New Research Project on the Future of Ownership and Steward Ownership

Enlarge

The LMU Munich Professorship for Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Sustainability (IES), in collaboration with the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), has launched the new research project "The Future of Ownership: Steward Ownership and Its Implications for Economic Performance as well as Environmental and Social Sustainability" (ZUDE-SO). The project investigates how alternative ownership and governance structures can enable organisations to operate in more long-term, responsible, and purpose-driven ways. It is funded for two years by the German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) as part of the INSIGHT II funding programme.

The project is motivated by a timely policy debate in Germany. Policymakers are currently discussing the introduction of a new legal form for companies—the Gesellschaft mit gebundenem Vermögen (GmgV), or "asset-locked company." The proposed legal form aims to make it easier for organisations to implement the core principles of Steward Ownership. While such models have so far relied largely on complex foundation structures or other bespoke legal arrangements, a dedicated legal form could make purpose-driven ownership substantially more accessible.

This debate places ownership back at the centre of questions about how organisations are governed. Ownership determines who has decision-making authority, whose interests shape strategic choices, and how responsibility can be embedded institutionally over the long term. Steward Ownership addresses precisely these questions by seeking to ensure that organisations are not primarily designed to maximise private financial extraction but remain permanently committed to their purpose, their employees, and their broader societal responsibilities.

Two principles are central to Steward Ownership: self-governance and asset locking. Decision-making authority rests with people who are actively connected to the organisation, while profits are largely retained within the organisation or used in ways that support its purpose. The project examines how such ownership and governance arrangements influence organisational outcomes, particularly with regard to economic performance, environmental and social sustainability, and the prevention of mission drift.

This project led by Prof. Dr. Ali Aslan Gümüşay , Dr. Tanja Schomann and Dr. Amyn Vogel are involved as postdoctoral researchers. Prof. Dr. Laura Edinger-Schons (University of Hamburg) contributes as an associated research partner. The Purpose Foundation supports the project as a practice and network partner, providing expertise and access to organisations that operate according to Steward Ownership principles.

A legal advisory board accompanies the project and provides expertise on legal and regulatory developments concerning new ownership models. The board consists of Prof. Dr. Anne Sanders (Bielefeld University) and Dr. Marvin Reiff (European University Viadrina).

With ZUDE-SO, the Chair further develops its research on innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainability by adding a fundamental perspective on ownership as a structural condition of organisational action. The project's goal is to generate new scientific insights into alternative ownership models and to deepen our understanding of their significance for future-oriented and sustainable forms of organising and doing business.