The New American Workplace [Hardcover]

James O'Toole (Author), Edward E. Lawler (Author), Susan R. Meisinger SPHR (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 22, 2006

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Several decades after USC professor O'Toole contributed to a Department of Health, Education and Welfare task force report called "Work in America," he and coauthor Lawler, another USC professor, commissioned 16 papers reviewing its conclusions, which are summarized here in workmanlike style. The 1973 study described workers trapped in dehumanizing jobs, which damaged economic productivity and workers' health and happiness; it prescribed job enrichment, improved education (especially technical and mid-career training) and government-funded research. However, the original study missed the three major forces that were transforming the workplace: "globalization, technology and the nature of equity ownership." Tracing the effect of these changes through the early 1990s, the new study concludes that they have eased but not eliminated the older problems, while introducing new ones. Another gap in the first study was to focus solely on solutions from governments and employers, while it was changes by workers that drove much of the progress. Arguing that the old recommendations still apply, the authors also propose new ones, including support for entrepreneurs, eased immigration, reduced employment-based taxes and resurrection of a Nixon-era plan for government-subsidized private health insurance. The number of contributors and the long time period under consideration give weight to the conclusions, but the layers of summary, from the original data, academic papers and commissioned papers, in addition to time lags from publishing delays, dull the message and reduce topicality. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Following their groundbreaking 1972 study Work in America, O'Toole and Lawler take a fresh look at how life at the office has changed in the last 35 years. Their not-so-startling conclusion is that the U.S. is attempting to implement tomorrow's competitive strategies with yesterday's managerial ideas and public policy infrastructure. Many U.S. companies trying to find a middle ground to serve the new global economy are shackled with an antiquated corporate mentality that does not keep skilled workers engaged in their careers or meet their aspirations. Companies have taken steps over the years to enrich workers' jobs along with trying to meet their personal needs for recognition and control. Studies in the early 1970s clearly demonstrated that satisfied workers were productive workers. But it's no surprise that health care, work-life balance initiatives, pay incentives, training and development opportunities, and other perks that many American workers consider their birthright are being challenged and eroded by offshore outsourcing, productivity pressures, decreased job security, and a host of other economic realties that bring the idea of a global economy into every cubicle in America. Gail Whitcomb
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (June 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403969590
• ISBN-13: 978-1403969590
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #478,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to build greater community and commitment in the workplace, August 8, 2006

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The New American Workplace (Hardcover)

Obviously, a great deal has (and has not) happened in what O'Toole and Lawler characterize as America's "crazy-quilt world of work" since 1972 when a task force was created by then Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Elliott L. Richardson, to evaluate the state of working conditions in the United States. A year later, the task force presented its report, Work in America. That was 33 years ago. In this volume, O'Toole and Lawler rigorously examine "some clearly identifiable developments" which help to explain what has happened in the recent past, and, what is likely to happen in the future. They began their analysis by inquiring about the values and needs of American workers. "In a democracy, it is appropriate to begin from the perspective of the aspirations of the citizenry." Over time, they also examined various ways in which American workers aresupervised. They identified and discuss three "emerging management models that are becoming dominant."

What we have in this volume is what O'Toole and Lawler learned from their extensive as well as intensive research. While completing it, they identified several key themes:

Insufficient creation of "good jobs"
Increased choice and risk
Increased influence of competitive and economic drivers
Increased tension between work and family life
Mismatch between skills and business needs
Increased social stratification based largely on educational attainment
Changing nature of careers
Reduction in community and commitment
Shortcomings of the healthcare system
The boomer demographic imperative
Unrealized opportunities to make more effective use of human capital

Please go back and re-read this list.

Now that you have done so, ask this question: "How many of these themes are relevant to me and to my own situation?" Chances are, many (if not most) of them are. What to do? O'Toole and Lawler assert that "the greatest opportunity for the improvement of work in America" exists in the choices that business executives make relating to working conditions. At this point, many of them may well protest that they have no choice but to match the worst employment practices of their competitors. In this volume, O'Toole and Lawler document numerous example of business leaders "who have found productive alternatives to the standard workplace practices in their industries and created significant advantages in the process."

Of special interest to me is what O'Toole and Lawler learned when they examined companies in which executives have more choices than commonly assumed in terms of creating and sustaining workplace practices "that serve the multiple needs of their various constituencies. They include diverse companies such as Alcoa, Costco, WL Gore, Harley-Davidson, Nucor, SRC Holdings, and Southwest Airlines. It is no coincidence that many of the companies on Fortune magazine's annual list of those most admired reappear on the annual list of those most profitable. They serve the three deepest needs of workers: financial resources and security, meaningful work that offers the opportunity for human development, and supportive human relationships.

Indeed, there have been a number of signficant changes in the American workplace since the HEW's task force produced its report in 1973. And yes, a great deal has not as yet happened...but can be achieved if (huge "if") decision-makers in dysfunctional organizations absorb and digest the material in this book, complete appropriate modifications of the employment practices of exemplary companies, and then make and sustain a full commitment to serving the multiple needs of everyone involved.

Warren Bennis claims that "It would be impossible to understand the 21st century workplace without this book." He's right.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Important yet incomplete study of work in America, October 8, 2006

By 

Peter Lorenzi (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The New American Workplace (Hardcover)

"The new American workplace" is a broad, comprehensive view of work and business in American. It is an update of a 1974 book with a similar focus, with commissioned papers and large databases contributing to the text. Topics and chapters include careers, health and safety, performance pressure, compensation, training and development and public policy. Such scope will almost automatically include some generalities that don't always apply and even some errors. As to the latter, on p. 165, the authors claim that Continental "was able to acquire U.S. Airways." I think not. As to the former, the authors claim that only low-cost suppliers "are predicated on a basic tenet of capitalist economics: the consumer is king." (p. 174). I do believe either point: "The customer is king" is not a basic tenet of capitalism and other firms, especially globally competitive firms believe in this concept and succeed globally by treating customers as kings. In fact, this phrase is relatively old and foreign; firms have been treating customers well for years. They tend to survive and to thrive in a competitive, global economy.

O'Toole and Lawler generate eleven broad characterizations (listed in full in another review) of the American workplace over the last twenty-five years and categorize firms in one of three clusters: Low-cost (LC), global competitors (GC) or high involvement (HI). The eleven themes (pp. 15-18) include the widely popular yet controversial loss of good jobs complaint ("insufficient creation of new `good jobs'"), work and family life tensions (not really that new), social stratification based on education (unsurprising, given the booming knowledge economy), reduced employee commitment (a two-way street if there ever was one), shortcomings in the healthcare system (without acknowledging the incredible advances in healthcare and longevity), and underutilized human capital (the reader needs to refer back to the point of social stratification based on education).

The authors clearly prefer the HIs and almost show disdain for the LCs. They cite Wal-mart employee complaints and contradictions, e.g., "I like Wal-mart...they need to fix it." (p. 174). And Wal-mart is showing signs of age and even weaknesses in their low-cost strategy, as stores such as Kohl's, Target, and Costco offer consumers more of what they really want from a store. They demonstrate that an LC like Southwest can focus on the customer yet also be committed to high-involvement policies and employees (p. 175). They recognize the need for personal responsibility for exercise and weight control (p. 178) yet they make this a corporate responsibility, e.g., "All companies can and should make an effort to educate workers about their responsibilities..." Their chapter on Public Policy (Chapter 16), which includes Education (pp. 186-194) ignores this exercise and weight admonition other than to endorse pre-natal care. They prescribe universal pre-school and small schools but ignore the power and potential of school choice. They lament the decline in state's shares of state college and university funding (p. 199), while ignoring that most of the increases in college costs have little to do with education, that financial aid continues to rise faster than tuition, and state schools sit on billions of dollars of untapped endowments while they increase tuition and enrollments at a rate that almost defies the laws of economics.

In the end, too much credit is given to broad educational initiatives rather than a close examination of enduring drivers of a country's or company's sustainable comparative advantage. Education is important and powerful but it is not the entire solution. There are important cultural, social and political issues that underscore and undermine education, issues such as demographics, ("illegal") immigration, and the burgeoning gambling and pornography industries. This is an important yet incomplete book.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars important new book, July 28, 2006

By 

David Vogel (Berkeley,, ca USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The New American Workplace (Hardcover)

This book presents a fascinating, highly informative and clearly written portrait of the diverse ways in which Americans now work, how they think about their work - and why and how their work and their relationship to it has changed over the last three decades. Its strength lies in its comprehensiveness and balance, I strongly recommend to anyone interested in the dynamics of the American workplace.