 |
|
|
Your donation will help us support the efforts of GHI and Care Circles around the globe. Contribute online 
|
|
 |
|
|
Or give Us a Call at:
(860) 674-9023
|
|
|
|
September 29,2006
 What happens when you cross a traditional business with a nonprofit? A new hybrid is born: The Stakeholder Business Model
Farmington – “Corporations are a source of great power – let’s work toward making them a force for great good!” Kate Emery thusly summed up her announcement at a company-wide staff meeting that Walker Systems Support will be moving to a new business model.
Emery, who started a computer consulting firm 24 years ago and built it up to the be the second largest network consulting firms in the Hartford area, more recently started a non-profit organization called Global Harmony Institute, dedicated to giving people the resources they need to take positive action in the world. One of the ways she personally hopes to take action is by turning Walker into a Stakeholder company. Emery explains, “The American Revolution moved us from a political aristocracy to a democratic republic. The time has come to revolutionize our corporations in the same way.” She is in the process of re-writing the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws of Walker to ensure that the rights of all stakeholders are considered. In her view corporations are like communities and the stakeholders like citizens. There are three primary stakeholder groups to be considered: Employees, Investors, and Community and her intention is to declare and protect the six inalienable rights of these primary stakeholder groups: The right to a voice; to fair treatment; fair compensation; a share of the profits; the right to know what’s going on; and the right to know that the drive for profit will be balanced by the desire to do the right thing.
There are many visionary leaders who recognize the need to respect and respond to all stakeholders and create a culture within their business to achieve this. The problem is culture can (and often does) change as the majority shareholders change. Emery, with the help of Attorney Jack Horak of Reid and Riege, Hartford, is putting together the legal framework to ensure this model in perpetuity. The rights to change the model will be vested in a new class of stock which will be held by a nonprofit organization called the Stakeholder Trust. This organization will be there to ensure that Walker Systems Support is responsive to all stakeholders, and will also be responsible for dispursing the 1/3rd of profits set aside for the community.
Emery again, “My dream is that we are wildly successful as a result of moving to this model - That employees seek us out, and clients retain us because they like this model. Then if we are successful, other businesses will adopt the same model, and it becomes less of an oddity. Soon socially responsible investors will back Stakeholder Companies and awareness grows, and who knows, someday it may become the norm!” |
|
|
