of these two constructs has affected the pursuit of workplace democracy at two worker cooperatives in Northern California. Using qualitative methods, we find that … Read More
In this paper, we first examine whether Huawei has an advantage over ZTE following the strategic restructurings in 2011, and then retest the hypothesis on the positive effect of an ESOP on Huawei’s competitive position…
MONDRAGON, the largest cooperative in the world, and the inspiration for several U.S. cooperatives, faces a challenge in 2013 after one of its largest cooperatives votes to leave the group and another goes bankrupt.
For the last several years, there has been a constant and very predictable discussion taking place regarding the sustainability of ESOP companies…
To survive, Atlas changed from an external to an internal growth strategy. The smoothness of the transition could at least be partially attributed to a set of internal strategies that were unusual for a commodity/cost-driven industry. They included democratic governance and employee ownership…
Two of the most common industries to have established ESOPs are construction and manufacturing, combining to make up 35 percent of the 1,600 companies represented by the ESOP Association…
Ultimately, the success of your venture will be determined not by your efforts alone but by the performance of the cast of people — employees, partners, or associates — that you assemble. So, if there is a strategy that can help you get more out of the people on whom you depend and also boost your organizational horsepower, you owe it to yourself to take a serious look. A policy of sharing equity with employees that is designed and used wisely can be just that strategy.
William H. (Bill) Carris set a deliberate purposeful course for the whole system change that he deeply desired for his employees. The Carris transformation, innovative in its own right, provides examples of change from being traditionally owned, managed and governed to having shared ownership, participatory management and shared governance by the whole…
This Critical Mass Radio Show discusses why, when and how business owners should choose the ESOP path as the correct succession strategy…
In today’s economy, some employees live paycheck to paycheck and are unable to save for a rainy day, let alone retirement. However, an increasingly utilized business model may yield part of the solution. Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) are a promising alternative to traditional business models…
In this issue, we close the loop on the triangular governance structure that supports ESOP companies and discuss the role of the ESOP itself as reflected in the duties and functions of the ESOP fiduciary (the trustee).
A tale of entrepreneurship – and a leading holiday decoration company becomes employee owned…
When things go wrong at work, as they occasionally do, a common first reaction is to look for the culprit(s). This can lead to punishment which may result in the ‘evildoer(s)’ being severely reprimanded, or even terminated. Unfortunately, not only does the problem often remain unsolved, the organization is left with another challenge of replacing a person or two. There may be a better way that doesn’t result in a lose-lose situation…
The idea of workers owning the businesses where they work is not new. In America’s early years, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison believed that the best economic plan for the Republic was for citizens to have some ownership stake in the land, which was the main form of productive capital. This book traces the development … Read More
What are the best strategies for aligning equity incentives for all stakeholders, and what lessons can be drawn from cutting-edge research in the area?
What is the function of senior management in the governance of ESOP companies? Simply put, the function of management in an ESOP company is the same as in any other company – to manage very well to achieve strategic objectives and to participate in the strategic operation of the company by giving the board feedback on how the strategic plan is being successfully implemented and, more important, where it is failing.
You just received the dreaded call from your friendly 401(k) third-party administrator – your average deferral percentage (ADP) test is failing…again! Some of your highly compensated employees will be disappointed to learn that money they deferred will be returned to them and is taxable.
In many ways the persistent top-down command and control theme that supports established leadership thought and practice prevents organizations from fully tapping into their human resources, in turn limiting their flexibility to meet the challenges of increasingly dynamic, complex, and competitive environments. Shared Entrepreneurship replaces the top-down approaches of the past with a new framework that draws strengths and innovation from collaboration and sharing.
New research from Fidelity shows that over 80 percent of employees say that a company stock plan influences their decision to change employers…
The Wawa associates have an ESOP which plays a key role in Wawa’s culture of ownership. This case explores the role of incentives and levers of control to create a successful retail chain.