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The New American Workplace
Thirty years ago, the bestselling "letter to the government" Work in America published to national acclaim, including front-page coverage in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. It sounded an alarm about worker dissatisfaction and the effects on the nation as a whole. Now, based on thirty years of research, this new book sheds light on what has changed--and what hasn't. This groundbreaking work will illuminate the new critical issues--from worker demands to the new ethical rules to the revolution in culture at work.
- GenresBusinessNonfiction
272 pages, Hardcover
First published June 27, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 29, 2021
Remains a Useful and Essential Reference on the American Workplace - This book by O'Toole and Lawler deals with how American organizations and people have had to adapt to a new kind of workplace in the 21st century.
The authors explain how three major competitive forces and dynamics----globalization, technology, and demanding ownership (read "shareholders" and their increasing influence)--- that have prompted executives to seek ways of equipping their firms for responding rapidly to change.
They also describe what they call three emergent management models: Low Cost Providers, Global Competitor Corporations, and High Involvement Companies. Low Cost Providers are large labor intensive organizations like Wal-Mart where price is primary and to keep prices low, employees have minimal pay, benefits and job complexity. Global Competitor Corporations like IBM have enormous size and compete on the basis of resources that can bring to bear across geographies to serve customers. High Involvement Companies such as W.R. Gore seek comparative advantage through effective workplace management and the resulting significant "value add" to products and services provided. These three models seem similar in many ways to the operational excellence, customer intimacy and product leadership emphases described earlier by Treacy and Wiersema (and extended later by authors such as Moore, Kaplan and Norton, and Ross and Weill). While the correspondence is not clear cut, examining such parallels can be useful.
O'Toole and Lawler go on to discuss ways the other two models can incorporate aspects of High Involvement approaches to improve their management practices. The also treat how High Involvement Companies as well as individuals in these and other circumstances can deal with major competitive force and dynamic challenges in the new workplace.
The helpful context and definitions of management models are enlightening in themselves and provide critical background for Lawler's subsequent works such as "Talent: Making People Your Competitive Advantage" and "Achieving Excellence in Human Resource Management: An Assessment of Human Resource Functions."
This book remains a useful and essential reference.
The authors explain how three major competitive forces and dynamics----globalization, technology, and demanding ownership (read "shareholders" and their increasing influence)--- that have prompted executives to seek ways of equipping their firms for responding rapidly to change.
They also describe what they call three emergent management models: Low Cost Providers, Global Competitor Corporations, and High Involvement Companies. Low Cost Providers are large labor intensive organizations like Wal-Mart where price is primary and to keep prices low, employees have minimal pay, benefits and job complexity. Global Competitor Corporations like IBM have enormous size and compete on the basis of resources that can bring to bear across geographies to serve customers. High Involvement Companies such as W.R. Gore seek comparative advantage through effective workplace management and the resulting significant "value add" to products and services provided. These three models seem similar in many ways to the operational excellence, customer intimacy and product leadership emphases described earlier by Treacy and Wiersema (and extended later by authors such as Moore, Kaplan and Norton, and Ross and Weill). While the correspondence is not clear cut, examining such parallels can be useful.
O'Toole and Lawler go on to discuss ways the other two models can incorporate aspects of High Involvement approaches to improve their management practices. The also treat how High Involvement Companies as well as individuals in these and other circumstances can deal with major competitive force and dynamic challenges in the new workplace.
The helpful context and definitions of management models are enlightening in themselves and provide critical background for Lawler's subsequent works such as "Talent: Making People Your Competitive Advantage" and "Achieving Excellence in Human Resource Management: An Assessment of Human Resource Functions."
This book remains a useful and essential reference.
December 17, 2007
I read this book for school (Human Resources). It details the ramifications of globalization on the American Workforce. While it wasn't a big page turner I whole-heartedly agree with the ultimate findings. That the top three remedies for the so-called evils of globalization are EDUCATION, EDUCATION, and EDUCATION. If America wants to justify keeping jobs in America, we need to do it by letting go of the jobs that can be done in other countries much cheaper and focus on staying at the forefront of technology and innovation. This means we must be better educated and education must be affordable to all! The 'letting go' of jobs that I mentioned (I realize that sounds cavalier) inevitable means that some people get left behind. But it doesn't have to be that way. We can retool the workforce with technical training, community colleges, and other corporate subsidized ventures. What I learned: The education of my children WILL be a priority.
March 29, 2013
A should-read book for knowledge workers and entrepreneurs on concepts and trends regarding visions of the future.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews