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Dr. J. Robert Beyster is the founder of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). He served as CEO and chairman of the company for thirty-five years. SAIC grew from a start-up with a handful of employees to a firm with 43,000 employees and more than $8 billion in annual revenue. Beyster promotes innovation and employee ownership through the Foundation for Enterprise Development and the Beyster Institute at the University of California, San Diego. He has received a range of honors, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from Ernst & Young, Spirit of San Diego award, and Next Millennium Award for Excellence in Education.

Peter Economy is Associate Editor of Leader to Leader, the award-winning publication for the Leader to Leader Institute and a bestselling author or coauthor of numerous books, including The Management Bible (Wiley) and Lessons from the Edge.

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).

Foreword     ix
Preface     xiii
Acknowledgments     xvii
The Result: An {dollar}8 Billion Business Success     1
The Culture: People First     15
The Vision: Freedom (with Strings Attached)     27
The Mission: From Science to Solutions     41
The Glue: Employee Ownership     53
The System: Participation in Decision Making     77
The Organization: Organized for Growth     91
The Plan: No Grand Plan     105
The Pitch: Everyone a Salesperson     117
The Loop: Feedback and Lessons Learned     129
The Wild Card: Experiment Constantly     137
The Bottom Line: Expect Reasonable Profit with Stock Price Growth     151
The Challenge: Governance Sustainability or Transition?     161
The Future: New Beginnings     173
Epilogue     181
About the Foundation for Enterprise Development     185
My Life before SAIC     187
SAIC Time Line     195
SAIC Principles and Practices     199
Notes     211
Index     215