Many companies devote significant resources to developing a stock option plan to compete in today's labor market. In addition, many companies believe these plans will motivate employees to behave like owners. The research and experience show that employee ownership can have a significant impact on corporate performance and employee motivation, but that ownership alone is not enough. The real impact occurs in those companies that create an environment in which employees are given the tools, training, and encouragement to become more involved as owners in a culture of lasting innovation.

Can employee stock options have this impact? Are stock options an effective tool to build an ownership culture? What are the considerations? What are the barriers? What are companies doing to get optionees thinking about the long-term and acting like owners? This meeting is intended as a forum to explore these questions and issues. Speakers will include representatives from local companies and noted experts on ownership culture.

Business Summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. manufactures and sells networking and communications products, and provides services associated with that equipment and its use. Its products are installed at corporations, public institutions and telecommunication companies, and are also found in small and medium-sized commercial enterprises. The Company provides a broad line of products for transporting data, voice and video within buildings, across campuses or worldwide. Cisco sells scalable, standards-based networking products that cover a wide range of customers' networking needs. Its products and services help customers build their own network infrastructure, while also providing tools to allow them to communicate with their customers, prospects, business partners, suppliers and employees. Products are used individually or in combinations to connect computing devices to networks or computer networks with each other, whether they are within a building, across a campus or around the world.

Financial Summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. provides networking solutions that...