The SAIC Solution: How We Built an $8 Billion Employee-Owned Technology Company

by J. Robert Beyster; With: Peter Economy

• ISBN13: 9780470139318
• ISBN10: 0470139315
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2007-06-01
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Can an employee-owned company succeed? Here is the inside story of one that thrived and grew to become a significant force in the nation's scientific and technical markets. In 1969, Dr. J. Robert Beyster founded Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) with a unique vision of creating an employee-owned organization run according to 12 principles of success that encourage entrepreneurship and accountability. Today, SAIC has grown from a handful of scientists to over 43,000 employees-most of whom hold company equity-and more than $8 billion in annual revenue, a steadily rising stock price, and top rankings as a contractor to government and business organizations. In this book, Dr. Beyster tells the story of SAIC, and offers valuable lessons to entrepreneurs and managers on how to build a company in which loyalty to values goes hand in hand with success. Dr. J. Robert Beyster (La Jolla, CA) is the founder of Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC). He served as CEO and chairman of the company for 35 years. Beyster continues to promote innovation and employee ownership through his Foundation for Enterprise Development and the Beyster Institute at the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego. Peter Economy (La Jolla, CA) is Associate Editor of Leader to Leader, the award-winning publication for the Leader to Leader Institute, and a bestselling author of titles such as The Management Bible (0-471-70545-4) and Enterprising Nonprofits: A Toolkit for Social Entrepreneurs (0-471-39735-0).

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

The Result: An $8 Billion Business Success

The Culture: People First

The Vision: Freedom (with Strings Attached)

The Mission: From Science to Solutions

The Glue: Employee Ownership

The System: Participation in Decision Making

The Organization: Organized for Growth

The Plan: No Grand Plan

The Pitch: Everyone a Salesperson

The Loop: Feedback and Lessons Learned

The Wild Card: Experiment Constantly

The Bottom Line: Expect Reasonable Profit with Stock Price Growth

The Challenge: Governance-Sustainability or Transition?

The Future: New Beginnings

Epilogue

About the Foundation for Enterprise Development

My Life before SAIC

SAIC Time Line

SAIC Principles and Practices

Notes

Index

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