Explores the ways in which American corporations interact with the workforce, at a time when downsizing and increased global competition have forced management to rethink traditional corporate-employee relationships and seek new, strategically more effective ones.
A critical mass of events has been transforming the American work scene, bringing unprecedented and irreversible changes in how American corporations relate to world markets and how they interact with their workforce. These changes are bringing about New Paradigms in corporate structure, organization, and operation. For many corporations, these changes involve substantial alterations such as recasting worklife. Rebirth is often validly used as a descriptive term for corporations that successfully weathered the massive onslaught of global economic, demographic, and technological changes in the last decade and the imperatives confronting many others for years to come. Officials, executives, and students need to know how and why new policies, strategies, organization designs, and employment relationships are indicated as well as lessons learned and guidelines from which to launch new policies and employment relationships. This is necessary because: these parties must enact or guide developments; or, they are a part of the changes and need the understanding of the factors which have changed their work roles, their expectations for the future and in many cases their standard of living.
This book is written to provide understanding and sufficient examples and guidelines for planners, strategists, and senior managers so that they can start to address the specifics of their situations. It provides numerous exhibits encompassing New Paradigm features; point-by-point features of newer employment relationships (based on a new psychological contract); timely and useful reference information sorted out according to key topics. New Paradigm organizations are characterized by management credibility, mutual trust, and cooperative working relationships. Employee involvement and participative management are hallmarks of the New Paradigm companies.
Introduction
The New Paradigm and Proactive Management
Change Portraits: An Ungracious Welcome to the Real World
Turnaround and Renewal: Adaptive Change and Crafting New Employment Relationships
The New Paradigm Perspective
Learning and Adaptation: The New Paradigm Way of Life
The Emerging Workforce: Opportunity and Challenge
Organizational Evolution and Revolution: Traditional Organizations and Newer Worklife Environments
High Achievement Organizations and People
The Newer Employment Relationships
New Paradigm Companies: Cultural Showcases and Living Quality, Value, and Service
New Paradigm Companies: Adaptation, Change, and New Quality-Service Perspectives
Transitions from Old to New Paradigms: An Organization Development Perspective
References
Index
