Turbulence: Boeing and the State of American Workers and Managers [Hardcover]

Edward S. Greenberg (Author), Leon Grunberg (Author), Sarah Moore (Author), Patricia B. Sikora (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 2010

This timely book investigates the experiences of employees at all levels of Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) during a ten-year period of dramatic organizational change. As Boeing transformed itself, workers and managers contended with repeated downsizing, shifting corporate culture, new roles for women, outsourcing, mergers, lean production, and rampant technological change. Drawing on a unique blend of quantitative and qualitative research, the authors consider how management strategies affected the well-being of Boeing employees, as well as their attitudes toward their jobs and their company. Boeing employees’ experience holds vital lessons for other employees, the leaders of other firms determined to thrive in today’s era of inescapable and growing global competition, as well as public officials concerned about the well-being of American workers and companies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Turbulence should be required reading for anyone at a major American corporation, especially in top management."—The New York Times

(The New York Times )

"Well-written and show[ing] a firm grasp of both the aviation business and the competitive forces pushing Boeing management to act as they did."—The Seattle Times
(The Seattle Times )

"A meticulous and illuminating case study of the nation's largest manufacturing exporter."—The New York Times

(The New York Times )

"Turbulence is not only a masterful, detailed study of ten years of dramatic organizational change at Boeing. It is also a story of how American managers and workers can cope with the fierce pressures of global economic competition, seeking both high productivity and a decent workplace."—Benjamin I. Page, Gordon Scott Fulcher Professor of Decision Making, Northwestern University (Benjamin I. Page 20100706)

“Turbulence traces the history of corporate restructuring  and its consequences through the experience of an iconic US company. A fascinating read."—Peter Cappelli, George W. Taylor Professor of Management; Director, Center for Human Resources at The Wharton School and Professor of Education, University of Pennsylvania

(Peter Cappelli 20100710)

"The mix of qualitative and quantitative analysis is admirable and well done, a credit to the authors. The power of the work comes from an unusual, perhaps unique, empirical data-base looking at what actually happens to employees living through massive corporate change."—Jim Collins, author of Built to Last, Good to Great, and How the Mighty Fall (Jim Collins 20100715)

"Not the usual 'sanitized' business school case study, Turbulence makes visible the contradictory forces at play as an iconic company lurches through wrenching change. Much of the story is told through the voices of employees and front line managers, giving the reader an insider's view of what corporate transformation can mean for people. The book is excellent for teachers who want to bring the subject of organizational change vividly and powerfully to life for their students."—Linda Smircich, Professor of Organization Studies, Isenberg School of Management University of Massachusetts at Amherst

(Linda Smircich )

About the Author

Edward S. Greenberg is a member of the faculty in the Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, and professor of political science. Leon Grunberg is professor and chairperson, Department of Comparative Sociology, University of Puget Sound. Sarah Moore is associate dean of faculty and professor of psychology, University of Puget Sound. Patricia B. Sikora is owner/principal, Sikora Associates, LLC, in Superior, CO.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (October 12, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300154615
• ISBN-13: 978-0300154610
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.9 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #242,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #66 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Transportation
  • #75 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Industrial Relations

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars It opened my eyes to other perspectives, I wish the study covered more pre-merger and the last 4 years December 31, 2010

By Joe Draper

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The books from the first printing were hard to find, but now the second printing is out.

When I first saw how hard it was to get, I wondered if John F. McDonnell or Harry Stonecipher were buying them all up! Just kidding, but it does make you wonder.

The authors' make it very clear from the start that the "Boeing" throughout the book is Boeing Commercial Airplanes. That is important to understand. I would even state that the "Boeing" in the book applies to people with a legacy born in the Heritage Boeing Commercial Airplanes (the Puget Sound region).

I have read the book. Right off the bat in the preface I saw that Stan Sorscher and Charlie Bofferding (both former Boeing employees and members of SPEEA, the union representing professional employees at Boeing) were engaged in proofreading or as sources. I thought that it might have a real-life perspective from the engineering perspective. It also explains a few of the stories that are recalled. Ron Woodward's input was a real eye opener! His discussion of Phil Condit was wild!

We all wondered about Phil, at times. Between marrying secretaries multiple times and having houses with unique features (from castle-like architecture to model trains running through them). His involvement/capitulation in settling a particularly contentious IAM strike and the naiive negotiations leading up to the McBoeing merger are mentioned in the book, but I am sure there is much, much more to the story.

One minor dissappointment is typographical, I have never heard former CEO Frank Schrontz called Carl Schrontz.

I also wish they had done their first survey in 1996, pre-merger.When I read it again, I will make sure to look at the footnotes right away.

The feedback from the open-ended questions was very much in synch with my impressions and memory.

I was impressed with how all the various groups responded. The differences in perspective between hourly, managers, engineers and women added to my understanding of how much impact the changes had.

The suprises I found - I did not feel that DCAC/MRM (a complete rework of how Boeing Commercial Airplanes managed the release of drawings and bill of materials) was ever going to work, but it did.

I also did not think I would have had as much sympathy for the impact of change on managers. The open-ended discussion of their perspective was very frank and at times startling.

I thought the coverage on the early retirement offer in 1995, was too brief, but it caught several elements of what came of it. Missing - the fact that many folks took the offer without preparing for it. I think hourly folks probably ended up spending themselves into a hole. Many returned to the workforce, humbling.

My personal experience of the early retirements in 1995, I lost a mentor. He was a 6' 7" Dutchmen born in Indonesia and raised in Mexico. Another engineer from Mexico called him the "Short Mexican." He was so easy to learn from and he worked to the last minute on his last day. He packed up his briefcase, we said our goodbyes and he walked down the hall of the "plywood palace" in Everett. The minute he turned the corner ...I burst into tears. I did very well on my own afterward, but the shock was a sobering realization that he was gone. He worked for Douglas (including the time before McDonnell took them over)before coming to Boeing.

I think the coverage of the SPEEA strike was brief, but there are other books covering that topic.

I was also surprised to see no discussion of the Mullally Migration, the Centralization of a lot of the Engineering functions to Renton after the 777 work wrapped up. Then to see much more people migrate to Everett in an even larger movement of people 10 or so years later.

I agree with the authors' impression that the WARN act has probably done more damage than good in Boeing's hand. Bang vs whimper. The suffering while on "career death row" was not necessary. Since I graduated with my B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1981, I have been laid off three times - all before the WARN act. None of these layoffs were fun, but I always ended up in a better situation. The shortest notice was 4 hours, then 5 days, and finally as a job shopper on the B-2 in 1988, 2 weeks. I wasn't married and didn't have children at the time. I will add that the longest duration between jobs was 3 months.

My impression is that some of the statistics were a little weak to draw too much of a conclusion, but I think the authors were upfront about it.

I wish the period captured at least one year before the pre-McDonnell Douglas merger era and more of the turbulence experienced on the 787 with the schedule slides and other discoveries that have made it to the media. It may have been too sensitive a topic for Boeing to give access to academic researchers, though.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The New Reality at Boeing October 15, 2010

By James Arthurs

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

"Turbulence" tells two stories that define the new economic realities of American corporate life. One story deals with the massive changes that Boeing aircraft's management had to make if it was going to survive the challenges of competition, outsourcing, technology, globalization, and deregulation. This corporate giant literally had to reinvent itself and its culture. But it was a wrenching experience for those who worked there. Boeing's ailments became theirs.

The other story -- many stories, actually -- deals with how employees and middle managers at Boeing tried to cope with issues of psychological stress, layoffs, downsizing, job security, changing procedures, and uncertainty about Boeing's future. Their sense of loss of Boeing as "family" and their attempts to cope with a different and harsher environment but a very human face on the narrative.

The authors analyze and blend both the economic and human narratives clearly and evenly, but they excel at looking at the employees, including a core group of 500 who were constantly followed throughout the ten-year research project. It is that longitudinal analysis that gives great credibility to this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars template for change January 8, 2011

By mnomalley

Format:Hardcover

A longitudinal, inside look into one of America's premier companies is almost unheard of in the management literature, and yet, this is precisely what the authors deliver. This book adeptly describes what it was like to be an employee and manager in a company undergoing colossal change over the past 15 years. The fact that Boeing is a manufacturing success story in America suggests that as far as big companies go, this is as good as it gets -- and it comes with plenty of change and angst. There are many lessons for management and the rank and file embedded in this gem: if you want a rich, ground level description of what it was like to go through a radical organizational transformation, this book is for you. And if you want to learn from the lessons of those doing their best to live through these painful times -- what they did right and what they did wrong -- there isn't a better template. mnomalley, author of The Wisdom of Bees, Leading with Kindness, and Creating Commitment.