John Lewis Partnership plc has two arms, the department store John Lewis and Partners and the retailer Waitrose and Partners. Also has banking, financial services and manufacturing within the group.
How it shows
Just doing it; This is a company is owned by a trust on behalf of all its employees — known as Partners – who have a say in the running of the business, and get a bonus, akin to a share of the profit.
Characteristics
Good process; protected from hostile take-over, run with input from its employees
Open policy making; In 1999 following falls in profits some employees called for the business to float on the stock market. Despite each employee receiving a windfall which may have been around £100,000 a company-wide ballot led to the rejection of this proposal. Thus a long standing part of the pre-Thatcher settlement was preserved - many building societies and mutuals fell victim to carpet baggers in the 1990's.