Well, we have seen something that I thought I would never see in my lifetime—the elevation of an African-American man to the highest elected office in our land: President of the United States. While we all bask in the afterglow of this momentous occasion, we are in the middle of our most serious recession in decades. There is no time for the usual 100-day honeymoon-the serious work of getting this country back on an even financial keel must now begin in earnest.
Unfortunately, Obama now has many Washington interests vying for his attention—each with a compelling case as to why they should be favored with the nation’s time, attention…and money. My advice to our new President is this simple list of his top-three priorities during his first year in office: (1) the economy, (2) the economy, and (3) the economy.
Of course, there are many other things that also require his attention, like wrapping up our successful incursion in Iraq, and putting a newly energized focus on the work yet to be done in Afghanistan. However, until the economy is fixed, these important efforts and others will suffer. As will the hope of the American People.
I’ve been around for more than 80 years now, and I’ve been through just about every possible economic situation—both good and bad—that this nation has ever experienced. I was a child during the Great Depression. I saw banks and companies going bankrupt all over my hometown of Detroit, and I saw home after home boarded up as their owners went bankrupt. My own father’s business suffered greatly during this time.
I have also lived through the great post-war prosperity of the ‘50s, when our nation’s economy grew in leaps and bounds and it seemed there would be no end to the things we could do as a nation.
Of course, the economy as we know has good times and bad times, and the dark is always followed by the dawn. Here is my recommendation for getting out of our current economic mess and returning to prosperity: create a culture of growth based on employee ownership. Now more than ever we need to make employees true partners in our businesses. Study after study shows that employee-owned companies perform better than companies that are not. Widespread employee ownership will have a huge, positive impact on our economy.
Creating a culture of growth requires leaders to remove the organizational obstacles that get in the way of moving quickly to take advantage of changes in the marketplace. In some cases, these may be procedures and practices that have served the company well in good times, but that threaten to bog the company down in bad times. Hire smart people and then put your trust in them. Give them a stake in the business that they contribute to, and unlock their energy and ideas. Create an entrepreneurial culture, where employees have wide-ranging autonomy and authority, and are rewarded for finding and capitalizing on new opportunities for growth. And don’t be afraid to experiment, and try new combinations of people and organizational structures.
Author: J. Robert Beyster
In Memoriam: Our friend and Xconomist Bob Beyster passed away on December 22, 2014. We at Xconomy are deeply saddened by his loss.
Dr. J. Robert Beyster was the founder of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the largest employee-owned research and engineering company in the United States. He was Chairman of the Board until his retirement in July 2004, and also served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) until November 2003. A recognized authority on national security and reactor physics, Dr. Beyster committed 35 years of his life to building SAIC on the founding tenets of employee ownership and technical excellence. In recent years, he has extended this commitment to the American business community by founding two nonprofit organizations to assist organizations considering employee ownership—the Beyster Institute and the Foundation for Enterprise Development. Beyster received a B.S.E. in engineering and physics in 1945, a master’s degree in physics in 1947, and a doctorate in physics in 1950—all from the University of Michigan.
In 1969, Dr. Beyster raised money to start Science Applications, Inc. (SAI). The company was renamed Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) as it expanded its operations. Initially the company’s focus was on projects for the U.S. government related to nuclear power and weapons effects study programs. Contrary to traditional business models, Dr. Beyster designed SAIC so that ownership of the company and profits belonged to the company’s employees. Today, SAIC performs projects for commercial and government customers related to information technology, systems integration and eSolutions, national and homeland security, energy, the environment, space, telecommunications, health care, and logistics. When Dr. Beyster retired as Chairman and CEO of SAIC in 2004, the company had annual revenues of $6.7 billion and more than 43,000 employees.
Committed to education, Dr. Beyster has written or co-authored approximately 60 publications and reports, as well as the recent book, The SAIC Solution: How We Built an $8 Billion Employee-Owned Technology Company. A fellow of the American Nuclear Society, Dr. Beyster has served as Chairman of its Reactor Physics Division and Shielding Division. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group to the Director, Strategic Target Planning Staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and a member of the National Academy if Engineering. He also serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors of the University of California San Diego Foundation.
Defense Advanced Research Project Agency designated Dr. Beyster an Honorary Program Manager for his distinguished contributions to the agency over his career. (NEW) Throughout his career, he has been the recipient of numerous awards in Engineering Management, Entrepreneurism and leadership recognitions in both the public and private sectors. He is also the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the University of California, San Diego’s CONNECT program for providing 25 years of outstanding service to the community. Most recently, he was honored by the Horatio Alger Association for Distinguished Americans selected Dr. Beyster to be a 2008 Horatio Alger Award recipient. This honor is bestowed upon those individuals who have overcome adversity to achieve great successes through the American free enterprise system.
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