THE SRC STORY

In the early 1980s, SRC was a near-bankrupt division of International Harvester in Springfield, Missouri. That's when Jack Stack and 12 other managers took over and turned it around. The managers came up with $100,000 to put toward a loan of $9,000,000. (A debt ratio of 89 to 1 -- the highest leveraged buyout in corporate America to date!)

Stack didn't know how to "manage" a company, but he did know about the principals of competition and democracy: keeping score, having fun, providing choice, and having a voice. With these principals he created his own style of management -- open-book management. He had a dream to create a business of business people. Stack realized that the payoff would be enormous: a company that was consistently able to outperform the market.

From the basic, simple premise that everyone wants to be a winner, we have created a system -- with rules, scorekeeping and rewards -- to show every employee what it takes to win. Along the way, we've turned our company into what Business Week calls a "management Mecca," attracting thousands of businesses to SRC's home in Springfield, Missouri. There the visitors learn how to incorporate the ideals and values of SRC's remarkable ownership culture known as The Great Game of Business® into their own organizations.

CEO Jack Stack’s book about our management system, The Great Game of Business has sold more than 220,000 copies, is in its 23rd printing, has been translated into 8 languages, and was selected as one of the "100 Best Business Books of All Time" in February 2009. It has been cited in 100 best-selling business books. In fact, Inc. magazine dubbed Stack "the father of open-book management".

Since 1983, SRC Holdings Corporation has grown into a company that currently has 1,200 engaged employees in 17 businesses across a variety of industries. Sales have increased from $16 million in 1983 to over $400 million. Stock value has risen from 10¢ per share in 1983 to $234 in 2008.

Now, through products, training, seminars and coaching services, The Great Game of Business® helps organizations of all types create their own culture of ownership.