Were You Born on the Wrong Continent? How the European Model Can Help You Get a Life. The corporate model we have today hasn't always been around and it doesn't need to remain the dominant way we do business. http://www.alternet.org/economy/155339/there_is_a_way!_beyond_the_big,_bad_corporation/?page=entire [..]"What's underway is an ownership revolution. It's about broadening economic power from the few to the many and about changing the mindset from social indifference to social benefit," Kelly writes. "We're schooled to fear this shift, to think there are only two choices for the design of an economy: capitalism and communism, private ownership and state ownership. But the alternatives being grown today defy those dusty 19th-century categories. They represent a new option of private ownership for the common good. This economic revolution is different from a political one. It's not about tearing down but about building up. It's about reconstructing the foundation of ownership on which the economy rests." [..]Germany also has co-determined boards, which give workers a voice in governance -- companies with more than 2,000 employees have half of their boards composed of workers. Empowering employees has proved a successful business model elsewhere. The John Lewis Partnership has been around in the UK since 1920 and has grown to over 30 department stores and more than 200 supermarkets, with a revenue of $13.4 billion. The business is employee-owned -- all workers get to share the profits and vote for the governing council and company's board. "This firm has a written constitution, printed up and publicly available, which states that the company's purpose is to support 'the happiness of all its members,'" wrote Kelly. "Now, let me pause and note: this is the only major corporation I've found that declares its purpose is to serve employee happiness. This is so, at JLP, not because it boosts returns for shareholders. At the John Lewis Partnership, employee happiness isn't a path to some other goal. It is the goal." Employee-owned companies aren't just a British anomaly. "In the United States, the National Center for Employee Ownership reports that there are 11,300 employee-owned firms, with some 14 million participants," Kelly found. "And in Europe, large companies have nearly 10 million employee-owners. Employee ownership has been increasing in such countries as Spain, Poland, France, Denmark, and Sweden." Organizations can be run with employee owners or other kinds of members. The London Symphony is owned by the musicians who play in it. Barcelona FC soccer team and the Green Bay Packers football team are community-owned. Mutual insurance companies are owned by policy holders and credit unions are owned by depositors. Employee-owned businesses and cooperatives have emerged in the green business world with great success, as well. Community-owned forests in Mexico support indigenous people, protect the environment and prevent illegal logging. In Denmark community-owned wind farms have jumpstarted wind energy, supplying 20 percent of country's power. In Minnesota, Minwind is a farmer-owned wind development company that's grown to 350 members. http://www.alternet.org/economy/155339/there_is_a_way!_beyond_the_big,_bad_corporation/?page=entire
That's kinda nonsense if you ask me , corporations operate on the profit motive for shareholders and owners. Nothing inherently changes in that concept if those owners happen to also be employees. All one has to do is look at the popularity of self employment, to realize this is nothing new.
I can hardly imagine the buy-in and motivation you'd get from your employees in those types of businesses. Huge. Hmm, I guess they're not "your employees", though. Wish I'd been aware of this kind of business when I was younger.
List of "notable" employee-owned companies in the US. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_employee-owned_companies
Corporation declares its purpose is to serve employee happiness.. This is simply wrong.... The CEO of this corporation needs to take some lessons from the CEO below... <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Cpbpx3j0EdU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
If you form a corporation, make yourself its sole employee, and state that you've done this for your own happiness... no reason to doubt that statement, is there?