Yesterday evening, I got a chance to hear Corey Rosen give a talk at Rady. Rosen is the director of the National Center for Employee Ownership, which is an organization that goes around promoting “Employee Stock Ownership Plans,” or ESOPs. Basically, an ESOP company is one where the employees are the major (or sometimes the only) shareholders.
Naturally, Rosen has a very particular point of view, but I thought his talk was admirably measured, balanced and fair. So I paid particular attention to his criticism of a school of business leaders who posit that creating a “culture of ownership” leads to many of the same benefits enjoyed by ESOP companies. Rosen presented a terrific metaphor in response: a culture of ownership is like bringing guests to Thanksgiving and telling them about the great menu that you have planned, and showing them pictures of the meal that they would traditionally be enjoying on Thanksgiving. They can see the turkey, they just can’t eat it. One of the best takeaway quotes I have picked up from any of my MBA lectures:
You need employee ownership because it’s a real turkey.
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