Equity: Why Employee Ownership Is Good For Business [Hardcover]

Corey Rosen (Author), John Case (Author), Martin Staubus (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1591393310 | ISBN-13: 978-1591393313 | Publication Date: May 1, 2005

How employee ownership can pay bottom-line benefits? Today, more than 25 percent of American workers own stock in their employers. You can shop at employee-owned supermarkets such as Publix, buy Gore-Tex fabric from employee-owned W.L. Gore & Associates, and sip coffee served by employee owners at Starbucks. Now Corey Rosen, John Case, and Martin Staubus present convincing evidence that employee ownership can be much more than just a good benefit program. Done right, it can be the foundation for a new - and more effective - model of management. Drawing on first-hand studies of dozens of companies from large corporations to local retailers, the authors show that the "equity model" enables firms to grow faster and more profitably than conventionally run competitors. Vivid examples of both winning and failed attempts at employee ownership reveal the key concepts that make the model successful, and suggest how managers can adapt these strategies for use in their own companies. This lively and practical guide delivers a sound business case for making employees true partners in a firm's success.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Corey Rosen is Cofounder and Executive Director of the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO). John Case, author of several books on management, has been a writer for Inc. magazine and an Executive Editor of Newsletters at Harvard Business School Publishing. Martin Staubus is Director of Employee Ownership Consulting for the Beyster Institute at the Rady School of Management, University of California San Diego.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 214 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591393310
• ISBN-13: 978-1591393313
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #394,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Business Owners and Management Consultants, April 27, 2005

By 

John D. Menke (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Equity: Why Employee Ownership Is Good For Business (Hardcover)

This is a clear, concise and very readable book that makes the case for the Equity Model of ownership and management better than anything that has been written to date. After reading this book, you will readily see why all of the management theories of the past-Theory X, Theory Y, Theory Z, Management by Objectives, Management by Walking Around, Reengineering by Downsizing, the One Minute Manager, Quality Circles, etc.-have failed. Throw out all of your existing management theory books. This is the only only one that has got it right.

The Equity Model has evolved over the past 30 years and has resulted in phenomenal performance by those companies that have used it. As described by the authors, the Equity Model involves three essential components-stock ownership, an ownership culture, and employee training and involvement in the specific goals and strategies of the business in question. Unfortunately, most business owners and most ESOP consultants have overlooked the importance of the third component. Ownership by itself is not sufficient. An ownership culture by itself is not sufficient. Even combining stock ownership with an ownership culture is not sufficient. Superior results only occur if all three components are utilizied.

This book traces the origins and development of each of these three components and then illustrates through numerous case examples how these components have been successfully combined to create high performance results, even in very mundane industries.

This book also gives practical, easy-to-follow guidelines as to how these components can be combined to create the best results. In today's global competitive environment, following these guidelines may just make the difference between success and survival on the one hand or business failure on the other.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you want to know about employee ownership, May 1, 2005

By 

Loren Rodgers (Carrboro, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Equity: Why Employee Ownership Is Good For Business (Hardcover)

As someone who's been active in employee ownership for over a decade, I can't think of any of book - or any other source - that does a better job of pulling together dozens of company stories, hundreds of examples, and thousands of hours of collected wisdom into a single place. This book will intrigue company leaders who want to know how to make ownership work, satisfy the prove-it-to-me crowd with up-to-date research, and even entertain the lay reader with inspiring stories and personal anecdotes. It strikes a balance between history and current events, between theory and practice, and between raw fact and the human touch. Read it to get the inside scoop on one of the most under-reported trends in the U.S. economy from three of the field's most respected thinkers.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sid Scott, M.B.A. (Dubuque, IA USA), April 27, 2005

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Sidney Scott (Dubuque, IA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Equity: Why Employee Ownership Is Good For Business (Hardcover)

Recently, personal ownership of various kinds in our society has been emphasized. This book addresses perhaps the most important and rewarding type of ownership--employee ownership.

The book is chock full of interesting statistics and insightful research studies juxtaposed with wonderful success stories and anecdotes about how having significant and broad ownership changes (for the better)how an organization is run. Rosen, Case and Staubus bring decades of experience, observations and conclusions that will help everyone from owners looking for positive ways to perpetuate their businesses to managers wanting to improve product development, customer service, management, motivation, rewards systems and profitability to employee owners interested in learning from the experiences of folks at other organizations.This book is a must read for anyone wanting to learn the important business advantages of having people own and actively participate in making the places where they work more competitive and successful.