Open-book management

Open-book management (OBM) is a management phrase coined by John Case of Inc. magazine, who began using the term in 1993. However, the concept's most visible success was by Jack Stack and his team at SRC Holdings.

The basis of open-book management is that the information received by employees should not only help them do their jobs effectively, but help them understand how the company is doing as a whole. According to Case, "a company performs best when its people see themselves as partners in the business rather than as hired hands" (Case,1998 as cited in Pascarella, 1998). The technique is to give employees all relevant financial information about the company so they can make better decisions as workers. This information includes, but is not limited to, revenue, profit, cost of goods, cash flow and expenses.