Can an employee-owned company actually succeed? Here's how one thrived and made significant national achievements. In 1969, Dr. J. Robert Beyster founded the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) with a unique vision of an employee-owned organization run according to key principles that encourage entrepreneurship and accountability. Today, SAIC has grown from a handful of staff to over 43,000 employees - most of whom hold company equity - and more than $7 billion in annual revenue, steadily rising stock price, and top rankings in government and business. In this book, Dr. Beyster tells the story of SAIC, and offers valuable lessons on how to build a company in which loyalty to values goes hand in hand with success.
"I have known Dr. Beyster for more than four decades and have long admired him-as a scientist, a manager, and as a person. This book provides a rare glimpse of the inner workings of Dr. Beyster's highly effective business practices, and it is essential reading for anyone who hopes to build a business that makes a profit-and makes a difference." - Melvin R. Laird U.S. Secretary of Defense (1969-73)Senior Counselor for National and International Affairs The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.
"The SAIC story needs to be told, and Robert Beyster is the one to tell it. It is a success story of technical innovation, entrepreneurship, employee ownership, and great business practices." - William J. Perry U.S. Secretary of Defense (1994-1997)
"A must-read for those interested in improving productivity of their employees in a global economy. Dr. Beyster truly created large-scale employee ownership in the United States." - B. R. Inman Admiral, U. S. Navy (Ret.)
"SAIC is the exemplar of the 'workers make value' modern business. The SAIC Solution is a valuable reminder that firms can be great by doing what is right, and offers lessons on how to do it. Boards of directors, CEOs, and shareholders: read this book and ask if your firm could do better operating the SAIC way." - Dr. Richard Freeman Herbert Ascherman Chair in Economics, Harvard University
"When the respected founders of today's leading high-tech companies were still in grammar school, J. Robert Beyster had already figured out that sharing ownership with employees would be a critical part of building a company where people worked together at solving problems in teams, backed with knowledge and research. This is a detailed, practical, and visionary description of the company that emerged, just as relevant to the current generation of entrepreneurs as to the next." - Professor Joseph Blasi School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University.
"The SAIC story needs to be told, and Robert Beyster is the one to tell it. It is a success story of technical innovation, entrepreneurship, employee ownership, and great business practices." - William J. Perry U.S. Secretary of Defense (1994-1997)
"A must-read for those interested in improving productivity of their employees in a global economy. Dr. Beyster truly created large-scale employee ownership in the United States." - B. R. Inman Admiral, U. S. Navy (Ret.)
"SAIC is the exemplar of the 'workers make value' modern business. The SAIC Solution is a valuable reminder that firms can be great by doing what is right, and offers lessons on how to do it. Boards of directors, CEOs, and shareholders: read this book and ask if your firm could do better operating the SAIC way." - Dr. Richard Freeman Herbert Ascherman Chair in Economics, Harvard University
"When the respected founders of today's leading high-tech companies were still in grammar school, J. Robert Beyster had already figured out that sharing ownership with employees would be a critical part of building a company where people worked together at solving problems in teams, backed with knowledge and research. This is a detailed, practical, and visionary description of the company that emerged, just as relevant to the current generation of entrepreneurs as to the next." - Professor Joseph Blasi School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University.