...But Not in "Great Game of Business" Companies

Employee participation is thriving at some companies, however, as a recent conference demonstrated. The third annual "Great Game of Business" conference was held in St. Louis in September, attracting a sellout crowd of 525 people (and a long waiting list) from companies in every size and business category. The "Great Game of Business" is a system of employee involvement created by employee-owned Springfield ReManufacturing Company (SRC) in Springfield, MO. All of its 850 employees are taught to read and understand detailed financial data on the company, ranging from income statements and balance sheets to production data and "critical numbers" (key performance measures for the company).

The "Game" started in 1983 when SRC was a 119-employee company just bought by its management. With an 89-1 debt to equity ratio, President Jack Stack wanted everyone to understand the numbers -- and to do something with them. So he started educating everyone on business. SRC remanufactures engines, so its work force is typical of manufacturing. Few people knew anything about the numbers. Stack also set up an ESOP to share ownership. Once people had a basic grasp of the numbers, they were used as feedback mechanisms for extensive group meetings throughout the plant to discuss and implement ways to make things better. They did. The value of SRC stock went from ten cents per share in 1983 to $23 in 1995. Over 1200 companies journey to SRC each year to learn how it does what it does (SRC even set up a for-profit subsidiary to teach the process). An annual conference now lets alumni shares results.

Not surprisingly, a large percentage of attendees are from employee-owned companies. In John Case's new book, Open Book Management (a generic name for the SRC approach), half the examples are employee ownership companies.