While these internal markets are rare, a growing body of research suggests that giving employees a voice in decision-making, from performance assessment to idea generation, tends to result in higher employee satisfaction even, in some cases, greater profitability and productivity, according to USC's Mr. Lawler.

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Kaufman soon accepted Lawler's offer to a match in the Mid-South Coliseum -- to battle the King on his own turf.

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Given that only 36% of eligible Memphians voted in the previous election, Mr Lawler's most powerful weapon may be an ability to draw voters to the polls who would otherwise have stayed at home.

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But open management can be expensive and time consuming: If any worker's pay is out of line with his or her peers, the firm should be ready to even things up or explain why it's so, says Dr. Lawler.

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"For me it's like my kitchen and living room rolled in one, " said Mr. Lawler, 47 years old, a Ben Benson's regular who works nearby in the financial services industry.

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"It's creative repackaging of stuff that's been around for a long time--one of the most successful marketing efforts of the last decade started by Gallup, " says Edward Lawler, professor of management and organization at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.

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"You need management that is comfortable giving up some say, and let's face it, human nature isn't all programmed that way, " says Ed Lawler, a management professor and director of the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.

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