Sterling Management is a management consulting firm led by CEO and Chairman Kevin Wilson. A private corporation owned and operated by the Emery Wilson Corporation, it offers business administration seminars and training based on L. Ron Hubbard's teachings to dentists, accountants, veterinarians, optometrists and other medical and private practice professionals. Founded in 1983 in the back office of a dental practice in Vacaville, California, it is currently located in a office in Los Angeles, California.
Sterling provides services under a license from WISE, the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises<sup>p. 10</sup>, which oversees the use of L. Ron Hubbard's copyrighted materials in applications in the business community at large.
For practice owners and key executives Sterling's services involve formal training delivered at their facilities in Los Angeles, California. Staff training is typically delivered at weekend workshops held by the company throughout the year in major cities around the US.
According to a deposition by Emery Wilson's Director of Public Affairs, from 1994 to 2015 the company was affected by the economic climate, reducing its staff complement to 25 from nearly 300.<sup>p. 7</sup>
The company is licensed to train the administration methods of L. Ron Hubbard, but claim that they are not a religious organization. The company's Director of Public Affairs has, however, stated that most of the company's employees are involved in Scientology.<sup>p. 25</sup>
Sterling has been criticized for its "high-pressure sales tactics". According to the LA Times, Sterling offers and teaches the same techniques the Church of Scientology has for years employed including heavy marketing, high productivity and rigid rules of employee conduct.
Wilson's New Religious Movements and Heela's The New Age Movement describe Sterling as an "est-like movement", referring to Werner Erhard's Erhard Seminars Training.
Glover Rowe and his wife Dee stated in 1990 that they were forcibly held against their will by Scientologists after attending two Sterling seminars: they claimed that their tests indicated that without auditing, their business would fail and Dee would abuse their child.