Alumni

Schroeder Speaks at Employee Ownership Conference

He co-wrote an award-winning book about the power of employee ideas to improve company performance.

Now, Dean Schroeder, the Schulz professor of business and director of graduate programs in management at Valparaiso University, is the keynote speaker at a national conference on employee ownership.

The National Center for Employee Ownership/Beyster Institute 2008 Employee Ownership Conference is scheduled April 2 to 4 in Chicago, offering sessions on topics such as leading an employee-owned company, engaging employees and equity compensation.

Schroeder is co-author of “Ideas Are Free: How the Idea Revolution is Liberating People and Transforming Organizations.” The book, featured in news reports by the Wall Street Journal, ABC World News, National Public Radio and other media, details how companies can take advantage of ideas from front-line employees to reduce costs and increase revenue. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal lists “Ideas Are Free” as the top suggested read for employee-owned business

In conducting research for the book, Schroeder traveled to 150 companies in 17 countries over a span of five years, learning how each organization generated and implemented employee ideas that saved millions of dollars annually in several cases.

Schroeder also is an international consultant whose client list includes companies such as Toyota, Siemens, Fifth Third Bank, Unilever, Girl Scouts of America, Hayworth, Cummins Engine, and Dresser Industries. Before entering academia, he founded two companies and turned around two other companies that were struggling. He currently is a principal consultant for Quest Management, a consulting company focusing on strategic planning and cultural transformation in both the public and private sectors.