Click here to download complete publications list in pdf format
Click here to download and print out order form in pdf format

New Book and DVD on business succession planning for small and medium-sized businesses

An Owner's Guide to Business Succession Planning,
2nd Edition (2008), Stephen Clifford
Printed by Kent Popular Press
ISBN 978-0-933522-26-8 (paper)
64 pages with CD included, $19.95

It used to be that family businesses were passed down in the family. But family size keeps dropping, and the average business owner's children are far more likely to go to college and to become doctors and lawyers than in the past. While over half of business owners still want the business to stay in the family, data indicate that only 30 percent of family businesses will make it to the 2nd generation and only 15 percent to the 3rd.

Worse, only a minority of business owners over the age of 55 - 60 have actually formalized a succession plan. As a consequence, the failure to plan for business ownership succession is the number one preventable cause of job loss.

An Owner's Guide to Business Succession Planning is a basic roadmap to assist owners of small and medium-sized businesses as they begin to plan for ownership and management succession. It offers a simple, six-step process that insures that the owner's goals shape the actions taken and the plan's outcome. The process also includes taking other stakeholders' interests into consideration, evaluating management, testing various scenarios, understanding the options available and implementing the plan. The process is framed in terms of overarching choices about family and about legacy. These considerations, of course, shape the business owner's choices.

The Owner's Guide examines the tools available to business owners seeking to implement one or more of the choices discussed. Those tools include valuation of the business, keeping the business in the family, buy-sell agreements, gifting of shares, trusts, management buyouts, sale to the employees, sale to an outsider, and liquidation of the business. Again, the Owner's Guide looks at some of the advantages and pitfalls of using these tools.

The Owner's Guide also includes: (1) current tax information relevant to the choices that the business owner faces, (2) a bibliography, (3) succession planning worksheets which help the reader compile and organize information before and during the process and (4) a video in DVD format which is conveniently presented in seven succession planning subject segments and includes interviews with owners and employees of companies in transition.

The Owner's Guide can be ordered through your regular bookseller or through the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, 113 McGilvrey Hall, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, 44242. Ohio orders should include 6.7% sales tax.

The Real World of Employee Ownership (2001) John Logue and Jacquelyn Yates with Karen Thomas and Jennifer Maxwell. Foreword by William Greider.

How does employee ownership really work? This detailed study of 167 Ohio ESOP companies provides an in-depth analysis of what ESOP companies do, of what works and what does not, and what it costs. The study focuses on those variables that set some employee-owned companies apart: employee participation in decision making and corporate governance, open business communications, and training to use the participation system and understand business information. It looks at how unions effect employee ownership -- and vice versa. The authors build an empirical, organization model that has a demonstrated impact on improving company performance. They conclude with an analysis of Federal and state employee ownership policy and recommendations for improving both. 256 pp. Cornell University Press ISBN 0-8014-8394-8 (paper) $17.95, ISBN 0-8014-3349-5 (cloth) $45.00.

“For at least two generations, some Americans from the ranks of both workers and owners have been struggling to create the practical reality of employee ownership, not as a grand political gesture but in their everyday lives, the offices and factories where they work …This book recounts their progress, the enormous challenges and the successes. It is an excellent starting text for people who wish to think seriously about how a general transformation might proceed.”
- William Greider, from the Foreword

“John Logue and Jacquelyn Yates have combined scholarly precision with real-world involvement to produce a clearheaded, practical examination of what makes employee ownership work-and not work. This is an invaluable guide for both students and practitioners.”
- Corey Rosen, Executive Director, National Center for Employee Ownership

“This is the single most important book on employee ownership-the one to read! Logue and Yates analyze three decades of experience and show how we can now take the next, quantum jump forward in democratizing the American economy”
- Gar Alperovitz, Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy, University of Maryland

Participatory Employee Ownership: How It Works: Best Practices in Employee Ownership (1998) John Logue, Richard Glass, Wendy Patton, Alex Teodosio, and Karen Thomas.

At last, a best practices manual for establishing and growing participatory employee-owned companies! Written for the Steelworkers’ Worker Ownership Institute, this volume covers everything from participatory buyouts through mature ESOPs, including plan design, governance, participation structures, communications, training and much more. 192 pp. ISBN 0-933522-23-1 (hardback) $24.95; ISBN 0-933522-24-X (paperback) $14.95.

“A valuable practical resource for any employee group considering an employee buyout or companies trying to get employees more involved.”
- National Center for Employee Ownership’s Employee Ownership Report

“The principles and practices outlined in this book provide useful guidance to any company looking to establish effective organizational structures to promote effective participatory practices… This book is an excellent resource to learn about effective practices and procedures that have been implemented in an employee ownership environment.”
- David Binns, Leading Companies E-zine at www.fed.org

“Definitely recommended!”
- Frank Lindenfeld, Grassroots Economic Organizing

Click here to download and print out order form in pdf format

Books & Monographs

Transitions to Capitalism and Democracy in Russia and Central Europe. M. Donald Hancock and John Logue, eds., (2000) Tells the tale of simultaneous democratization and privatization of the state economy which took place in all former Soviet-style economies in Russia and Central Europe. Concluding section contains critical analysis and overview of privatization decisions by economists and political scientists. (Westport, CT: Praeger) 343 pp. ISBN 0-275-96214-8. (hardback) $65.00.

Taking Ownership of Safety: Case Studies of the Safety Management Process at Five Ohio Employee-Owned Companies. Dan Bell, Steve Clem and Karen Thomas, eds. (1999). While employee owners have all the same reasons to work safely and identify hazards as workers in traditional companies, they have a greater opportunity to eliminate unsafe conditions and behaviors. The case studies chronicle the efforts of five employee-owned companies in Ohio to involve their employees in the creation of a safer workplace. 40 pp. $9.95.

Transforming Russian Enterprises: From State Control to Employee Ownership. John Logue, Sergey Plekhanov, and John Simmons, eds. (1995). History, case studies and overview of early years of Russian privatization(Westport, CT: Greenwood). ISBN 0-313-28748-1 (hardback) 285 pp. $65.00.

An Employee Owner’s Guide to Understanding Financial Reports. Dan Bell (1994). Do the employees in your company understand the financial information? The workbook section of An Employee Owner’s Guide builds the financial statements-profit and loss, balance sheets, and cash flows-and covers the basics of financial statements and ESOPs. The second half of An Employee Owner’s Guide provides a thorough, home-study review. The instructor’s manual and overhead slides for teaching this material are also available through OEOC’s financial train-the-trainer workshops. 64 pp. $12.95.

Employee Ownership: A Competitiveness Strategy in Northeast Ohio’s Manufacturing Economy, Urban Policy Monograph Series # 10, John Logue and Karen Thomas (1994), 21 pp. $5.00.

Bringing Your Employees into the Business: An Employee Ownership Handbook for Small Business. Dan Bell (1988). This handbook introduces the owner of a small business to the numerous advantages of employee ownership as a way of selling the business at retirement, an employee benefit program, and a creative means of increasing a company’s cash flow. 111 pp. ISBN 0-93522-18-5 (hardback) $18.95; 0-933522-19-2 (paper) $9.95.

Managing Modern Capitalism: Industrial Renewal and Workplace Democracy in the United States and Western Europe. M. Donald Hancock, John Logue, and Bernt Schiller, eds. (1991). 359 pp. Greenwood / Praeger ISBN 0-275-94287-2. $19.95.

Perestroika, Privatization, and Worker Ownership in the USSR. Jacob Keremetsky and John Logue (1991). ISBN 0-933522-22-3. 56 pp. $7.95.

Buyout! Employee Ownership as an Alternative to Plant Shutdowns: The Ohio Experience. John Logue, Jim Quilligan and Barbara Weissmann (1986). Foreword by William Foote Whyte. ISBN 0-933522-15-0. 98 pp. $9.95.

Click here to download and print out order form in pdf format

Reprints, Preprints & Occasional Papers

Mondragon Today: What Can We Learn? Karen Thomas and John Logue. How the Mondragon cooperatives have adapted to the global economy and their lessons for Americans. 12 pp. (2002: 1) $5.00

It’s a Give and Take Thing: An Employee Owner’s Story Diana Tillman and Karen Thomas. What employee ownership at YSI in Antioch, Ohio, has meant for one woman. 10 pp. (2002:2) $5.00

Who Will Inherit the “Worker’s Paradise?Worker Ownership and Enterprise Efficiency in Russian Privatization. John Logue and Daniel Bell. The story of the privatization of Russian state-owned enterprises through early experimentation, changes of regime, abandonment of good plans for bad ones, economic catastrophe and ideological chaos. International organizations and advisers featured in role of major characters. 63 pp. (2001:1) $5.00

Is Employee Ownership the Answer to Family Business Succession? Alex Teodosio, John Logue, and others. Series of introductory articles helpful for starting the discussion of planning for future leadership in a family business, including why planning is necessary, basics of employee ownership for sellers and buyers and descriptions of actual transitions. 15 pp. (2000:4) $5.00

Modeling an Employee Ownership Sector. John Logue and Jacquelyn Yates. Brief description of extent, practices and performance impact of economic democracy in Ohio employee owned firms. Distributing the firm’s financial information, along with financial training so employees can understand it, along with opportunities to participate in the firm’s decision-making at all levels, is associated with superior performance. 7 pp. (2000:3)

Western Experience with Building High Performance Company Networks. John Logue and Dan Bell. Compares effective company networks in Ohio, New York, Canada and Spain, all successfully encouraging high performance practices. Written for World Bank. Appeared in Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance. 11 pp. ( 2000:2).

Modeling ESOP Company Management for Better Operations and Profits. Jacquelyn Yates. First-ever statistical model of company operations with effects of participative structures and management estimated, using data from Ohio survey. 20 pp. (2000:1) $5.00.

Selected Back List

Worker Ownership American Style: Pluralism, Participation and Performance, John Logue and Jacquelyn Yates. A survey of employee ownership in the United States with particular emphasis on how participatory employee ownership affects firm performance. Appeared in Economic and Industrial Democracy. 26 pp. (1999:3). $5.00.

State Use of JTPA Funds for Preliminary ESOP Feasibility Studies. Richard Glass, John Grummel & John Logue. Federal funds can be used for preliminary assessments of using employee ownership to avert job loss. This is the report of a national survey on the program’s effectiveness. Appeared in The Journal of Employee Ownership Law & Finance. 24 pp. (1999:4). $5.00.

Can the Fed Fight An Effective War on Poverty? Dan Bell. Capital wealth can be accumulated through leverage, but the poor do not have access to credit. This paper explores economist Louis Kelso’s proposal to use the discount window of the Federal Reserve to provide the poor with capital credit. 15 pp. (1998:1). $5.00.

Restructuring Elinar: A Case Study of Russian Management Reform, Decentralization, and Diversification. John Logue and Olga Klepikova. Detailed case study of a Russian capital goods producer which privatized through employee ownership and adapted successfully to the market economy. 32 pp. (1998:3). $5.00.

Rustbelt Buyouts: Why Ohio Leads in Worker Ownership. John Logue. (1998:5). Discussion of Ohio employee ownership and the state support for it. Appeared in Dollars and Sense. 4 pp. $2.00.

Anchoring Capital, Securing Jobs: Employee Ownership as an Economic Development Strategy, John Logue. Examination of employee ownership as a mechanism to anchor capital and jobs in low income communities and inexpensive public sector strategies to do so. 15 pp. (1997:1) $5.00.

New Employee Orientation to the ESOP. Karen Thomas. How to develop a new employee orientation program for your ESOP. Discusses pro’s and con’s of various approaches and available resources. 7 pp. (1997:3) $5.00.

Training Union Members for Employee Ownership, John Logue. Training is a key element in the process of transforming the structure and culture of ESOP companies toward becoming democratic, participatory workplaces. 19 pp. (1996:1) $5.00.

Designing a Model Outreach Program for Business Succession in Closely Held Firms, Stephen Clifford and John Logue. When business owners do not plan for management and ownership succession, the business often dies with the owner. This study analyzes existing programs designed to encourage owners to plan for succession and proposes a model program based on that experience. 32 pp. (1996:2) $10.00.

The Evolutionary Journey of the Steelworker’s Employee Ownership Policy, Matthew LaBo. LaBo utilizes interviews, speeches and unpublished USWA materials as well as the public record to trace the development of the Steelworkers’ employee ownership policy. 30 pp. (1995:3) $5.00.

Forging a New Future? Employee Ownership and Participation at Erie Forge and Steel, Allan Concoby & Matt LaBo. Erie Forge has been in the forefront of developing structures for employee participation. 20 pp. (1995:5), $5.00.

Recasting Workplace Roles: Employee Involvement at Quincy Castings, Karen Thomas. Employee involvement at Quincy, empowerment training for supervisors, and development of a learning culture. 20 pp. (1993:3). $5.00.

Developing Participation at Republic Storage Systems, Selma Ford. Labor and management roles in creating a participative culture. 20 pp. (1993:5). $5.00.

Click here to download and print out order form in pdf format

For additional information about or to receive copies of OEOC Selected Back List publications, contact:

Ohio Employee Ownership Center
Kent State University
113 McGilvrey Hall
Kent, OH 44242-0001
Voice: 330.672.3028
Fax: 330.672.4063

Ohio Employee Ownership Center/Kent State University, Copyright© 2001
For problems with or questions regarding this site contact oeoc@kent.edu