Abstract
John Lewis opened his Oxford Street department store for business in 1864. In its early days it was a traditional family-owned business, and his two sons followed him into the firm. John Spedan Lewis, later to found the John Lewis Partnership, became Director of a second store (Peter Jones in Sloane Square) in 1905. Possibly influenced by the egalitarian social and political movements of the early 20th century, he wanted to change the way in which the business was managed and to involve its employees more centrally in its running. In 1920 he launched an employee profit-sharing scene at the Peter Jones store. His views were not accepted by his father and initially caused a rift in the running of the business, but father and son were reconciled before the former's death in 1928, when Spedan inherited the whole enterprise. The following year Spedan Lewis drew up the First Trust Settlement which left him in control of the business but gave employees shares in its profits. Shortly before the Second World War the business acquired the Waite, Rose and Taylor grocery stores, and in 1940 bought the Selfridge Provincial Stores Group. In 1950 the Second Trust Settlement created the John Lewis Partnership (JLP) as it is today, owned and run entirely by its employees. John Spedan Lewis died in 1963.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Management and organisational behaviour |
Editors | L. Mullins |
Place of Publication | Harlow |
Publisher | Financial Times Prentice Hall |
Pages | 629-632 |
Number of pages | 4 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780273708889 |
Publication status | Published - 2007 |