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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000000079693 | HD9696.C64 I48 1988 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
Searching... | 30000000079701 | HD9696.C64 I48 1988 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Reviews 2
Booklist Review
Full employment in good times and bad is a commitment that IBM makes to its employees. To achieve this there must be dedication and flexibility on the part of both the employee and the company. In charting this fascinating state of affairs, Harvard business professor Mills cites three major events in the life of IBM: the changing of the Boulder manufacturing plant to a programming center, the closing of the Greencastle, Indiana, distribution center, and the moving of the Federal Systems Division from Westlake, California. The author provides a description of these episodes and effectively relates their impact on local communities. Mills' account offers a tribute to IBM and its policies, which effected the redeployment of personnel, the upgrading of employee skills, and compensations made to populations that otherwise would have suffered from large job losses. These lessons should prove valuable to other corporations facing similar business decisions in today's economic climate. Interesting business history recommended for larger collections. No index. GRH.
Choice Review
Mills (Harvard Business School) supplies two brief books in one. The first is mostly anecdotal, recounting three "redeployments" during IBM's 1985-87 travails: "remissioning" Boulder, Colorado; closing down Greencastle, Indiana; and moving/enlarging Westlake, California. These six chapters focus on employees and their families, on-site management, and the affected communities--stories told through eyewitness accounts plus Mills's evidence from interviews and surveys. The second "book" scans all aspects of IBM's deliberate, dynamic policy of full emloyment--never laying off its workers (all of whom are salaried). Mills traces the policy from IBM's top levels down and fits it into overall strategy and implementation. Mills includes in these five chapters a comparison of IBM's approach with governmental policies, such as those of European nations. What emerges is a unique portrait of enlightened but self-interested and no-nonsense corporate efforts that are time-consuming and costly, but willingly made on behalf of the firm's employees, as well as its products and customers. Employee loyalty and commitment grow from the security and productivity gained when the employer strives to both give and get the best through selective hiring, emphasis on person over job, and alertness to training and retraining to keep the individual progressing with the firm. Both sagas are remarkable: told nontechnically and interestingly, they make up as Mills's title suggests, a "lesson" more firms should ponder. Highly recommended. -J. C. Thompson, University of Connecticut
