The Case Of TEOCO Approved By Calo Roche Shipper 7 25 11
Principled Entrepreneurship and Shared Leadership:
The Case of TEOCO (The Employee Owned Company) 1 by Prof. Thomas Calo, Ed.D.
Perdue School of Business
Salisbury University
Salisbury, MD 21801 tjcalo@salisbury.edu (410) 543-6187
Prof. Olivier Roche, PhD
Perdue School of Business
Salisbury University
Salisbury, MD 21801 oproche@salisbury.edu (410) 677-3863
&
Prof. Frank Shipper, PhD
Perdue School of Business
Salisbury University
Salisbury, MD 21801 fmshipper@salisbury.edu (410) 543- 6333
The authors would like to thank the employee owners of TEOCO who graciously shared their knowledge, experiences and perspectives about the company. Their viewpoints were invaluable in ensuring that this case provides a true representation of the culture and practices of the company.
1
1
Principled Entrepreneurship and Shared Leadership:
The Case of TEOCO [The Employee Owned Company]
INTRODUCTION
Fairfax, October 6, 2009. Atul Jain, founder of TEOCO, a provider of specialized software for the telecommunications industry, had been meeting all day to finalize a partnership agreement with TA Associates, a private equity firm. For Atul, the pace of activities had been relentless on this special day. 2 By all accounts, the last 12 hours had been hectic but the closing of the transaction was a success. The event had started with back-to-back meetings between TEOCO’s senior management and their new partner’s representatives and had culminated with the usual press conference to mark the occasion.
The senior management teams of both organizations announced to the business community that TA Associates [TA] had made a minority equity investment of $60 million in TEOCO. It was indeed a memorable day, the culmination of intense and uneven negotiations between two organizations that did not have much in common except for deep industry knowledge and a shared interest in seeing TEOCO succeed.
This new partnership marked the end of a marathon, but Atul did not feel the excitement that usually
The Case of TEOCO (The Employee Owned Company) 1 by Prof. Thomas Calo, Ed.D.
Perdue School of Business
Salisbury University
Salisbury, MD 21801 tjcalo@salisbury.edu (410) 543-6187
Prof. Olivier Roche, PhD
Perdue School of Business
Salisbury University
Salisbury, MD 21801 oproche@salisbury.edu (410) 677-3863
&
Prof. Frank Shipper, PhD
Perdue School of Business
Salisbury University
Salisbury, MD 21801 fmshipper@salisbury.edu (410) 543- 6333
The authors would like to thank the employee owners of TEOCO who graciously shared their knowledge, experiences and perspectives about the company. Their viewpoints were invaluable in ensuring that this case provides a true representation of the culture and practices of the company.
1
1
Principled Entrepreneurship and Shared Leadership:
The Case of TEOCO [The Employee Owned Company]
INTRODUCTION
Fairfax, October 6, 2009. Atul Jain, founder of TEOCO, a provider of specialized software for the telecommunications industry, had been meeting all day to finalize a partnership agreement with TA Associates, a private equity firm. For Atul, the pace of activities had been relentless on this special day. 2 By all accounts, the last 12 hours had been hectic but the closing of the transaction was a success. The event had started with back-to-back meetings between TEOCO’s senior management and their new partner’s representatives and had culminated with the usual press conference to mark the occasion.
The senior management teams of both organizations announced to the business community that TA Associates [TA] had made a minority equity investment of $60 million in TEOCO. It was indeed a memorable day, the culmination of intense and uneven negotiations between two organizations that did not have much in common except for deep industry knowledge and a shared interest in seeing TEOCO succeed.
This new partnership marked the end of a marathon, but Atul did not feel the excitement that usually