Shared Capitalism: Lessons from the 6th Annual Beyster Summer Fellowship Symposium
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?
The Role of Management in an Employee-Ownership Company
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.
How Do I Get More Employees to Actively Participate in Our Plan?
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.
Shared Entrepreneurship: A Path to Engaged Employee Ownership
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.
Got Stock? Employers Take Note – Future Employees Want Their Share
New research from Fidelity shows that over 80 percent of employees say that a company stock plan influences their decision to change employers…
Wawa Inc.
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.
The SAIC Solution: Built by Employee Owners
This book is a guide to implementing principles and practices developed and used by SAIC to drive exponential growth, global expansion, and diversification across science and technology customers and markets…
Money Left on the Table: An Analysis of Participation in Employee Stock Purchase Plans
This paper analyzes participation decisions in employee stock purchase plans. These plans allow employees to buy company stock at a discount from the market price and resell it immediately for a sure profit. Although an average employee stands to gain $3,079 annually, only 30% of individuals take advantage of this risk-free opportunity. Participation is more … Read More
Building Community at Terra Nova Consulting
This case describes the challenges faced by the president of an engineering and environmental services consulting firm (Terra Nova Consulting) as it seeks to address deep internal cultural divisions…
ESOP and 401(k) Coordination Tips in a Post-Disclosure World
After several postponements, 401(k) fee disclosure was mandated by the Department of Labor (DOL) before July 1st of 2012. So what kind of impact have we seen in the ESOP world? Has it been successful in helping plan sponsors and participants understand the costs of their 401(k) plans?
Wunnerful, Wunnerful! The Lawrence Welk ESOP
In 1964, the famous television bandleader Lawrence Welk went for a drive in the country north of San Diego, Calif. planning to invest in a grove of orange trees. Instead he bought a motel and a nine-hole golf course. One of the keys to their business success has been their philosophy of treating their employees like family…
Can Employee-Owned Companies Reboot the Economy?
If owners of businesses are reaping the rewards of economic growth at the expense of workers, then why not just try to increase the number of workers who also own a piece of the firms that employ them?
The Citizen’s Share: Reducing Inequality in the 21st Century
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 of that share idea in American history and brings its message to today’s economy, where business capital has replaced land as the source of wealth creation.
Change Management: Getting Employees on Board
Change initiatives are notorious for their failure rate…
Best Practice in Developing Best Practice
Best practice is to remember that and to never stop watching outcomes so that you can adjust your process to stay on course no matter how often the course needs to change.
Trust in the Digital Age
Trust in all organizations is a key to cultural cohesiveness and teamwork…
Three ESOP Myths, Debunked
One argument against employee stock ownership plans is that they invest primarily in a single asset, company stock, which puts too many eggs in one basket. That argument makes sense in theory, but in practice it does not apply to the vast majority of ESOPs for three reasons…
Doing Well and Doing Good: Pioneer Employers Discover Profits and Deliver Opportunity for Frontline Workers
A new study of business practices reveals powerful ways to create strategic and financial gains. Lower-wage workers, when supported by effective policies, boost productivity, quality, innovation, and revenues from new markets…
Employee Ownership 105: Sustaining Employee Ownership: Factors That Affect Its Effect and Its Future
After completing the course, students will have an understanding of the factors that affect the long and short term lifespan of an employee owned company.
Employee Ownership 106: A Culture of Ownership: What Is It, and How Is It Implemented in Modern Business?
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: The Foundation of Employee Ownership: A Brief History
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.
Employee Ownership 102: Theories of Employee Ownership: A Look at Underpinnings and Ideas
After completing the course, students will have an understanding of the philosophical and theoretical bases for broadening access to capital among wider ranges of the population as a way of strengthening the capitalist model.
Employee Ownership 103: Business Planning, Financing, Law and Taxation in Equity Ownership
After completing the course, students will have the capacity to understand and evaluate the various tools and techniques available under current law and practice for applying corporate equity as a compensation and motivation vehicle for employees as well as a tax and cost effective vehicle for assisting in business succession and capital expansion.
Employee Ownership 104: Broad-based Ownership and Governance: Who’s Running This Company Anyway?
After completing the course, students will have an understanding of the governance structures that control modern corporations, the relationship between ownership of equity of a corporation and its control.
Take-Aways on Employee Ownership from the Other Side of the Pond
Take-aways from an international tour featuring the documentary film, “We the Owners: Employees Expanding the American Dream.”