When we think about expanding awareness about employee ownership, we often think of this question in the context of the United States. However, the movement to expand the prevalence and awareness of employee ownership goes well beyond US borders. In this episode, we highlight an international example of this effort. We speak with Rodrigo Fernandez del Valle and Gonzalo Hernandez Gutierrez about an edited book they published, which includes chapters on employee ownership contributed by practitioners, researchers, and thinkers worldwide. Their goal? Introduce students, government officials, and business leaders to employee ownership and how it can positively impact society. We talked about how the book project came to be, what the book's reception has been, and what projects they are working on now to expand employee ownership in Mexico, Latin America, and beyond.
holds a Ph.D. in Advanced Management of Organizations and Social Economy from the University of Mondragon, Spain. He has a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the Université catholique de Louvain, a Master’s in Social Economy from the University of Mondragon, and a Master’s in Management of Social Economy Organizations from the Universidad Iberoamericana de Puebla. Currently, he is a researcher and professor at ITESO Jesuit University in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he coordinates the Academic Unit of Economics. Additionally, he is a fellow and researcher at Rutgers University in the United States and a visiting professor at various national and international universities. With over twenty years of experience in projects, teaching, and research related to the social economy, his research interests include employee ownership and purpose-driven businesses from a social economy perspective.
Rodrigo earned a BA in International Trade from ITESO Univesity. Founder of Centro de Capital Incluyente (capital-incluyente.org). He is an employee ownership advocate who aims to increase the prevalence, reach, and impact of employee ownership in Mexico and Latin America. Co-founder of SOMOS Amigos Inc., a food start-up where team members have a stake in the business, and former Vice President of New Product Development at KIND Snacks.
Wealth inequality is one of the most pressing issues of our time. Broad-based business ownership that includes employees helps improve lives and creates a more dynamic economy. Throughout the book, the authors analyze and demonstrate how models of shared ownership can serve as building blocks towards shared prosperity and help counter the growing income disparity faced by many nations. This book is a collaborative effort of academics, researchers, and professionals from US, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, France, Spain, and Colombia. These pages contribute to the construction of an economic democracy while promoting a movement that stimulates growth, strengthens businesses, contributes to improving wages and savings whilst dignifying workers and building social progress. Employee Ownership in the Americas. A Path to Shared Prosperity was inspired by companies and entrepreneurs who favor the participation of employees in decision making and include them as owners, by non-profit organizations that promote employee ownership, and by the research and experience of several of its authors. The case studies presented demonstrate that broad-based employee ownership not only achieves better job performance in large companies and small businesses, but also aligns with other trends that are becoming the new normal, such as shared capitalism, corporate responsibility beyond shareholder primacy, and community wealth creation.
This episode of the Owners At Work podcast is sponsored by Prairie Capital Advisors, itself an ESOP company, which provides a full suite of services to middle-market companies, with a focus on ESOPs. Services include ESOP Sell-side and Trust-side advisory services, ESOP valuations, M&A, sustainability and Mature ESOP consulting.
The Owners at Work Podcast is a continuation of the biannual Owners at Work Newsletter which ran for 19 years (1990-2019). We are hoping to continue the same conversations and focus on providing updates on everything employee ownership. We plan to interview practitioners with expertise in different facets of employee ownership, academics doing new and interesting research, and most importantly, individuals who have a personal experience with employee ownership, including current and former employee-owners, mid-level to C suite management, and selling owners.
We want to produce a show that engages with relevant questions and provides practical lessons and information. We want this podcast to include the voices of those who practice employee-ownership each and every day. To that end we want to hear from you! We want to highlight what you are doing, whether you are an employee-owned company, a practitioner, or researcher.
***Please reach out via email: oeoc@kent.edu
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