Turbulence Boeing and the State of American Workers and Managers Edward S. Greenberg, Leon Grunberg, Sarah Moore, Patricia B. Sikora

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Format:: Hardback
Publication date:: 12 Oct 2010
ISBN:: 9780300154610
Imprint:: Yale University Press
Dimensions:: 256 pages: 235 x 156 x 24mm
Illustrations:: 31 b-w illus.

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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.

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.

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

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

“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

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

"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