Director’s Reflection

This is the first in a series of occasional reflections on the Rutgers Institute and the field. —Adria Scharf, PhD

I’m honored to step into leadership of the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. The Institute’s past leaders and its staff, supporters, and fellows have built something remarkable: a global research community whose work speaks directly to pressing questions related to the future of work and the economy.

As technology reshapes the economy, questions about who owns its productive assets, and who benefits from the wealth they generate, are becoming increasingly urgent. Who shares in the gains? What models can help workers build economic security? What models could enable broader ownership of the productive assets underlying economic growth?

Our field has a lot to contribute to these questions, thanks to decades of research evidence on how sharing ownership and profits can help workers build wealth while supporting productive, resilient businesses. Rutgers has played a critical role in expanding  and strengthening this body of knowledge over the years, not only through its own research but by investing in hundreds of researchers globally, encouraging new lines of inquiry, and facilitating connections among them.

We are at the cusp of a potentially transformative moment. AI brings profound uncertainties about the future of work, but also opportunities to broaden the conversation about who has a claim to ownership in our economy and who shares in its gains. As interest in employee ownership and profit sharing grows among policymakers, investors, and the public, the Institute will continue to serve as a “big tent” intellectual home for studying all forms of employee ownership, profit sharing, and related approaches from a wide range of perspectives.

One priority for my leadership will be to strengthen the connection between scholarship and practice. Researchers and practitioners bring different kinds of knowledge to shared questions. Bringing these perspectives into conversation can sharpen those questions, strengthen research, and make research findings more useful.

Our Employee Ownership Research-to-Practice Hub is one way we’re doing this. Through accessible briefs, case studies, and tools, we’re bringing research to business owners, workers, advisors, funders, and policymakers.

I’m just back from the 10th Annual National Home Care Cooperative Conference, where I joined Elevate Cooperative and scholar Geoff Gusoff to convene a roundtable bringing researchers and cooperative practitioners into conversation.  I am also working closely with The Baker Project on a new series of Executive Briefs for business owners, CEOs, and other senior leaders. Each brief starts with a business challenge and helps readers assess whether employee ownership could help, what the research says, and points to concrete tools.  Looking forward, the Institute will continue to bring research and practice into conversation so that each can better inform the other.

As director, I am glad to work alongside Beyster Professor Douglas Kruse and our growing Institute team. I want to thank Bill Castellano, director of the NJ/NY Center for Employee Ownership, for his leadership and many contributions. Institute founder Dr. Joseph Blasi remains an invaluable member of the Institute “family” as advisor and distinguished professor.

I’m continually struck by the profound impact that the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing, and its leaders, have had–informing policy, informing and supporting the field.  As a member of the community myself, I’ve especially valued how the Institute invests in people, how it welcomes and supports new researchers, and how it connects people and ideas—through fellowships, mentorship, and convenings that encourage collaboration. I look forward to building this next chapter, in that spirit, with you.