Description
Abrams is cofounder and CEO of South Mountain Company, an employee-owned design and building company on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. In this volume, he offers the 30-person company as a model for how a company can become as much of a community as a business. His memoir of the company describes how principles of workplace democracy, challenging the gospel of growth, balancing multiple bottom lines, committing to the business of place, celebrating the spirit of craft, advancing "people conservation," practicing community entrepreneurism, and thinking long-term "like cathedral builders." He discusses each one of these "cornerstone" principles in its own chapters. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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Socially responsible investments have grown exceptionally in the same year that "moral values" determined a presidential election. So why has business been so slow to catch on? In a new book, The Company We Keep, small business owner and entrepreneur John Abrams makes a case for a return to workplace values, and shows how we can ultimately profit by them.The Company we Keep is more than the success story of a revolutionary company. It sets down a framework for a model of employee ownership and community involvement that has piqued the interest of entrepreneurs around the country. In the words of Abrams, "This is a book about a different way of doing business in today's world--a way based on workplace democracy, shared ownership, staying small, building community, commitment to a place, and long term thinking."John Abrams founded the South Mountain Company, a design and building firm, on Martha's Vineyard more than thirty years ago. Through a commitment to place and community entrepreneurship, he has seen the company grow and prosper, while at the same time experimenting with a revolutionary employee ownership model that has challenged the traditional business rhetoric of unchecked growth.There is a revolution going on in corporate America, and social entrepreneurship is leading the way. Rejecting the myth that short-term profits are the only indicator of business health and wealth, John Abrams shows how building a company to serve the needs of people (employees and owners), community, and the environment can be a successful business plan as well. Part entrepreneurial business plan, part guide to democratizing the workplace, and part prescription for strong local economies, The Company We Keep marks the debut of an important new voice in the literature of American business.
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