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

by J. Robert Beyster, Peter Economy (with)

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 A Toolkit for Social Entrepreneurs (0-471-39735-0).

Genres: Business

230 pages, Hardcover

First published March 30, 2007

About the author

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.

Reviews

[John Scillieri · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a little slow at times but overall lots of interesting and relevant bits of information. It was really informative to hear how a company similar to Visionist (at least when it started) got off the ground.

The interesting notes:
* They seemed to get a lot of new business by bringing an outside expert (Govie, other Contractor, etc) on to the team and giving them that arm of the business to run.
* The corporation was run a lot more like a holding company than I expected.
* They had a good policy of punishing poor decision makers by removing their ability to make decisions, not implementing draconian policies that hurt everyone.
* Beyster seemed really burned by the takeover and commented he should have done more to implement a transition strategy, even at one point saying he should have stepped away from all technical aspects to ensure that the business was really ready for someone else.

[Alex E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! Dr. Beyster is an inspiring man, with a unique and refreshing perspective about business.

[JudyB]

Recommended by a vendor... we shall see.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on the successes (and failures) of building an employe owned company.