PBS NewsHour to air segment on Springfield business

In 1990, PBS NewsHour visited Springfield Remanufacturing Corp. to see its open-book management style in action. On April 6 and 7, SRC again hosted the show in a follow-up segment scheduled to air tonight.

The original PBS segment focused on the employee-centered management practices now known as The Great Game of Business. Like SRC itself – which has grown into SRC Holdings Co., employing 1,000 employees at 11 companies across the country – The Great Game has expanded. It began with a book written by SRC founder Jack Stack in 1994 and became its own SRC company, helping businesses around the world and locally, including SBJ Publishing Inc., roll out their own Great Game practices.

The 1990 segment featured an interview with Stack and an employee meeting, called a huddle, said Rich Armstrong, president of The Great Game of Business.

“Back then, they highlighted a vote that was done … to decide whether to go ahead and pay a bonus out to employees versus taking the profits and applying them to equity, which would raise stock prices,” Armstrong said.

The employees voted in favor of skipping their bonuses and putting the money back in the business, he said. In NewsHour’s second visit to Springfield, more huddles were filmed, including one that followed a similar theme.

While Armstrong said he couldn’t predict what would make the final cut, a huddle was taped at Springfield-based Professional Massage Training Center, a Great Game client. Again, employees were asked to vote on whether they should pay themselves a bonus.

Other stops during PBS’ Springfield tour included SRC Electrical and Staxx, the downtown clothing store owned by Stack’s daughter, Meghan Chambers, and another company that practices the Great Game.

The SRC segment is scheduled to run on KOZK-TV tonight at 6 p.m.[[In-content Ad]]