There's more than One Way to Run a Democratic Enterprise

Abstract

This article describes a unique system of self-management, the Breman system, that has developed in the Netherlands. Arising in a small village in the north of Holland, the Breman system has been relatively insulatedfrom the influence of other international models of worker particpation, and as a result, has developed some novel social innovations to achieve its ends. Since its conversion in 1972from an ordinary family-owned corporation to a self-managed system, it has shown an impressive capacity for financial growth, organizational productivity, and worker satisfaction. The last section of this article draws out some of the lessons of the Breman experience for democratizing enterprises in other capitalist settings such as the United States.