Our Share: Employee Ownership as a Wealth Sharing Tool
Rutgers video course introducing employee ownership through four modules.
Course Overview
In this course, you will learn about a well-researched tool for building a more equitable economy: “employee ownership.” You will learn what it is, how it differs from traditional business ownership models, and the forms it can take. You will learn how employee ownership can share wealth and profits with employees–while making businesses more productive. You will learn what the research shows about the benefits of this tool for employees, retiring business owners, and the economy. Whatever your interest in the topic, you’ll find information here that you can use. If you are a business owner or entrepreneur, you will learn why employee ownership could be a solution that benefits you and your employees. If you are an employee of a business, you will learn how you could gain an ownership stake in the business and what that would mean. If you are a student, this course is relevant to numerous fields including human resources management, strategy, entrepreneurship, organizations, history, economics, community economic development, labor studies, sociology, and more. If you are simply someone interested in tested real-world solutions to economic inequality, or concerned about social justice, this course is for you as well. By the end of the course, you will know key questions to ask to determine whether employee ownership may be suitable for your workplace. This course was developed by the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing with support from the Beyster Foundation for Enterprise Development.
Course Modules
There are four modules in the course. It is recommended to go in a sequence from Module 1 to Module 4 for better understanding.
Introduces the concept of employee ownership — exploring its core models, historical roots, and why it’s increasingly recognized as a powerful tool for building worker wealth and reducing economic inequality.
Explores the major forms of employee ownership — from ESOPs and worker cooperatives to profit-sharing plans — and the traditions and values that have shaped each model over time.
Distills the evidence on employee ownership, highlighting what studies reveal about its impact on worker wealth, firm performance, and economic equity.
Tells the real-world story of an ownership transition — examining the motivations behind going employee-owned and the practical steps that made it happen.
Ready to start learning?
Begin with Module 1: Introduction to Employee Ownership
Contributors
Designed by:
Adria Scharf, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing
Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations
Joseph R. Blasi, Ed.D., Distinguished Professor and Founder of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing
School of Management and Labor Relations
Presentations by:
Joseph Blasi, Ed.D. – Founder of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing
Jennifer Briggs, M.S. – Partner, GRITT Business Coaching and Executive Fellow of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University
William Castellano, Ph.D. – Professor of Strategic Human Resource Management at Rutgers University–New Brunswick and Director of the NJ/NY Center for Employee Ownership
Adriane Clomax, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor at the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University
Joo Hun Han, Ph.D. – Associate Professor, KAIST Business School at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Esteban Kelly – Executive Director of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives (https://www.usworker.coop)
Douglas Kruse, Ph.D. – Beyster Distinguished Professor at the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University
Christopher Michael, Ph.D., J.D. – Senior Director of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing (https://smlr.rutgers.edu/InstituteEO)
Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Ph.D – Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Department of Africana Studies at John Jay College, of the City University of New York ; Faculty Fellow and Mentor with the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations
Sanjay Pinto, Ph.D. – Co-director (with Camille Kerr, J.D.) of the Project on Unions and Worker Ownership (https://smlr.rutgers.edu/InstituteEO)
Corey Rosen, Ph.D. – Founder of the National Center for Employee Ownership (https://nceo.org)
Adria Scharf, Ph.D. – Executive Director of the Institute for the Study for Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University
Laura Hanson Schlachter, Ph.D. – Research Analyst at Americorps and Research Fellow of the Institute for the Study for Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University
Jarret Schlaff – Co-founder of worker cooperative Pingree Detroit (https://pingreedetroit.com)
Tracy Till – Co-founder of 100% employee-owned ESOP company Butler/Till (https://butlertill.com)
