Institutionalizing the BK Way and Protecting Values at Publishing Company

0
Finalist
Succession at Berrett-Koehler
Publishers: Institutionalizing the
“BK Way” and Protecting BK Values
for Future Success
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Murray Silverman and Sally Baack (San Francisco State
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1
Planned Succession at Berrett-Koehler
Publishers: Institutionalizing the “BK Way” and

Protecting BK Values for Future Success
Case Abstract
Many for-profit enterprises with a strong social or
environmental mission, as well as businesses
with a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility,
struggle with the issue of keeping
their social or environmental mission alive as the companies
grow larger, bring in new investors,
deal with mergers and acquisitions, and change leadership.
There have been many failures
chronicled as various founders dealt with this issue.
Unfortunately, there is a gap in the case
materials that speaks to this issue. This case helps to address
that gap.
The Berrett-Koehler (BK) case highlights the efforts of a
competitively successful, mission-
driven, socially responsible publishing company to preserve its
values, culture and practices
while ensuring continued future success. BK’s stated mission is
“Creating a World that Works
for All.” In pursuit of this mission, BK published 35-40 titles
per year, each of which focused on
fundamental transformation at the individual, organizational or
societal level. The wide array of
efforts pursued in protecting its mission include innovative
approaches, such as consideration of
Benefit Corporation status and adoption of a constitution. The
case provides an opportunity to
cover corporate governance topics such as: ownership
structures, shareholder relations, CEO
and organizational succession planning, and board roles and
responsibilities.

This case takes place just prior to and immediately following
Berrett-Koehler’s July 2012 Annual
Shareholder Meeting and 20th Anniversary celebration. The
case highlights BK CEO, Steve
Piersanti, and the Board of Directors in their efforts to
institutionalize the “BK Way” through a
variety of legal and operational methods. BK is a socially
responsible and mission-driven
business working to protect the values, practices and culture it
considers to be a critical
component of its fundamental success. BK has outperformed
rivals from a financial standpoint
in the intensely competitive publishing industry, and is w ell-
known for its integrity and unique
procedures. Specifically, CEO Steve Piersanti and the BK
board consider several specific and
different options for embedding the BK values in the
organization’s operating and ownership
structures.
Key words: Protecting the social mission, Stakeholders
management, Corporate governance,
Benefit Corporation
2

Planned Succession at Berrett-Koehler Publishers:
Institutionalizing the
“BK Way” and Protecting BK Values for Future Success
The Berrett-Koehler (BK) conference room was packed with 29
people sitting around the board-
room style table and the perimeter of the room. Everyone had
assembled for BK’s signature
Author Day lunch, which occurred for all of the 35 or so new
books published every year. It was
May 30, 2012 and the featured authors were Rob Dietz and Dan
O’Neill, co-authors of Enough is
Enough. The participants in the room, employees and guests,
were all focused on the authors,
as there were no laptops or smartphone devices present. The
authors were formally introduced
and warmly welcomed by a BK employee, who shared what the
book meant to him by stating,
“What I want to tell you from my heart is this book has changed
me.” With that, the authors
took the floor and introduced their book, highlighting what BK
called the “Big Idea” and the
“Take Aways”. Author Day at BK was a special long-standing
tradition as it provided authors the
opportunity to become more connected to the BK community
and allowed the staff to become
connected to another BK publication and author.
In March of 2012, Publishers Weekly named BK a “Small
Publishing Standout” as the fifth
fastest-growing small publisher. BK was currently in the
strongest financial position of their
history; its revenues continued to rise – both in print and in

digital, it outperformed the
publishing industry as a whole, and its profits were healthy. BK
attributed its success in
significant part to its social mission (“to create a world that
works for all”) and unusual business
and operational practices, of which Author’s Day was one
example.
BK’s founder and CEO, Steve Piersanti, sat quietly throughout
Rob Dietz and Dan O’Neill’s
presentation as others asked questions. As usual, the BK
community – both employees and
guests – were actively engaged in the Q&A. This ownership of
the process was characteristic of
the democratic nature and participatory process of Author Day
and permeated all of BK’s
practices. Steve knew there was something special here about
the way BK had managed to craft
its culture and impact the world. As he looked around the
room, he found himself reflecting on
a question he often asked himself: “Has BK done everything it
needs to in order to preserve and
protect its essence while ensuring its long-term success”?
BK’s concern about preserving its mission was not unique.
Many for-profit enterprises with a
strong social or environmental mission, as well as businesses
with a strong commitment to
corporate social responsibility, struggled with the issue of
keeping their social or environmental
mission alive as the companies grew larger, brought in new
investors and changed leadership.
There had been many failures chronicled as various founders
dealt with this issue. Seventh
Generation, founded by Jeffrey Hollender, is one example.
Seventh Generation was founded in

1988 and grew to become a $150 million a year business selling
sustainability oriented cleaning
and personal care products. Hollender was committed to
embracing “a model of deeper
business purpose, where economic growth is merged with social
justice”. In 2010, his board of
directors brought in new leadership and pushed him out. In a
public appearance in June 2011,
Hollender stated that he failed to establish the right ownership
structure: “I didn’t
institutionalize values in the corporate structure, took too much
money from the wrong people.
I failed to give enough of the company to the employees who
would have protected what we’d
built.”i Another example is Ben & Jerry’s. Its board felt
pressured by legal precedent to sell to
the highest bidder, Unilever, rather than a prospective buyer
that might have been better aligned
with Ben & Jerry’s values. Larger corporations purchased other
mission-driven businesses and
were not obligated to preserve the mission and culture created
by those organizations’ founders.
Aveda was sold to Est’ee Lauder, Tom’s of Maine to Colgate,
Burt’s Bees to Clorox and Odwalla
3
to Coca Cola. The founder of Odwalla, Greg Steltenpohl said, “
I used to be in the business of
making great juice; now I am in the business of making

money.”ii
While many businesses with a strong social mission had focused
on institutionalizing the culture
that emerged after the founding, Steve believed that the
pathway to the goal of long-term
preservation was fraught with challenges that went beyond
building and institutionalizing the
culture. These challenges included being able to establish a
strong level of shareholder support
for the mission, building creative legal protections that went
beyond shareholder primacy, and
ensuring leadership succession in support of the mission. Steve
wondered whether BK could
successfully navigate these challenges in preserving and
protecting its essence. Steve’s concern
was not just a reflection of his own intention to preserve BK’s
essence. Annual surveys of BK’s
shareholders showed strong support for “staying steadfast in
being guided by BK’s mission” and
“staying true to BK’s values.”
The Founding of BK – Vision, Mission, Values
Steve Piersanti had a long tenure in the publishing industry. He
began his 13 year career at
Jossey-Bass Publishers in 1977 as a promotional copywriter and
eventually moved up in ranks as
marketing director, editorial director, and executive vice
president and then president. He was
fired from Jossey-Bass after being ordered by the corporate
parent, Macmillan, to lay off 10% of
Jossey-Bass’s employees. The request was inconsistent with
Jossey-Bass’s philosophy of treating
employees fairly, and besides, Jossey-Bass was growing and

profitable. He refused and was
asked to leave.
Steve saw an opportunity to work with others to create a
different type of publisher, a for-profit
venture with a social mission. In his original public letter
introducing BK Publishers in 1992, on
the inside cover of the first BK catalog, Steve highlighted the
following: “If I were to choose one
word to describe our vision, it would be stewardship.”
By this I mean a deep sense of responsibility to administer the
publishing company for
the benefit of all of our “stakeholders’ groups – authors,
customers, employees, suppliers
and subcontractors, owners, and the societal and environmental
communities in which
we live and work.iii
As the San Francisco company reached its 20th Anniversary in
2012, BK continued to articulate
its founding mission as “Creating a World that Works for All.”
In pursuit of this mission, BK
published 35-40 titles per year, each of which focused on
fundamental transformation at the
individual, organizational or societal level, reflecting the three
BK divisions: BK Life, BK
Business, and BK Currents. BK’s books were intended to
advance new ideas and approaches
that challenged traditional mindsets.
In celebration of its 20th anniversary, BK hosted a two-day
community-building event, bringing
together over 200 of their stakeholders, including BK staff,

shareholders, authors, customers
and many other individuals connected to BK. The relaxed and
friendly atmosphere reflected
the connectedness of the various groups. There were
presentations by BK staffers and break out
exercises that provided this broad array of stakeholders an
opportunity to participate in
exploring BK’s future. Steve made a presentation at the event
in which he highlighted the
impact of BK’s books, sharing a number of examples based on
highly successful books BK had
published.
4
The fundamental transformation here is that the traditional,
dominant ways of changing
organizations, communities, and nations were themselves the
problem that made most
change efforts fail and often made things worse. New change
approaches were needed
that were inclusive, participatory, whole-system, real-time,
dynamic, and effective. And
BK books and authors have led the world in developing and
popularizing these new
methods. The impact has been huge. Tens of thousands of
organizations and
communities have been improved by these change methods,
affecting hundreds of

millions of people.
The point is that the more you drill down…., the more powerful
examples you find of how
the ideas in BK books are helping bring about profound changes
to help create a world
that works for all…….I would suggest that BK books and the
BK community are having a
positive impact in the world equivalent to an organization
thousands of times our size.iv
BK authors included Peter Block (Stewardship), John Perkins
(Confessions of an Economic Hit
Man), and Ken Blanchard (Empowerment Takes More Than a
Minute). The ten best -selling BK
books are listed in Exhibit 1: BK’s 10 Best Selling Books.
Stakeholders and the ‘BK Way’
Insofar as an organization’s culture can be defined as “the
specific collection of values and
norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization
and that control the way they
interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the
organization”,v BK had a well-defined
and cohesive culture. The elements of that culture, sometimes
referred to by stakeholders as the
‘BK Way’, were living demonstrations of many of the ideas
contained in BK’s published books,
starting with their first publication, Stewardship by Peter Block.
The fundamental shared values
can be characterized as a commitment to BK’s mission, a belief
and adherence to democratic
principles, and a valuing of all stakeholders. These values were

practiced and lived every day in
BK, supporting a culture based on transparency, inclusion and
participation in decision-making,
and authentic interpersonal communication. The ‘BK Way’
could be clearly seen in engagement
with all stakeholders, and was exemplified by its relationships
with authors, employees and
stockholders.
Relationship with Authors
BK had a unique view of the author-publisher relationship.
“We believe that handcuffing
authors is not necessary; if we do our job well, authors will
eagerly publish with us, without
compulsion.” vi BK’s vision of this relationship was that of a
conversation between author, editor
and publisher, rather than merely a transaction. To that end at
BK, authors collaborated on the
entire development, publishing and marketing efforts of each
book as partners alongside the BK
team. As a symbol of BK’s distinct view of author relations, it
had created an author’s “Bill of
Rights”, which outlined the commitments of Berrett-Koehler to
its BK authors as well as spelling
out author’s responsibilities (See Exhibit 2: Authors Rights).
This document contained both
substantive and symbolic commitments and responsibilities,
such as “transparency, citizenship
and community” that signaled that working with BK would be
something much more
meaningful and involved than a more typical publishing
industry transaction. As a result, BK
had a notably higher “author referral” rate of 55%, as compared
to the publishing industry
overall of just 5% (Table 1). This was a clear indication of

authors’ deep satisfaction with, and
respect for, the experience with BK.
5
BK is the single best publishing company on the planet. I have
published with many
publishing firms and invariably, their relationships with the
individuals, the
professionalism of the staff, the way they handle the book
project from development to
marketing is unparalleled. It’s a spectacular company. I feel
grateful to be part of this
family. (BK Author Kim Cameron)vii
In addition to the fundamental difference in how BK envisioned
this key relationship, there were
also differences in the operating practices that shaped the
publishing process. Author contracts
differed significantly from industry standards. No advances
were given and authors could
terminate their BK publication agreement “if, for any reason,
the Author is not satisfied, in the
Author’s sole judgment, with any aspect of the relationship with
the Publisher or with the
Publisher’s performance in any aspect of publishing and selli ng
the Work”. Authors preferred
working with BK because of the respectful relationship and

their alignment with BK’s mission
and vision.
One unique feature of BK’s author community was its signature
BK Author Day, whose purpose
was to bring the authors deeper into the BK community.
They really do practice what they preach. They are all about
community, changing the
world and making a difference. I’ve been working with BK for
10 years and every one of
my interactions is about those things. They bring everyone
together, give everyone an
equal say. There is never thought about cost cutting in order to
make more money. They
are all about putting out the best idea, the best product and
getting the best people
involved. (BK Author Mark Levy)viii
I love BK because of one word – integrity. From the moment it
was founded until the
present moment, that has been their primary characteristic.
Therefore, we trust them
and they deliver. There aren’t many publishing companies you
can say that about. (BK
Author Bob Quinn)ix
6

Table 1: Comparing BK with the Traditional Industry Editorial
Pipeline
The success of BK’s unique approach to author inclusion
(partnering with authors) could be
easily seen in the creation of what was called the BK Authors
Cooperative. The cooperative
offered opportunities to collaborate, exchange ideas and share
marketing tips. According to its
website, the BK Authors Cooperative was created “because we
long for a more connected
community; a desire to join together for support, learning, and
collective action that can bring
forth that world we want.” The Authors Co-op acknowledged on
its webpage that it was
something special to be a BK author. Over time the BK Authors
Co-op had evolved from an
informal, small group, to a more formal organization with an
extensive and impressive
membership that had applied for official 501C3 status. In
addition to the original Authors
Retreat, which was the main activity of the group when it first
started, the Authors Co-op
created a very valued annual Marketing Workshop that had
became so popular even non-BK
authors attended. The Co-op also provided new members a
formal mentoring relationship,
including a New Member introduction, which paired a new
member with an existing member to

provide a smooth transition into the community. According to
Jamie Showkeir, BK author and
2012 President of the Authors Co-op, the Authors Co-op created
value for authors in a variety of
ways.
Some of the tangible benefits to authors include learning key
marketing skills through
the marketing workshop and having other members actively help
market one another’s
books. In addition, there are great intangible benefits of the
Authors Co-op, such as
knowing you have a values match with the whole group, and
having the types of
interactions which really cement a large number of personal
relationships in which you
can ask questions and get ideas – from other authors you often
consider to be brighter
than yourself. x
Author
Referral
55%Repeat
Authors
20%
Agents
10%
Editorial
Outreach

15%
BK
Editorial Pipeline
Author
Referral
5%
Repeat
Authors
15%
Agents
80%
Traditional
Industry Editorial
Pipeline
7
Employees
It was not surprising, given the circumstances surrounding its
founding that BK placed
considerable importance on the value and role of employees.
BK employee and management

practices were very inclusive and democratic. Annual pay
increases and changes in benefit plans
were decided democratically and with complete transparency.
Each of the 30 or so employees
knew what every other employee was earning. The traditional
class system whereby executive
and employee compensation were separate scales was not used;
under that approach, the idea
was to keep staff wages as low as possible and to pay
executives handsomely. In contrast, at BK
everyone participated in the same incentive compensation
system, and the salary differential
between the highest and lowest paid employee was less than 4
to 1, compared to the 325 to 1
ratio between U.S. CEOs and their average workers.xi BK had
established a formal approach to
determine who should be involved in significant decision, which
required that “before making a
decision having significant impact on others, BK employees
shall obtain the common consent of
all those affected. This meant that even though one may not
agree with it and might decide
differently if they were making the decision, they could see
sufficient reasonableness and
thoughtfulness in the decision to accept it.” As an example,
rather than making layoffs during
the economic crisis of 2008, the BK staff instead unanimously
agreed to a salary decrease of 10%
(except for the lowest paid employees). BK’s turnover
statistics reflected the strength of
employee’s connection to the publisher. The average BK tenure
was 9 years for staff and 10
years for managers.
BK practiced what it learned from the books it published. Many
of its compensation practices

emanated from Peter Block’s book Stewardship, and consistent
with the book Abolishing
Performance Appraisals, BK did not conduct performance
appraisals. BK’s Publicity Manager,
Katie Sheehan, in response to the question, “what is it like to
work at BK”? stated:
There is no hierarchy, everyone’s voice is heard, and we are
very much encouraged to
follow a path that is interesting to us, to work independently
and create our own work
flow and job description.xii
BK’s management practices attracted high-level talent whose
values aligned with the
organization’s mission. In his application letter for a job at BK,
Editorial Director, Neal Maillet,
wrote:
As a business and leadership editor whose titles frequently
competed for shelf space with
BK, I can only express my deep sense of admiration and, to be
honest, envy, for the
consistent sense of mission and values that BK titles
communicate. BK books are for
people who are determined to improve themselves and their
organizations—not just to
rely on corporate-speak or easy answers.
I’m excited by the prospect of serving a publishing program that
fights in every
book for humane communities and responsible business

practices. BK books are so
powerful because readers know the BK brand is not an empty
promise—there is no
sunlight between the message of the books and the practices of
the publisher.xiii
Democratic practices permeated BK, reflected in the once-per-
month staff meetings attended by
all employees at BK. The philosophy was that everyone should
be well informed about
initiatives and financial results throughout the business in order
to constructively participate in
important decisions. Staff meetings were highly interactive and
the facilitator role was rotated
each meeting to a different employee.
8
Employees believed that BK’s success was in large part
predicated on the ‘BK Way’, including its
approach to stakeholders, especially through its positive impact
on employee morale and
productivity, the way it attracted authors and won their loyalty,
and attracted investors that
supported its mission.
Stockholders

The 20th anniversary event also served as the annual
shareholders’ meeting. BK had
approximately 240 stockholders, comprised primarily of
authors, employees and individuals
attracted to supporting its social mission. Prior to the event, a
survey of shareholders was
conducted to learn more about why they purchased the stock and
their expectations regarding
financial returns. The results of the survey were presented, and
they reflected the large extent to
which shareholder values aligned with BK’s mission. When
asked why they purchased BK stock,
68% said that it was very important that they supported a
company they believed in and 64%
said that they wanted to help BK make a positive impact on the
world. Sixty-eight percent said it
was very unimportant to make a large profit on their investment.
In fact, a number of
shareholders invested to support the organizational role model
that BK represented, and were
not concerned about recouping their investment or any return.
Of course, other stakeholders besides authors, employees and
stockholders experienced the
same sense of partnership and engagement with BK. The
company stayed closely connected to
its readers through its web-site and newsletters. Its reader
mailing list was extensive, reflecting
its large number of followers, most of whom had an affinity for
BK books and perhaps their
favorite authors. BK’s unique relationship with its stakeholders
was also reflected in its printers.
When BK was experiencing cash flow issues during the
economic downturn of 2009 their
printers did not hesitate to extend a much larger credit line in
BK’s time of need.

BK’s Performance
From its beginning in 1992, BK had navigated a very
competitive and dynamic industry to
produce profits and growth. The industry had experienced many
changes and shifts, but
perhaps the most important and impactful was the emergence of
digital and online publishing.
Specific technological changes resulted in e-books, printing on
demand, and accessible printing.
The fact that Amazon.com had emerged as a distributor, and
then as a competitor to this
industry was another example of the enormity of the change
confronting the industry. The need
for publishing companies to adapt and adjust to these changes
meant that there had been a fair
amount of industry consolidation. All of this combined to
produce a very challenging
competitive environment for BK to operate in, and one that
caused BK to consider whether its
current size, structure, approach and eventual existence were
viable and sustainable.
As BK approached its 20th Anniversary, its financial and
overall performance record was
impressive. From a production standpoint, BK had published
over 480 new books since 1992;
over 450 of those books were still in print in 2012; Over 400
were available in digital format.
From a sales perspective, over 160 of BK’s books had sold over
20,000 copies; over 40 books
had sold over 100,000 copies; and 3 books had sold over 1
million copies. In terms of financial
performance, BK had increased its revenues in the last 10 years,

from $5.3 million in 2003 to
$7.6 million in 2011, producing growth in revenues during a
very tough economic recession in
the United States. BK had outperformed the publishing industry
as a whole, in terms of overall
9
revenue growth in 2011 (See Table 2). From 2003 to 2011, it
had produced nine profitable years
in a row (pre-tax profits in Table 3).
Table 2: BK Outperformed the Publishing Industry 2011:
BK Industry
Total Revenues 8% -6%
Print Sales 1% -17%
Digital Revenues 85% 117%
Subsidiary Rights Revenues 17%
Source: Association of American Publishers (Publishers
Weekly, March 5, 2012)
Table 3: 9th Profitable Year in a Row: BK Pre-Tax Profits
BK was currently in the strongest financial position of the
company’s history, having increased
total assets 53% and decreased total liabilities 34% from 2002
to 2011. It had just compiled data

indicating it had outperformed the publishing industry again in
2012, based on 11% Print Sales
in the first 6 months, versus -14% U.S. overall, in adult
nonfiction.xiv It had strong indications
that it had effectively managed the transition into the digital
era, with 20% of revenues coming
from Digital Income. Looking to the future, BK identified its
key financial challenges: 1) Reduce
debt and build financial reserves; 2) Increase profitability of
business structure; 3) Get capital to
fund growth and new businesses; 4) Create capital structure that
supports BK’s continued
independence
With all that BK had to be proud of, it was noteworthy that
Steve Piersanti responded as follows,
when asked about key indicators of BK’s success that he was
most proud of. “That we have
succeeded in walking our talk; Being true to our values. We’ve
tried to practice what we preach,
and we’ve done that through thick and thin.” xv
Planned Succession at BK
When BK surveyed shareholders in preparation for the 2007
Annual Shareholders Meeting
asking them what topics they would like to see covered, a major
message was that many
0
100,000
200,000
300,000

400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
9 Years of BK Pre-tax Profits in US $
U.S. $
10
shareholders were concerned about Berrett-Koehler’s succession
plans. One shareholder wrote:
“Considering the importance of Steve to BK, I would like to
understand what succession plans
you have in place?” At the time Steve was 54 years old.
Subsequent surveys continued to raise
the question: “who will replace Steve”?
While the shareholders comments were expressed in terms of
leadership succession, Steve’s
view of succession planning was much broader. Even though
BK had made significant progress
in the process of institutionalizing its social mission and

democratic processes, Steve’s
perspective was as follows:
I want to go about this very differently than the normal
approach, which is primarily
focused on developing and/or finding persons to fill positions.
Instead, I want to focus
first on creating the structures and commitments that will allow
Berrett-Koehler to stay
true to its mission and vision before turning attention to who
would fill what roles.xvi
…my concern is that unless BK's distinctive mission, values,
commitments, systems,
policies, and practices are institutionalized, most would stand
little chance of surviving
for very long after the transition to new leadership.xvii
In contrast to Steve’s perspective, BK’s CFO, Bob Liss, was
concerned that there was too much
focus on the social mission, which could ultimately detract from
the firm’s competitiveness in
the publishing industry. In a Management Group meeting, he
stated: “I love what this company
is, but I am afraid that if we put our mission in front of the
company, we will lose the company”.
xviii He frequently raised the question as to whether BK was a
company trying to “create a world
that works for all” or simply a socially responsible publisher?
The development of a plan to ensure the long-term viability of
BK languished until July 2011,
when the topic came up at a Board meeting, and the Board
pushed on the issue and a board level

committee was formed to address it. (Exhibit 3 includes short
bio’s of the BK Board members).
What emerged from the work of the committee was a Succession
Planning Framework (SPF)
that included task descriptions, assigned responsibility, target
dates and completion dates. The
SPF addressed the critical areas that would have to be tackled in
attempting to preserve BK’s
distinctive mission, values, commitments, systems, policies, and
practices:
Embedding the ‘BK’ Way’
BK had already developed a culture that was in alignment with
its mission and values. Aspects
of the culture had been formalized, such as institutionalizing the
Author Day event and the
implementation of a formal decision making model that
specified the extent of employee
participation that should be associated with important decisions.
However, the SPF included
two additional mechanisms that would further institutionalize
the ‘BK Way’: B Corp certification
and the adoption of a BK constitution.

11
Certification by B Lab
Jay Coen Gilbert, Bart Houlahan and Andrew Kassoy were
successful entrepreneurs who co-
founded and eventually sold And 1, a $250 million footwear and
apparel company. And 1 had its
Chinese factories certified by a monitoring group, donated 5%
of profits to charity and paid its
U.S. workers well. Jay, Bart and Andrew believed in the
viability and importance of social
ventures with a profit motive, and in the idea of protecting And
1’s social mission long-term.
Following the new owner’s rejection of And 1’s commitment to
social responsibility, this sparked
Jay, Bart and Andrew to co-found B Lab, a non-profit
organization in 2006 designed to use “the
power of business to solve social and environmental
problems.”xix ‘B’ stands for ‘benefit’, as in
benefitting society, the local community, employees and the
natural environment. They created
an assessment instrument that could be used to certify a
business as one that uses “the power of
business to solve social and environmental problems.” The third
party certification is not a legal
designation. B Lab certifies businesses the same way TransFair
certifies Fair Trade Coffee or the
US Green Building Council certifies LEED buildings. B Lab
wanted to create a standard that
would be recognized as the measure of the extent to which a

business could say it was
benefitting society in the economic, social and environmental
realms. The certification
communicated that the firm met transparent social and
environmental performance standards.
By 2012, B Lab had certified close to 900 businesses in over 30
countries.
BK certified through B Lab in 2011. For BK, the assessment
instrument contributed to the
institutionalization of social and environmental values by
providing a template that made
explicit the actions being taken by BK that supported those
values. BK intended to use the
instrument to identify additional areas where greater social and
environmental impact could be
achieved. BK was incorporated in California, which was not a
“constituency statute” state, so BK
was unable to amend its by-laws to give consideration to all
stakeholders. Companies wishing to
be certified submit a 230–item assessment instrument, covering
everything from audits of
overseas factories to charitable giving, to carbon footprints. The
basic categories were
Governance, Workers, Community and Environment. B Lab
processed the completed
assessment instrument, reviewed documentation and staged
periodic follow-up audits. In 2012,
only 18% of those who completed the audits qualified for
certification. BK’s ’Areas of Excellence’
in the B Lab framework were Governance and Workers.
Highlights from these areas included:
Stakeholders have representation on board and 15% owned by
minority populations and for
Workers: Offers 30+ days paid leave annually, extensive health
insurance, over 75% of workers

own stocks and 75% are female workers. These were only a
small representation of BK’s
impacts. In the environmental category, BK paid close attention
to impacts in their offices.
They had office wide recovery and recycling programs for all
waste streams and they used
chemical reduction programs for janitorial products, paper and
inks.
Development of a BK Constitution
Another idea that Steve had for institutionalizing the ‘BK Way’
was to create a BK Constitution.
The firm had published a book by Marjorie Kelly titled Owning
Our Future, which explored the
ways in which the ownership structure of a business might
restrict its ability to maintain its
mission when the business was sold or the founder left. The
author’s description of the John
Lewis Partnership, a chain of upper-market department stores in
England that had 36 stores
and 76,000 employees had inspired Steve.
John Lewis began to introduce novel practices into the family
store he ran in 1914. He provided
shortened work days and additional paid holidays. By 1930 he
had created a profit-sharing
12

framework, a staff council and the John Lewis Partnership’s
Constitution. He began to turn his
ownership over to employees and by 1950, he had relinquished
his entire interest.
The John Lewis partnership was structured solely for the benefit
of those who worked in it and
was 100% owned by its employees (referred to as partners).
According to the first of seven
codified principles in the Constitution, “the Partnership’s
ultimate purpose is the happiness of
all its members, through their worthwhile and satisfying
employment in a successful business”.
The Constitution was a 30 page document delineating the
company’s principles, rules relating to
governance, partners’ rights and responsibilities and
responsibilities to others (stakeholders).xx
The idea of a constitution intrigued Steve. In an email to the
Board, he stated his intention to
create a constitution for BK:
“By constitution, I mean a legally binding document that
enshrines BK's mission,
purposes, values, commitments to its stakeholders, roles and
responsibilities of its
different stakeholders, relationships between the stakeholders,
decision making rules
and structures, governance structures, and many other elements
to keep BK on course
going forward. This constitution would take the place of or be a
major section of our
current by-laws. It would be modeled in form (although not
specific provisions) after the
constitution of the John Lewis Partnership…”xxi

In a July 2012 memo, Steve circulated a draft outline of topics
he thought should be covered in
the constitution (Exhibit 4: Proposed Outline for a BK
Constitution) and recommended that the
items be developed one at a time as the Board of Directors and
others were able to focus on
them. According to the current draft of the SPF, completion of
the constitution was targeted for
December 2013. If a BK Constitution was developed, it would
provide a detailed map that
outlined the dimensions of the ‘BK Way’.
Legal Approaches to Preserving BK’s Essence
In the U.S. and European legal systems, shareholder primacy
plays a dominant role, although
some laws provide for consideration of other stakeholders.
There were 30 states in the U.S. that
had “constituency statutes’ that permitted corporations to amend
their by-laws to consider the
impact of decisions not only on shareholders but on all
stakeholders. BK was incorporated in
California, which was not a “constituency statute” state, so BK
was unable to amend its by-laws
to give consideration to all stakeholders. Therefore, BK’s SPF
included the task of exploring a
conversion to a new legal form of incorporation, called a
Benefit Corporation.
Benefit Corporations
For Jay, Bart and Andrew, their creation of B Lab and its
certification process was just a first

step. B Lab required that a business they certified in states with
“constituency statutes” amend
its by-laws to provide legal cover for board members to give
consideration to stakeholders other
than shareholders. (Exhibit 5 includes the full statement that B
Lab requires certified
businesses in those states to include in their by-laws). While
this approach was thought to be
legally tight, whether a shareholder lawsuit would be successful
in challenging the use of by-laws
to diminish shareholder rights had not been fully tested in the
courts. For example, in cases
where an organization with by-laws supporting broad
stakeholder consideration was sold or
acquired, courts had reverted to supporting the doctrine of
shareholder primacy, which required
13
maximizing shareholder return. And in states without a
“constituency statute”, legal cover was
not readily available through revision of by-laws.
The need to protect the social mission of organizations over the
long-term led the B Lab co-
founders to support the movement to create a new legal form of
incorporation, the Benefit
Corporation. They felt it was important to go beyond the limits
of certification and create the
widespread societal legitimacy of a legislatively mandated

Benefit Corporation. Businesses
wishing to incorporate or change their corporate status would
have a new option alongside
traditional C-Corporations, S-Corporations and LLC’s. Since
businesses incorporated on a
state-by-state basis, legislation to create Benefit Corporations
also had to occur one state at a
time. By July 2012, eight states had enacted laws that allowed
for the creation of Benefit
Corporations and seven others were in process.
Besides creating economic value, the new laws required that a
Benefit Corporation conform to
the following areas:
environmental and social actors in
actions and operations.
performance using
independent standards.xxii
California created Benefit Corporation status in January of
2012. Benefit Corporation status
provided the legal framework being sought by BK as well as
owners and founders of other social
enterprises and sustainable businesses. Legal protection was
provided that protected the
mission and stated values of their organizations. Tradeoffs
could be made between profits,
environment and social concerns, and directors had a legal

mandate to support a multi-
stakeholder approach. BK’s SPF targeted a process beginning
in May of 2013 to consider Benefit
Corporation status.
Creating a Supportive Capital Structure
In addition to concerns about legal structure, the Board and
Steve were not satisfied with BK’s
capital structure. A primary concern was the lack of liquidity
for investors. This was a concern
for a number of reasons. If BK valued all of its stakeholders
then it would only be fair to
shareholders that they could easily liquidate their investment.
Another important reason was
BK’s interest in pursuing Benefit Corporation status.
There were 905,929 shares of The Berret-Koehler Group, Inc.
stock. Steve had the largest
holdings representing 53% of the shares. The remainder were
owned by approximately 240
shareholders, a majority of whom were authors, former or
current employees and customers
who invested in BK because they saw themselves supporting
BK’s mission to ‘create a world that
works for all’. However, there was no active trading of BK
shares, so investors were not able to
liquidate their shares. While many investors were ‘social
investors’, who were by definition
more interested in supporting BK’s mission and were not
pushing to sell their shares, there were
shareholders who needed to cash out for personal reasons or as
part of managing their finances.
There were approximately 26 shareholders (owners of about
90,000 shares) who wished to cash
out.

A board member’s memo in October 2011 stated that:
14
Equity is treated as essentially a cost-free source of capital at
BK because historically BK
hasn’t provided any return to its shareholders. This violates all
assumptions of corporate
finance as well as breaks the BK promise that the company
should be run for the benefit
of all its stakeholders.xxiii
The Board of Directors Capital Structure Committee
subsequently outlined the objectives for the
Capital Structure Project. (see BOX below)
OBJECTIVES FOR CAPITAL STRUCTURE PROJECTxxiv
1. Create an ecosystem that provides increased ongoing funding
and an expanding
customer base to help BK grow and carry out its mission by
bringing in thousands
more investors over coming years who become supportive
members of the BK
community and active customers of BK's publications.

2. Create a capital structure that maximizes the ability of BK to
stay independent,
master of its own fate, and true to its mission, values,
commitments, and
foundational practices; among other things, this will require
liquidity options for
shareholders other than BK being sold to another company or
investment group.
3. Create a capital structure that is financially sound and
fiscally wise, that is
functional administratively, and that meets BK's ongoing
operational needs.
4. Create a capital structure that enables BK to provide fair
recompense to all of its
stakeholder groups – including employees, authors,
shareholders, customers,
suppliers, service providers, sales partners, and community
supporters –
commensurate with the contributions they make to BK’s
success. Give particular
attention to providing the means for BK shareholders to receive
a positive and fair
return on their investments over a reasonable time, with
responsiveness to the
differing needs and interests of different shareholders, from
those who just want to
see their investment generate a good social return to those who
need investment
income or investment growth.
BK was pursuing a number of initiatives that addressed
liquidity. These proposed actions

included (a) improving the annual ESOP Stock Buyback Plan,
(b) selling BK corporate bonds
and (c) selling Series B Preferred Stock. These three actions, if
successful, could provide for up
to 25 percent of BK’s existing stock to be either sold or
converted into income generating
investments. Other actions would be required to address the
other 75 percent of the shares. If
BK continued to be very profitable, and the bond and preferred
stock offerings were successful
perhaps another 25 percent of the shares might be converted.
Solving any remaining liquidity
gap could be
“a ticking time-bomb, providing the greatest ongoing challenge
to BK’s independence
and ability to stay true to its mission, values, and publishing
practices.”xxv
If BK wanted to become a legal Benefit Corporation in
California, it would require the approval
of a two-thirds vote of its stockholder’s shares. However, the
law also required BK to purchase
any minority voted shares if the shareholder so requested.
Thus, solving the liquidity issue was
paramount to moving ahead on the Benefit Corporation path.
15

Board and Leadership Succession
The SPF also dealt with the issue of board and leadership
succession. The SPF aimed to define
the critical skills required for these various roles, to identify
gaps that needed to be addressed
and the leadership development approaches that could be
implemented. An issue of particular
concern to the board, shareholders and employees was the
question as to what would happen if
Steve left or even worse, if Steve had a sudden accident (a ‘hit
by the bus’ scenario) and could no
longer serve as president?
When asked what would happen at BK if something suddenly
happened to Steve, BK Board
member Marilyn McConnell responded
If that happened right now, it would be chaotic. Chaotic in the
short term. That’s
because the industry itself is chaotic, and also because the SPF
issues have been
identified, but the effort has not yet been completed.xxvi
In that chaos, it might be difficult to find the leadership best
suited to protect BK’s essence. In
addition to dealing with succession planning, the organization
might also have to deal with the
loss of some employees and authors not wanting to stick around
if Steve was not there.
Furthermore, when considering the future prospects of BK

without Steve at the helm,
McConnell expressed dual possibilities.
When I read BK books and read the author statements about the
amazing help they
received from BK that transformed and shaped their books,
there are so many different
names throughout the BK organization that are mentioned. So,
maybe we don’t need to
worry as much as some people think, because the variety of
names called out means that
the principles of the organization have been ingrained in the
employees. But, I don’t
know if there is another visionary… a visionary the way Steve
is.xxvii
While the SPF was a comprehensive document, there was also
some recognition at the Board
level that there were challenges in terms of implementing it, and
even then, whether the actions
contemplated in the SPF would protect BK’s essence in the
long-term. There were external and
internal challenges. Externally, they were in an industry
undergoing seismic shifts that might
require rapid growth or a merger. Internally, maintaining the
culture, establishing legal
bulwarks and ensuring leadership succession were critical. The
SPF reflected an ambitious
agenda, so Steve and the board knew they had their work cut out
for them in navigating these
challenges.

16
Exhibit 1: BK’s 10 Best Selling Books
Title Copies sold translations
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man ..................................
950,000+ 29
Eat That Frog! ..................................................................
850,000+ 35
Leadership and Self-Deception ...........................................
850,000+ 26
Love ’Em or Lose ’Em ........................................................
550,000+ 21
Repacking Your Bags .........................................................
460,000+ 17
Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute ..........................
375,000+ 14
Leadership and the New Science ........................................
350,000+ 18
A Peacock in the Land of Penguins .....................................
350,000+ 21
The Secret .......................................................................
350,000+ 22

Goals! ..............................................................................
280,000+ 24
Source: Berrett-Koehler (2011)
17
Exhibit 2: Author’s Bill of Rights
18
Exhibit 3: BK Board Member Bios
Praveen Madan is one of the leading independent booksellers
and literary event producers in
the SF Bay Area. He is the co-owner of Booksmith and
Berkeley Arts & Letters, and leader of the

Kepler's 2020 initiative which is pioneering a new open-sourced
model for building the
community bookstore of the future.
Steven Piersanti is president and publisher of Berrett-Koehler
Publishers. Before founding
Berrett-Koehler in 1992, Steve served as president and CEO of
Jossey-Bass Publishers in San
Francisco after previous service as copywriter, marketing
director, editor, editorial director, and
executive vice president.
Bill Upton is vice president of operations for Edwards Brothers
Malloy, which is one of the
leading book printers in the U.S. and one of BK’s two principal
book printers. Bill is a past
president of the Book Manufacturers’ Institute, and he is an
active member of the Book Industry
Environmental Council
Marilyn McConnell is president, CEO, and owner of American
International Distribution
Corporation (AIDC), which handles warehousing, customer
service, order processing, shipping,
and collections for all of BK’s nontrade print book business in
the U.S. -- including BK’s direct
mail, website, special sales, and author sales business — and for
all shipments to our foreign
distributors. AIDC also maintains and services our websites as
part of their suite of services for
BK. AIDC is one of BK’s principal service providers, and BK is
one of AIDC’s principal clients.
Julie O’Mara represents a BK customer perspective and has
been a frequent purchaser of BK
books since BK’s founding in 1992. Julie is president of an

organization development consulting
firm specializing in leadership, facilitation, and managing
diversity. Julie is former national
president of the American Society for Training and
Development (ASTD).
Jamie Showkeir is past president of the Board of Directors of
the BK Authors Cooperative
(which is legally and administratively separate from Berrett-
Koehler Publishers although closely
aligned) and he represents the Co-op in particular and BK
authors generally on the BK Board.
He is author with his wife and business partner Maren of two
Berrett-Koehler books, Authentic
Conversations (2008) and Yoga Wisdom at Work (2013).
Diane Blattner Kresal is associate director of operations at
Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Diane
joined Berrett-Koehler as operations manager in 2004. Diane is
the BK staff representative on
the board. She previously held positions in project management
with Nashua Corporation and
inventory management at Williams-Sonoma.
Mal Warwick Mal is a leading advocate for socially and
environmentally responsible
business practices who has founded and led several successful
companies in over three decades
in business. He is one of the world’s leading experts on direct
response marketing and
fundraising for mission-focused organizations. Mal is a BK
author, shareholder, and reviewer.
He has written a total of 20 books, two of them for BK.
Matt McGraw is founder and CEO of Rocket Science Consulting
Corp, a leading nationwide

Design + Technology firm, which has been BK’s chief provider
of information technology
services since 2002. He currently serves as a Member of the
Apple Consultants Advisory Board
for Apple Computer, and Member of the [email protected]
Advisory Council for
Cornell University.
19
Source: Adapted from Berrett-Koehler web-site.
Exhibit 4: Constitution Outline
MISSION AND PURPOSES
VALUES AND ETHICS
COMMITMENTS OF COMPANY TO STAKEHOLDERS
Authors
Employees
Shareholders
Customers
Sales Partners
Service Providers
Suppliers
Natural Environment

Local Communities
Publishing and Bookselling Communities
RESPONSIBILITIES OF STAKEHOLDERS TO WHOLE AND
TO EACH OTHER
Authors
Employees
Shareholders
Customers
Sales Partners
Service Providers
Suppliers
RELATIONSHIP TO AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS
The BK Authors Cooperative
A possible BK nonprofit organization and/or BK customer
organization
AUDITS OF COMPANY’S PERFORMANCE IN MEETING
COMMITMENTS
Financial Performance
Social, Organizational, and Environmental Performance
Commitments to Stakeholders
BOARD GOVERNANCE
Membership
Selection
Roles and Responsibilities
Operation and Committees
Board Development and Evaluation of Board Performance
STAFF ORGANIZATION
Leadership
Leadership Development and Succession
Compensation Structures
DECISION MAKING PROCESS

Board of Directors
Staff
Management Team
Publication Board
Who Is Involved at What Levels for Which Types of Decisions
20
GRIEVANCES AND APPEALS
AMENDMENT AND INTERPRETATION
Source: Berrett-Koehler internal document.
21
Exhibit 5: B Lab Language to Amend By-Laws:
In discharging his or her duties, and in determining what is in
the best interests of the
corporation (the "Company") a Directors shall not be required
to regard any interest, or the
interests of any particular group affected by such action, as a
dominant or controlling interest or

factor.
He or she shall give due consideration to the following factors,
including, but not limited to, the
long-term prospects and interests of the Company and its
members, and the social, economic,
legal, or other effects of any action on the current and retired
employees, the suppliers and
customers of the Company or its subsidiaries, and the
communities and society in which the
Company or its subsidiaries operate, (collectively, with the
members, the "Stakeholders" ),
together with the short-term, as well as long-term, interests of
its members and the effect of the
Company's operations (and its subsidiaries' operations) on the
environment and the economy of
the state, the region and the nation.
Nothing in this Article express or implied, is intended to create
or shall create or grant any right
in or for any person or any cause of action by or for any person.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, any Director is entitled to rely
upon the definition of "best
interests" as set forth above in enforcing his or her rights
hereunder, and under state law and
such reliance shall not, absent another breach, be construed as a
breach of a Director's fiduciary
duty of care, even in the context of a Change in Control
Transaction where, as a result of
weighing other Stakeholders' interests, a Director determines to
accept an offer, between two
competing offers, with a lower price per share.
Source: B Lab web-site.
22

Endnotes
i Kelly, Marjorie, “Owning Our Future: The Emerging
Ownership Revolution”,Berrett-Koehler, San
Francisco, 2012, p.157.
ii Ibid, p.157.
iii Initial Berrett-Koehler catalog, 1992.
iv “20 Ways BK Books Help Createa World that Works for All.
Presentation by Steve Piersanti at the
‘BK 20th Annibversary Celebration’, July 19, 2012 (document
distyrbuted at event).
v Schein, E.H., Organization Culture and Leadership, Josey-
Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1985.
vi BK publicity piece, Berrett-Koehler Publishers to Celebrate
20 years in Publishing”, 2012.
vii http://www.youtube.com/user/jvnsva, accessed March 2013.
viii Ibid
ix Ibid
x Case researcher interview with Jamie Showkeir, 1/9/2013.
xi Lawrence, Anne and Weber, James, Business & Society, 14th
ed., McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2014, p.319.
xii Case researcher interview with Katie Sheehan, 11/28/12.
xiii Letter from Neal Mallet to Berrett-Koehler, dated
4/27/2007. (letter forwarded to us by Steve
Piersanti).
xiv BookScan Report, Publishers Weekly, July 2, 2012.
xv Case researcher interviewwith Steve Persanti, 9/19/2012.

xvi July 24, 2007 email from Steve to BK shareholders.
xvii Steve email to board of directors 1/25/12.
xviii Case researcher recording at BK Management Group
meeting on 8/23/12.
xix www.bcorporation.net/what-are-bcorps/the-non-profit-
behind-b-corps, accessed 6/15/2013.
xx Kelly, Marjorie, “Owning Our Future: The Emerging
Ownership Revolution”,Berrett-Koehler, San
Francisco, 2012, p.167-175.
xxi Steve Piersanti email to the board, 5/22/12.
xxii Powerpoint Presentation: Benefit Corporations-A New
Model for Sustainable Capitalism, presented
by Jonathan Storper, Hanson-Bridghett LLP, August, 2012.
xxiii Memo to other board members from Praveen Madan,
October 3, 2011.
xxiv Steve Piersanti email attachment to case researchers
5/30/12.
xxv Steve Piersanti memo to the BK Board, April 20, 2012.
xxvi Case researcher interview with Marilyn McConnell,
1/9/2013.
xxvii Ibid.
http://www.youtube.com/user/jvnsva
http://www.bcorporation.net/what-are-bcorps/the-non-profit-
behind-b-corps
CJUS 740
Discussion Assignment Instructions
The student must then post 2 replies of at least 250–300 words

words by 10:59 a.m. (ET) on Friday of October 8, 2021. Each
reply must incorporate at least 2 scholarly citations
in APA format. Any sources cited must have been published
within the last five years. The reply posts can integrate ideas
and citations from the Learn materials. Integrate Biblical
principles in all replies to peers.
Due: by 10:59 a.m. (Eastern Time) on Friday, October 8, 2021.
NO LATE WORK!
Please include in references and two more additional scholarly
citations in APA format:
King James Bible. (1970). The Holy Bible. Camden, New
Jersey. Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Maxfield, M. G., &Babbie, E. R. (2018). Research methods
for criminal justice and criminology (8th ed.). Boston, MA:
Cengage Learning.
Chapter 12:
Agency
Records,
Content
Analysis, and
Secondary
Data
1
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Learning Objectives
• Recognize that public organizations produce statistics
and data that are often useful for criminal justice
researchers
• Provide examples of nonpublic agency records that
can serve as data for criminal justice research
• Understand why the units of analysis represented by
agency data may be confusing for researchers
• Explain why researchers must be attentive to reliability
and validity problems that might stem from agency
records
• Summarize why “follow the paper trail” and “expect the
expected” are useful maxims to follow when using
agency records in research
2
Learning Objectives, cont.
• Summarize content analysis as a research method
appropriate for studying communications
• Describe examples of coding to transform raw data into
a standardized, quantitative form
• Summarize how secondary analysis refers to the

analysis of data collected by another researcher for
some other purpose
• Be able to access archives of criminal justice data that
are maintained by the ICPSR and the NACJD
• Understand how the advantages and disadvantages of
secondary data are similar to those for agency records
3
Introduction
• Agency records, secondary data, and content
analysis do not require direct interaction with
research subjects
• Data from agency records: Agencies collect a
vast amount of crime and criminal justice data
• Secondary analysis: Analyzing data previously
collected
• Content analysis: Researchers examine a class
of social artifacts (typically written documents)
4

Agency Records Topics
• Most commonly used in descriptive or
exploratory studies
• Topics appropriate to research using
content analysis center on the important
links between communication,
perceptions of crime problems, individual
behavior, and criminal justice policy
5
Discussion Question 1
What if you were asked to pick a research
topic that dealt with all of the following:
communication, perceptions of crime
problems, individual behavior, and criminal
justice policy? Can you think of a clear
research idea that would implicate all four?
6
Types of Agency Records
• Published Statistics

• Nonpublic Agency Records
• New Data Collected by Agency Staff
7
Published Statistics
• Government organizations routinely collect and
publish compilations of data
– FBI, Census Bureau, BJS, Federal Bureau of Prisons,
Administrative Office of US Courts
– Often available in libraries and online
• Ted Robert Gurr (1989)
– Used published statistics on violent crime dating back to
thirteenth-
century England to examine how social and political events
affected
patterns of homicide through 1984
8
Nonpublic Agency Records

• Agencies produce data not routinely released
– Police departments, courthouses, correctional facilities, BJS:
Correctional Population in the US, National Center for State
Courts:
Court Caseload Statistics
• Child Abuse, Delinquency, and Adult Arrests
• Crime Hot Spots: Geographic areas and times of
day that signal concentrations of various types of
crime
• Agency Records as Measures of Decision-Making
– “Expect the Expected”
9
New Data Collected
• Collected for specific research purposes
– Less costly, more control
– “Hybrid" source: Combines the collection of new
data—through observation or interviews—with day-to-
day criminal justice agency activities
– Need to obtain the cooperation of organizations and
staff
10

Units of Analysis and Sampling
• If you use agency records, be attentive to
match or mismatch between units of
analysis appropriate for research question
and units of analysis represented in
aggregate form
• You can go from individual to aggregate,
but not aggregate to individual
• Sampling: Taking subsets of agency
records is relatively simple and quite useful
11
Units of Analysis in Criminal Justice
Data• Criminal Activity
– Incidents
– Crimes violated
– Victims
– Offenders
• Court Activity
– Defendants
– Filings
– Charges and Counts

– Cases
– Appearances
– Dispositions
– Sentences
• Apprehension
– Arrests
– Offenders
– Charges
– Counts
• Corrections
– Offenders
– Admissions
– Returns
– Discharges
12
Reliability and Validity Problems
• Virtually all CJ record-keeping is a social process:
“social production of data”
– Records reflect decisions made by CJ personnel as well as
actual
behavior by juveniles and adults
– Discretion factors in to record-keeping
• CJ organizations are more interested in keeping track
of individual cases than in examining patterns

• Potential for clerical errors increases with the volume
of data
13
In which are you more interested: cases or
patterns? Explain.
14
Content Analysis
• Systematic study of messages—can be
applied to virtually any form of communication
– Decide on operational definitions of key variables
– Decide what to watch, read, and listen to, and time frame
– Analyze collected data
– As a mode of observation, content analysis requires a
considered handling of the what, and the analysis of data
collected in this mode, as in others, addresses the why and
with what effect
15

Coding in Content Analysis
• First establish your universe, then your units
of analysis and sampling frame, then
sample
• Communications need to be coded
according to some conceptual framework
• Choice between depth and specificity of
understanding:
– Manifest content: Visible, surface content—similar to
using closed-ended survey questions
– Latent content: Underlying meaning
16
Coding in Content Analysis, cont.
• Reminders:
– Remember operational definition of variables, and
their mutually exclusive and exhaustive attributes
– Pretest coding scheme
– Assess coding reliability via inter-coder reliability
method and test-retest method

17
Global Terrorism Database (GTD)
• Broad screening criteria result in 400,000
possible articles per month
• Content analysis software winnows them
down to 16,000 monthly articles
• Six teams of coders review for further
screening and coding
18
Violence in Video Games
• Thompson and Haninger (2001) sampled
55 of over 600 E-rated games
– Experienced undergrad gamer played for 90 minutes
or until game reached natural conclusion
– Experienced gamer/researcher and undergrad gamer
reviewed videotape of videogaming session
– Coded: # of violent incidents, # of deaths,

drugs/alcohol/tobacco, profanity, sexual behavior,
weapon use, explicit music
– Measured duration of violent acts and # of deaths to
length of game playing for standardized measures
19
Classifying Gang-Related Homicides
• Rosenfeld, Bray, and Egley (1999): how
gang membership might facilitate homicide
in different ways
– Content analysis of police case files for homicides in
St. Louis over a 10-year period
– Gang-motivated killings: Resulted from gang behavior
or relationships, such as an initiation ritual, the
“throwing” of gang signs, or a gang fight
– Gang-affiliated homicides: Involves a gang member as
victim or offender, but with no indication of specific
gang activity
20
Secondary Analysis

• Data collected by other researchers are often used to
address new research questions
• Sources: websites (BJS, NCVS, ICPSR, NACJD),
libraries
• Advantages: cheaper, faster, benefit from work of
skilled researchers
• Disadvantages: data may not be appropriate to your
research question; least useful for evaluation studies
(which are designed to answer specific questions about
specific programs), validity
21
Have you ever worked with secondary
data? Explain your experience?
22
Chapter 11:
Field
Observation

1
Learning Objectives
• Be able to describe field research as a data collection method
that
involves the direct observation of phenomena in their natural
settings
• Recognize that field observation is usually the preferred data
collection
method for obtaining information about physical or social
settings,
behavior, and events
• Understand that field research in criminal justice may produce
either
qualitative or quantitative data
• Provide examples of how observations made through field
research
can be integrated with data collected through interviews and
from other
sources
• Understand why field researchers may or may not identify
themselves
as researchers to the people they are observing
2

Learning Objectives, cont.
• Recognize what sampling techniques are best suited
for field research, and when they can be used
• Recognize the alternatives for recording field
observations, ranging from video, audio, and other
equipment to unstructured field notes
• Understand how field notes are taken, and be able to
describe different ways to combine structure and
flexibility in field notes
• Summarize how field research measures up on validity
and reliability
3
Introduction
• Field research encompasses two different
methods of obtaining data:
– Direct observation
– Asking questions
• May yield qualitative and quantitative data
• Often no precisely defined hypotheses to be
tested

• Used to make sense out of an ongoing
process
4
Field Research Topics
• Gives comprehensive perspective—
enhances validity
– Go directly to phenomenon; observe it as completely
as possible
• Especially appropriate for topics best
understood in their natural setting
– Street-level drug dealers to distinguish customers
• Ethnography: Focuses on detailed and
accurate description rather than
explanation
5
What if your government supplied you with
$50,000 for field research? Which

conditions or behaviors would you be
interested in observing?
6
Roles of the Observer
• Complete participant: Participate fully; true identity
and purpose are not known to subjects
• Participant-as-observer: Make known your position
as researcher and participate with the group
• Observer-as-participant: Make known your position
as a researcher; do not actually participate
• Complete observer: Observe without becoming a
participant
7
Purposive Sampling in Field Research
• Controlled probability sampling used rarely;
purposive sampling is common
• Bear in mind two stages of sampling:
– To what extent are the situations available for observation

representative of the general phenomena you wish to describe
and
explain?
– Are your actual observations within those total situations
representative of all observations?
– Consider how observations will vary by population, space,
micro
time, macro time, and weather dimensions
8
Recording Observations
• Note-taking or tape recording when interviewing
and when making observations (dictation)
• Videotaping or photographs can make records of
“before” and “after” some physical design change
• Field notes: Observations are recorded as written
notes, often in a field journal; first take sketchy
notes and then rewrite your notes in detail
• Structured observations: Observers mark closed-
ended forms, which produce numeric measures
9

What if you wanted to research crime in a
dangerous area? Would you use a
camera? Why or why not? Be specific.
10
Linking Field Observations
• Useful to combine field research with surveys or
data from official records
– Baltimore study of the effects of neighborhood physical
characteristics on residents’ perceptions of crime problems
(Taylor, Shumaker, and Gottfredson, 1985)
– Perceptions: Surveys
– Physical problems: Observations; actual population and crime
information (census data and crime reports from police records)
11
Shoplifting

• Counted only when offense is seen; takes
place only in certain locations; crime of
stealth and not confrontation
– Prevalence defined as ratio of shoplifters: shoppers
– Subjects selected by systematic sampling, e.g., every
twentieth shopper was followed by a field observer
– Other research staff were employed as shoplifters to
measure reliability of observers’ detections
– Could adjust prevalence rate with reliability figures
12
How Many People Wear Seat Belts?
• Rate of use: # of people wearing: # of cars observed
• Stationary observers at roadsides rather than mobile
• Placed at controlled intersections
• Sampled cars on three dimensions: Time of day,
roadway type, observation site; stratified sites by
density of auto ownership (correlated with
population)
• Emphasized marking “U” when uncertain
13

What if you could replicate one of these
projects? Which would you choose?
14
Strengths & Weaknesses
• Provides great depth of understanding
• Flexibility (no need to prepare much in advance)
• More appropriate to measure behavior than
surveys
• High validity: quant. measures—incomplete picture
• Low reliability: Often very personal
• Generalizability: Personal nature may produce
findings that may not be replicated by another
• Precise probability samples can’t normally be
drawn
15
Douglas Brady
Discussion Thread: Bringing it all Together
The topic chosen for this discussion thread occurred on
August 9, 2014, involving Michael Brown, an unarmed African

American teenager fatally shot during an altercation with a
Ferguson, MO police officer. The incident invoked months of
protests, civil unrest, and racial injustice cries not only in
Ferguson but across the whole United States as a whole. The
incident sparked a Department of Justice investigation into
allegations of police brutality, unjust practices, and arrest
procedures across the country. The incident receiving enormous
coverage in the news on social networks, and even political
coverage. Similar events erupted in other cities across the
United States in the following months, including Baton Rouge,
Baltimore, North Charleston, and Cleveland. Some incidents
were captured with cell phone video and quickly spreading
across the nation via media outlets and the Internet.
As a result, in December 2014, anger regarding Michael
Brown's death turned deadly when two New York City police
officers were fatally ambushed in broad daylight while sitting in
their squad car. Just moments before the incident, the assassin
posted on social media: “I'm putting wings on pigs today. They
take 1 of ours…let's take 2 of theirs” (Mueller & Baker, 2016).
Consequently, just 19 months later, in Dallas, Texas, five
police officers were fatally ambushed by a shooter who was
outraged about police killings of African American men in
Baton Rouge, LA and Falcon Heights, MN. Ten days following
the Dallas shooting, three officers were shot and killed in
Louisiana.
Therefore, the precise research idea that would
implicate all four areas of the topic mentioned above is the
multimethod design, which incorporates qualitative and
quantitative methods. The multimethod plan addresses the
criminal justice policies concerns, individual behavior,
perceptions of crime problems, and communication issues
between the police and citizen. The multimethod research idea
depicted in this study: Third-person perceptions, adverse media
effects, and policing: Developing a theoretical framework for
assessing the Ferguson effect (Nix & Pickett, 2017).
Perception of Crime

Henceforth, data for the study were collected from a
survey of a major police agency in a large city in the
southeastern United States conducted in the fall of 2016 (Nix &
Pickett, 2017). Thus, regarding the perceptions of crime
problems or the perceived media influence on crime, Ferguson
police officers were asked: “How do you think negative media
coverage of the police impacts crime rates?” they noted. The
response options ranged from 1 =greatly decreases crime to 5=
greatly increases crime. The authors stated, this information
“would provide precedent for proceeding to test whether, when
separately measured, officers' views about the favorability of
media coverage of policing are associated with their perceptions
both of civilians' attitudes and behaviors, and recent changes in
the crime rate” (p. 27).
Communication and Behaviors
Furthermore, the communication from hostile media
perceptions revealed that the relationship between officers'
perceptions of crime and hostile media is primarily mediated by
judgments of changes in civilians' behaviors and attitudes
toward law enforcement and, to a lesser extent, by concerns of
false charges (Rosenfeld, 2016; Wolfe & Nix, 2016a). One
approach the authors recommended to rectify the problem was
for police departments to leverage different forms of media
outlets to increase the quality and frequency of communications
about policing readily available to the public.
Criminal Justice Policy
Moreover, according to Nix & Pickett (2017), our
findings have several implications from a criminal justice
policy standpoint. First, the findings suggest a need to take
further steps to improve police officers' and civilians' attitudes
toward each other. Second, prior research suggests that
organizational justice—that is, respectful and fair treatment of
officers by their supervisors—may reduce the impact of
officers' hostile media perceptions (Nix & Wolfe,
2016; Wolfe & Nix, 2016c). Third, the authors suggested that
agencies might consider training programs aimed at reducing

officers' reactions to media reports. Fourth, the evidence
suggests that it is important for police departments to take steps
to counter the negative publicity in the media and ensure a more
accurate depiction of policing, they noted.
Christian Worldview
According to the Holy Bible, God is responsible for
establishing the world's governments for its citizen to adhere to.
However, many of these laws, policies, and procedures contain
systemic racism overtones, prejudices, discrimination, or
antagonism primarily directed towards men of African American
descent. However, until criminal justice reform occurs,
obedience to the Word of God through compliance with law
enforcement will reduce deadly encounters with police. The
Bible proclaims in (Romans 13:1-5) that:
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there
is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist
are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority
resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring
judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good
works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority?
Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For
he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be
afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s
minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices
evil. Therefore, you must be subject, not only because of wrath
but also for conscience’ sake. (NKJV)
Ebony Martin
11:04amOct 4 at 11:04am
Manage Discussion Entry
Gun Control
If I were asked to pick a research topic that encompassed the
entities of communication, perceptions of crime problems,
individual behavior and criminal justice policy, I w ould pick the
topic of gun control. Spitzer (2019) conveys the power that the

National Rifle Association has on the topic of gun mandates.
Spanning from senseless accidental suicides to a rise in school
shootings, the debate about the purchase and possessi on of
handguns and assault rifles has a chokehold on the American
society.
Communication
Communication on the topic of gun control has a been a great
barrier to comprehension because there are so many varied
narratives about how gun control will operate. Citizens on the
against side of the argument interpret the idea that the
government will seize their weapons for good and the people
will be left defenseless. Laschever and Meyer (2021) state that
since the Clinton era, gun control opponents have been
“energized” to convey their stark opinions against control and
this energy has created a “reduced urgency” for the need for gun
conversation. Citizens on the for-gun control side of the
argument interpret that military grade weapons will be taken
away and that evaluation and lending of gun licenses process
will be investigated. Rood (2018) states that the “dead”. The
innocent lives taken due to gun violence are commanding the
living to make changes as it concerns the current state of
weapons in America. The opposition lies in the question, “are
guns a threat to safety or a means of remaining safe’?
Crime Problems/ Individual Behavior
The reality is that crime issues and gun violence have an
integrated history with one another. Gun violence can involve
domestic abuse, gangs, narcotic distribution and possession,
suicide, accidental deaths, school shootings/bullying, police
brutality, and regular violent crimes. Giffords law center (2021)
states that 39,000 American die each year from gun violence.
Among these deaths suicide remains the top contender.
However, police brutality ibn combination with legitimacy has
been making headlines since the incident of Trayvon Martin.
There is real question among the population about if police are
using guns to follow the law or break the law (Taylor, 2021).
Can they be called to protect and serve was also being involved

in what the public perceives as senseless murder. In addition to
this, school shooting and the threats of such like that of
Virginia Tech concern parents all over about the safety of their
children in educational institutions.
Criminal Justice Policy
Giffords law center (2021) states that “America has the weakest
gun laws and the most guns”. They also state that nationally,
gun violence is on the rise with suicide being the top contender.
Currently, the right to bear arms is the most historical barrier
that holds the American people in opposition from changing the
state of gun possession. Most recently, online gun certification
classes were removed as an option for receiving concealed and
carry licensure, but nothing more has been done after this.
Many citizens are suggesting that psychological evaluations and
stricter background checking be instituted for purchase of
firearms. Some citizens have even felt compelled to give their
military grade weapons back to the state, not wanting to be
involved or persecuted in any more senseless deaths.
Biblical Perspective
In the word, God lets us know from the ten commandments that
murder is an abomination. In Ecclesiastes 9:18 God says that,
“Wisdom is better than weapons of war” conveying that
intelligence can be made useless when weapons are used before
thought. (King James Version, 1769/2017, Ecclesiastes 9,18).
He also states in Matthew 26: 52-54, “Put your sword back into
its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword”.
Meaning that if you bring violence to your neighbor k you will
also be stricken with violence. These man-made weapons are
not of God in a way that they play judge, hurry, and sometimes
executioner; a position that no man has been called to take over
God. It would be fair to assume that God would not condone the
taking of lives by mere man when the power of life and death
lies on the tongue as is. He compels us to be careful when we
choose what we say. The addition of weapons to expression and
quick temperedness to plan attack has been clearly frowned
upon; “preserve me from violent men, who have planned to trip

up my feet” (King James Version, 1769/2017, Psalm 140:4).

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