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The Five Constituencies We Serve Through Our Employee Ownership Work
By Anthony I. Mathews, Beyster Institute Staff
We are approaching the beginning of yet another academic year – where does the time go? As always, we are preparing ourselves and our plans for another great (and definitely entrepreneurial) year. Planning for us here at the Beyster Institute is somewhat easier than it might be elsewhere in that we have a very clear mandate that is part of our history – to promote employee ownership and entrepreneurship. That is our dual and equal commission, and we will always remain true to those objectives.
Sometimes, though, getting a clear focus on exactly what that means in practice is a little more difficult. We need a solid framework for how we view our yearly commitments and a solid plan for how we will accomplish them. To keep our focus clear, we have developed a way of looking at our activities that is based around our customers (or constituents), and we make a commitment to deliver significant programs to each of them every year.
We believe that it is our job to provide meaningful educational experiences for five key constituencies:
- Entrepreneurs and business leaders who don’t yet know about employee ownership
This is a significant constituency for us. Without entrepreneurs’ and business leaders’ respect for our entrepreneurship training and an understanding of the many ways that employee ownership can work in the successful development of their businesses, the path to a broader distribution of capital will be a very tough one for us to influence.
We develop a range of programming, including seminars in estate planning and business succession that highlight the role that employee ownership (especially ESOPs) can play in those plans. We provide individual assistance with the development and understanding of employee ownership programs. We publish books and regularly make information available to the public on the latest trends and issues in employee ownership. Because this constituent is willing to pay for our assistance, we can deliver in this area while supporting the educational efforts below that do not support themselves - our own version of the trickle down theory of educational enrichment (Ronnie would be so proud).
- Leaders and employees of employee ownership companies
We probably owe the greatest loyalty to those who have chosen to operate within the employee ownership corporate structure. We are learning more and more as time passes that managing an employee ownership company is decidedly different from managing either a public company or a more traditional closely held company such as a family business or sole proprietorship. The style of management that works for employee ownership companies is both more contemplative and aware of subtle consequences of actions; and more collaborative, involving many factors in decision making. That is not to say that employee ownership companies are all run by committee, but it is a reality that employee ownership companies are much more inclusive than others. How do we serve this constituent?
Our annual conference and the year-long menu of seminars and webinars is clearly valuable to that group. The cornerstone of our commitment to this constituent in recent years is embodied in the Essentials of Managing an Employee Owned Company course that we offer each fall with the Rady Center for Executive Development and in connection with University of Wisconsin and Kent State University. This unique program offers strategic management-level employees of employee ownership companies an opportunity to explore the intricacies of managing in this wonderful but challenging format. Future plans include expanding the scope of this offering to include programs for in-house fiduciaries and those involved in plan operation.
- Advisors to Entrepreneurs and Businesses
Our third constituency is also important: If there is a single reason there are not more employee ownership companies, it could be argued that it's because the vast majority of professional advisors (lawyers, consultants, accountants, financial planners, estate planners, etc.) have little or no understanding of how employee ownership fits into the life cycle of a business. To approach this constituent, we offer a range of professional development seminars (some of which will provide CLE and CPE credit in the years to come) so that there will be a continual and comprehensive curriculum to support learning in this important area. Our publications also offer detailed information at a reasonable price, and we partner with many such advisors to help in the dissemination of information on both our areas of expertise.
- Students of business and entrepreneurship
In terms of the future of employee ownership, there is no constituent more important than those future business leaders who are wending their way through the business education system at this time. These are not only the future leaders of and advisors to business. For many of these talented individuals, exposure to employee ownership introduces the possibility of becoming part of the employee ownership community. For some, a career managing an employee ownership company resonates solidly.
One of employee ownership’s greatest vulnerabilities is that our form of business requires a kind of leadership that embodies the drive and charisma of the most effective top leaders that is tempered with a kind of selflessness that can happily take on that challenge for the benefit of the whole corporate community rather than a few individuals. That is easier to find than you might imagine, but the real barrier is that the mainstream academic community has largely ignored this concept. In fact, the Rady School at UCSD is one of very few (if not the only) regular MBA curriculum in the country that offers students a comprehensive course on employee ownership. We are continually pursuing wider applications of that important course and opportunities to offer it in a range of venues.
- Professors and teachers of business and entrepreneurship
Our final constituent is perhaps the most important of all. It is clear that all the other constituents look to the business education community to inform and enlighten them about important business techniques. At the same time, this most important link in the information chain remains almost completely unaware of the importance of employee ownership and equity compensation outside of the very limited area of executive compensation.
We have taken many steps over the years to approach this constituent. Most recently, making use of grants from the Foundation for Enterprise Development, we have developed a teaching module on employee ownership as well as two academic case studies (the basic teaching tool in the modern business or entrepreneurship school) that highlight the role of employee ownership in business decision making. We are working with the Aspen Institute on several initiatives, including making employee-ownership-related materials available to interested professors.
For the last several years, we have participated in the Experiential Classroom program at Syracuse University, presenting a course on teaching the uses of equity in building an entrepreneurial business. We share our curricula with anyone who has an interest in using them.
We approach planning for the new year with a renewed commitment to meet the needs of these five constituencies and to do so in a way that will assure our ability to continue with our mission into the future.
©2008 The Beyster Institute and its authors and their entities. All rights reserved.
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