In January 1997, BASIS became partially employee-owned after stock options were granted to all full-time employees of the company.

According to George Hight, president of BASIS, "We are granting these options so our employees can choose to own part of BASIS. This makes everyone directly responsible to our customers and the overall success of our company."

Joe Rose, BASIS vice president of finance, sees the stock options as the first step in a new company policy of Open-Book Management. According to John Case, author of Open-Book Management: The Coming Business Revolution (published in 1995), a company empowers its employees by showing them its financial records and the effect their actions have on the company's bottom line.

Rose states, "This year, we are not only offering stock options to our employees, we are opening up our financial records and giving employees the information they need to be proactive owners. Now all employees will see the company's financial information and become business partners with BASIS. Everyone will be empowered to control costs and improve service."