Just a couple of comments to add to Doc's interesting posting.
In the UK we have a large multiple retail store that was founded between
the two world wars that has a unique attribute. It was founded with the
distinct belief that all staff were equal. It is called the John Lewis
Partnership. All staff have an equal vote in the major affairs of the
company. They recently voted not to be "privatized", i.e. change from
being owned by the partners, and floating on the stock exchange. At the
time of the vote, much was written in the UK press about the advantages of
this unique structure in UK retail business, and that if it did change its
status, we would be losing an important model for 21st century business.
Another change is the use of the word "associates". The automotive
company once called Rover, and now a subsidiary of BMW of Germany, has
called its work force not employees, not staff .. but associates.
As an observer, and a customer, I perceive one as very successful: the
other .. well it is a subsidiary of a German auto company!
Roy Greenhalgh
--Roy Greenhalgh <rgreenh@attglobal.net>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>