Employee Share Ownership Plans: How to Design and Implement an ESOP in Canada

Book Description

Employee Share Ownership Plans (ESOPs) are a powerful new tool in a world in which it is no longer business as usual.

Whether you want to attract and retain skilled workers, create a succession plan for a family business, combat the "brain drain," recognize the contributions your employees have made to your company's success, or need a way to turn your company around through improvements in productivity and morale, an ESOP could be the win-win solution for your company.

An ESOP is a formal plan that allows employees to purchase shares in the company the work for. Employees think and act like owners because they do actually hold a very real stake in the company. Not only are ESOPs financially beneficial for employees; companies that offer these plans also reap tangible rewards in improved motivation, communication, productivity, and profitability.

Employee Share Ownership Plans is a comprehensive and practical guide to every aspect of designing and implementing ESOPs:

Explains the various objectives of an ESOP and the types of plans that exist.
Outlines all the processes that are at the foundation of implementing an ESOP: determining employee eligibility, financing, creating the implementation team, communicating the plan to employees, troubleshooting, and more.
Covers the more technical aspects of setting up an ESOP, such as business valuation, tax implications, legal requirements, and creating cross-border or international ESOPs.
Includes hands-on tools such as sample letters, shareholder agreements, and a comprehensive resource guide to ESOP professionals, web sites, and associations.
Features case studies, checklists, questionnaires, and frequently-asked questions.

ESOPs are becoming an increasingly important component of compensation and incentive packages, particularly in the high-tech sector, knowledge-based industries, and in any company that relies on a highly skilled workforce. They are very flexible and may be used in many types of situations for a variety of purposes. Because of their adaptability, no two ESOPs are the same, and each plan may be designed and custom fit to a particular culture and type of company.

This book will help business owners and managers, as well as their professional advisors, create a competitive advantage for any organization, publicly traded or privately owned.

Book Description

Gripping, minute-by-minute account of the day President Lincoln was struck down by an assassin's bullet in Ford's Theatre. Parallels of the activities of the President with those of his assassin in an unforgettable, suspense- filled chronicle. 320 pages.

Customer Reviews:

Ok, so history CAN be entertaining.......2007-07-02

All history books should be written by Jim Bishop. He is able to bring the past to life with wonderful story telling that doesn't lose any details. This book taught me more about Lincoln than I have ever gotten out of classes and lessons. I had no clue that he disliked his wife and that John W Booth had failed so many times in his attempts. The deep research involved in such a writing must make it almost impossible to create history books in its image. Yet, we could do with less encyclopedia-like accounts of our past so that we keep our heritage instead of trying to wade through it. I will make sure to add Bishop's other masterpieces to my collection as soon as possible.

Yes, I know Lincoln got shot........2007-06-07

The Day Lincoln Was Shot is, in fact, about the entire day of Lincoln's death. If you decide to pick up this book make sure you set aside a lot of time and anything else you could be doing. This book is a very detailed hour by hour account of the day Lincoln was murdered. I do give the author credit for being historically accurate. Although it was accurate, this book did not have the ability to capture and hold on to my attention. The plot was pretty straight forward and I felt as though i was reading something straight out of a history book plus what's inbetween the lines. Mr.Bishop did make a good effort and put alot of time into this book judging by how detailed it is. The level of detail however, was my biggest problem with this book. I understand that Lincoln got shot and it was tragic but I don't need to know his murderer's every action throughout the day to get to where he was when he shot Lincoln.
In conclusion, reading this book was comparable only to cruel and unusual punishment and I can only hope to never read anything this horrible ever again.

Minute To Minute History, At Its Finest!.......2007-04-30

"The Day Lincoln Was Shot" takes the reader through an minute by minute account of the events involving the principal characters involved in the Lincoln assassination. The story actually starts weeks before the assassination and traces the Booth conspiracy, first to kidnap, and then to murder Lincoln as well as Lincoln's activities amid the rumors of conspiracy and murder. The roles of others, prominently Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, are artfully woven into the book. Author Jim Bishop skillfully switches between Lincoln and the conspirators while relating the events. Although I have long studied Lincoln Lore, I learned new things about the tragedy, and was reminded of other things which I had known. Never did my attention drift from the story. This is first class, minute by minute history, at its finest.

Unexspectivily Moving........2006-07-09

This book is amazing. I am a lover of American History, but only recenly did I read this book. I found it in a dollar pile at a book fair and it was one of the greatest things I've spent my money on.
I cannot remember the last time I was so moved by a book. Bishop's discription of this day has a rare quaility of being both objective and emotional. Such events in human history are bound in emotion, but there is one other way to present this material except objectivily because of its power and meaning.
"The Day Lincoln Was Shot" was one of the only books that caused me to weep while reading it. "The Final Hours" are presented with such digneity and grace that; while events occured over 150 years ago, they are as moving if they had happened 5 years ago. I would say that it has been 15 years or more since I have been so affected by a book. Bishop gives the reader an oppertunity to be apart of history and not just learn from it. You feel as if you are part of the crowd at Ford's Theater or at the Peterson home.
This is a great find and an important read for anyone who cares about human history.

Gripping Account.......2005-10-20

On my long commute to and from work, the audiocassette version of this book kept me thoroughly engrossed for days. No detail escaped Bishop's notice in this suprisingly gripping account of Lincoln's last day. An eminently satisfying piece of historical reconstruction.

The President Is Shot!: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Average customer rating:

EXCELLENT FOR YOUNG READERS...

The President Is Shot!: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Harold Holzer
Manufacturer: Boyds Mills Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1563979853

Customer Reviews:

EXCELLENT FOR YOUNG READERS..........2006-02-24

I bought my copy of this book in the basement of Ford's Theater. I read a good deal of it to my family by the light of the lone bulb in our Catoctin Mountain cabin on warm July evening. Nostalgia and warm feelings play a part in this review.

That said, this is not the first work on Lincoln I have read by Mr. Holzer. I have enjoyed greatly his various compilations of things written by or about our 16th President. His book, Lincoln at Cooper Union, is both very readable and masterfully researched and composed.

This book, its special personal value to me aside, is just as excellent (though admittedly lacking in depth) as a work for young readers interested in the collision course that our Nation, not to mention Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Booth, was/were on by the spring of 1865.

Mr. Holzer is the master of lucid and direct prose. He puts story back into history. He boils down but does not misrepresent events and personalities.

He does a wonderful job of making this book compelling.

For those interested in a more in-depth book on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, let me suggest Blood on the Moon.

To get the gist of what happened, and what it all means to us, one need look no further than this excellent little volume. I give The President Is Shot! my highest recommendation.

The Day Lincoln Was Shot: An Illustrated Chronicle

Average customer rating:

The Best of Its Kind
exciting, thrilling, fascinating
Well written and very informative
A great summary of the tragic last day of A. Lincoln
Best book about the events leading up to Lincoln's death

The Day Lincoln Was Shot: An Illustrated Chronicle
Richard Bak
Manufacturer: Taylor Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0878332006

Customer Reviews:

The Best of Its Kind.......2004-06-10

This is an excellent book!! Richard Bak successfully brings the past to life in his natural and descriptive writing style, and in 'The Day Lincoln Was Shot,' he successfully takes the reader back to the events leading up to that fateful night at Ford's Theater. But that's not all - we're also privy to the final hours of Booth's life as well, and even to the horrid (and extremely biased) court proceedings and outcome that, in a number of unfortunate cases, brought death to innocent people caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Mr. Bak does not take sides in the text. He presents the facts as they were at the time combined with our discoveries over the last 140 years. This is what makes this book so thoroughly enjoyable and exciting.
Being a relatively extensive but quick read, 'The Day Lincoln Was Shot' is highly recommended for anyone, be they high schoolers or older, who want to know the truth behind the conspiracy of the death of our 16th president.

exciting, thrilling, fascinating.......2003-06-24

April 14, 1865, Washington. During a performance of the play OUR AMERICAN COUSIN in Ford's theatre young actor John Wilkes BOOTH shoots Abraham LINCOLN, sixteenth president of the United States, with a .44 derringer in a desparate attempt to turn the tides of civil war. (The cause of the South was already lost, General LEE had already surrendered at Appomatox Court House.)
At the same time BOOTH's co-conspirator Lewis POWELL tries to stab secretary of state William H. SEWARD, leaving the politician as well as his daughter, two sons and a male nurse severly injured. Another conspirator, George ATZERODT, decided to abandon his mission to kill vice president Andrew JOHNSON and got drunk instead.

THE DAY LINCOLN WAS SHOT details the story of this infamous assassination, from the background of the characters, the scheming, the assassination and its aftermath to the fate of the conspirators inside a burning barn (BOOTH) and on the gallows (his accomplices), respectively.
Author Richard BAK brings the persons involved in this tragedy vividly to life. I found this aspect of the book especially compelling. We learn about the war weary president, who also suffered from personal plight (an emotionally unstable wife and the death of his son Willie in 1862). We get to know assassin John Wilkes BOOTH, a famous actor and womanizer, bold, darring and sympathizing with the Confederacy's cause. The book points out how BOOTH's deed affected the American society and the life of all persons involved in this drama. Did you know that Major RATHBONE, an officer, who had accompanied LINCOLN at Ford's theatre, never forgave himself for having been incapable of stopping BOOTH and subsequently became insane due to his self-reproaches, resulting in the murder of his wife and a lifelong imprisonment in a mental institution? The book is full of such gripping details.
Also of note is the way the book sets right some popular myths abouth the assassination. For instance, it is a wellknown belief that after having shot LINCOLN, BOOTH jumped from the presidential box to the stage below and disclaimed "Sic semper tyrannis!" (So perish all tyrannts!) According to eye witness accounts there was no agreement of what BOOTH did or did not say. Also BOOTH's broken leg seems to do not result from the leap on the stage. (He simply made it up in his diary to make his deed more "heroic".) According to author BAK there is good reason to believe that BOOTH broke his leg on his escape, when unheroically falling down from his horse.

THE DAY LINCOLN WAS SHOT is very well written and not at all scholarly. It's written in a way that appeals to history buffs. The text is accompanied by dozens of contemporary photographs and pictures, which add much detail and information.
Also included are various essays of contributing authors, the topics ranging from a portrait of Lewis POWELL, "mystery man" of the conspiracy, to the depiction of the assassination in movies.

This history book is as exciting as a thriller novel, a real pageturner. Believe me, even in case you are not overly interested in civil war history, you'll enjoy it, because it is so thrilling.
HIGHLY recommended.

Well written and very informative.......2002-04-03

I was surprised by how much information was packed into this slim volume. The pictures are well chosen to complement the text. And the essays from other scholars help add light to this turning point in US history.

A great summary of the tragic last day of A. Lincoln.......2000-07-29

I bought this book at Ford's theatre gift shop after asking the giftshop supervisor which book has the best narrative and accurate summary of the events leading up to John Wilkes Booth assasination of President Abraham Lincoln, she recommended this book. I must say that she made an excellent choice. This is an excellent book that not only gives the details of the assasination of Lincoln on the night of April 14, 1865, but also gives the background of the mentally imbalanced actor John Wilkes Booth and his cohorts of assasins. This is the companion to the TNT original movie "The Day Lincoln Was Shot" which in itself is an excellent movie. But by itself this book stands on itself as giving the all around perspective both North and South to the views of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and the ultimate defeat of the Confederacy. In this book the eyewitness accounts of the assasination are told by the people who were in the theatre box with the President and First Lady as well as by the people who were in the audience. The events after the shot was fired are given in first hand accounts, and narratives and perspectives years after Lincoln's death. There is a chapter that even gives focus on the rumor's of Booth's escape and living to an old age, but I agree with the book's analysis that this was just rumor. Booth did die by a soldier's bullet a couple of weeks after Lincoln's death. Overall, this is a great read that anyone could enjoy from early High School to a U.S. History Major college student, or any US History enthusiast who wants to know more about the death of President Lincoln.

Best book about the events leading up to Lincoln's death.......2000-06-30

Richard Bak has done an extraordinary job explaining in great detail all of the events that led up to the shooting and eventual death of President Lincoln. Out of the many books that I have read about Abraham Lincoln, this is one of the few that made me almost feel like I was there. He has gone to great lengths to find who was involved and just what took place in great detail in the hours prior to the shooting. I was amazed to read about just what some of the people that were there at the theater that night had experienced and how they felt at the time. It also told how unstable Mary Lincoln was and how one of her outbusts directed at Mrs. Grant days before the shooting had been the reason that the Grants didn't attend the play that evening with them. The book explains that Lincoln expected to be assassinated and that there was nothing that he or anyone else could do to prevent it from happening. I believe that this book would be must have book for any Abraham Lincoln fanatic like myself. After I read this book, I immediately bought the companion video. I highly recommend that anyone considering the purchase of this book also purchase the video. You will definately not be disappointed.

Average customer rating:

The Day Lincoln Was Shot

Manufacturer: Outlet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0060103604

The day Lincoln was shot (History in the headlines)

Average customer rating:

The day Lincoln was shot (History in the headlines)
Douglas M Rife
Manufacturer: Good Apple, a division of Frank Schaffer Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006REYBS

Book Description

"... excellent... a detailed, yet simple, guidebook... numerous illustrations and extensive checklists add to the practicality of the book... provides a quick education on the essentials of the physical aspects of a home... On my scale of one to ten, this outstanding book rates a nine."-Robert Bruss, syndicated real estate columnist, Tribune Media Services. This home inspection book stands out-it's the only one that helps home buyers determine what they need and want in a home, and the only one that follows a unique system of checklists to help them find that "dream house."

Customer Reviews:

These checklists are essential to buying a home!.......1999-07-13

As a first time homebuyer, I was intimidated by all of the things that can be "wrong" with a prospective home. This book explains the essentials of everything on the extensive checklists. Definitions are given in words and pictures for everything you should inspect.

This is not the only book you should read, but I strongly recommend it as part of your arsenal.

Average customer rating:
HOME BUYER'S CHECKLIST - A Foolproof Guide To Finding The Perfect House
Richard M. & Heberle, Dave, Illustrated by Marcinowski, Jay Scutella
Manufacturer: TAB Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFHGY4

Book Description

The Last Good Time is a richly layered epic that brings to life a fascinating place, its politics, people, and culture, through the portrait of one of Atlantic City’s most famous families—the powerful, flamboyant, and ultimately tragic D’Amatos. Paul “Skinny” D’Amato created and presided over the 500 Club, the celebrated supper club that entertained thousands of Americans and helped guide the careers of the great Rat Pack performers—Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Frank Sinatra. Skinny was at the center of it all, hovering behind the scenes during the zenith of one of the world’s most notorious playgrounds.

Veteran magazine writer Jonathan Van Meter captures the volatile history of twentieth-century Atlantic City—from the days of Prohibition and smoky speakeasies to the city’s heyday of imported Hollywood glamour and glitz after World War II; from the near demise of the resort in the 1970s to the city’s current era of legal “gaming” and dazzling high-tech hotel/casinos.

Skinny D’Amato avoided the public eye whenever possible, though he was perhaps the most important person in the history of Atlantic City, where his nightclub served as the ultimate backroom for the big players of entertainment, politics, sports, and the Mob. Skinny is rarely acknowledged as part of the Rat Pack, but he was at the center of its creation, its mentor. It was Skinny who taught Sinatra how to hold a cigarette, tip big, be cool. He paired Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin for the first time at his 500 Club, and on any given night back in the 1950s and 1960s, you’d find Elizabeth Taylor, Toots Shor, the Gabor sisters, Joe DiMaggio, Milton Berle, Liberace, Grace Kelly, Nat King Cole, and just about every big player in the underworld hanging out by the bar or in the back rooms. Skinny was a link between politicians—including John F. Kennedy—entertainers, and the Mob and was the subject of constant surveillance by the FBI and tax investigators. Whether he was in the Mob or not, Skinny was the ultimate connected guy, a gentleman’s gentleman, a passionate gambler who had a special touch that brought bigpeople together so that they could have a good time.

As Van Meter evokes the ever-evolving landscape of Atlantic City, he shows us how the D’Amato family, like other larger-than-life American families during the last century, experienced a changing wheel of fortune, seeing great moments of wealth, power, and personal attainment, as well as all manner of human tragedy. In the space of a few years, Skinny’s beloved wife, Bettyjane, died of a brain aneurysm at a relatively young age; the 500 Club burned to the ground; and, perhaps most devastating of all, his son, Angelo, was convicted of brutally murdering two people. With the last of the good times behind him, Skinny retreated to his Ventnor, New Jersey, mansion, taking his card game with him, emerging to see his Rat Pack friends, and, in the process, becoming a living symbol of how cool it all was once upon a time in America.

Van Meter expertly renders one of the great untold tales of modern America, a character portrait of both an extraordinary time and place, and the Zelig-like man who hovered over it all. The Last Good Time is a classic tale of the whiskey-soaked dark side of America’s mid-century popular culture.

Customer Reviews:

All new stuff on ornery Hollywood notables!.......2007-10-14

This is great reading!
It's a wonderful journey down the nostalgic road back to the endless antics and travels of The Rat Pack (Sinatra, Bishop, Lewis, Martin, Lawford, and Davis, Jr.). Also, you'll find lots of good history on Atlantic City, and, on Joe Dimagio, George Raft, Marilyn Monroe, and many other celebrity notables who lived "on the fringe."
You'll read all new stuff in here! Well-researched and a real page-turner. My highest recommendation to readers of all interest areas.

Jonathan rolls a 7........2007-06-26

The new and the old Atlantic City!

A fast read from the days of the old Steel Pier right up to the Resort Casinos that line the Boardwalk today.

Van Meter starts this journey as he arrives in town to work at Atlantic City Magazine. He gets word about a "sale" at the home of the late Paul "Skinny" D'Amato, the owner of the famous "500 Club." This is 1986 and Atlantic City is now a gambling mecca.

Van Meter quickly becomes enthralled with D'Amato and the history of the city and figures he's a got a pretty good book on his hands. He's right!

The Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin/Marilyn Monore/ Mob connections drive the narrative and the reader gets caught up in their world. Van Meter keeps the pace with the rich and famous and their connection to D'Amato rolling along, and you get to go for the ride.

Damn good ride! All 296 pages of it. Recommended!

A bit of AC history.......2005-04-28

What a great story of a city (Atlantic City) and a man (Skinny D'Amato) who was larger than life. I enjoyed the rise and fall and re-rise of AC.

I was swept up with the history of Victorian Era resort and wish that the old hotels were still there today. I'm a sucker for old, historic buildings. To read about the decline of AC and the revitilisation with the casinos in the late 1970s/early 1980s was also interesting reading.

At the center of it all was Skinny - friend to the stars, on the fringe of the mob; an interesting character to say the least. This is a "two thumbs up" book - recommend to anyone interested in nearly a century of American history.

Interesting Time, Place and People........2005-03-15

Atlantic City was "THE" place at one time, The 500 Club was very famous, the people were famous or trying to be. My wife was born (1945) and raised in A.C., her relatives hung out at the club. A better writer with better research could have written a great book, I bought 3 as gifts before I had read it. I should have bought one and passed it around. Van Meter scratched a surface of a jewel, not deeply. I hope another writer can cut and polish a multi-faceted gem out of this subject.

Great Read.......2003-10-15

You won't be disapointed with this book!!!! The author integrates all of the interesting details of AC in the past 100 years without boring the reader. Any casual reader or historian will love the clever writing style and attention to detail and context of AC - a town with a dynamic history. The tale of Skinny's life and the 500 should be made into a movie!!!!

After reading The Last Good Time, I was prompted to making a trip, now knowing the history of the town that can't really be what it was and is still struggling with where it needs to be in the future (author's forward).

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