Here is some additional information from the 10/24 article I had cited
from the Financial Times. I normally read the more complete (I think)
hard copy, but I checked on-line in case it had appeared there on 10/23 -
and couldn't find it at all, not even on my hard copy's 10/24 publication
date, searching over the last 30 days under "To forget Ford is risky
business", "Ford", and "Recruitment" (the FT section it appeared in hard
copy on Page I). Please let me know if I can help more, and here is more
content than I previously sent, in case it adds.
Rick - I know you can't circulate the whole article on-line, but, same as
in hard copy publishing, can you send a note from me with quotes from the
article if properly "documented"? (You probably already said, so pardon my
repetition, please.) For now I will try to paraphrase a couple items I
especially liked in case it's of interest to you, Don, et al.
[Host's Note: That's right, I will not distribute the full text of
copyrighted material without permission, but a review or summary including
quotes is just fine. When referring to material on the web, just include
the URL in the msg. ...Rick]
The subtitle tells all - "organisations with people-led strategies perform
better" - looking at employees AND customers. Outsourcing and contract
employment are not in the fold, which also excludes customers banks try to
buy with "free" toaster ovens (based on reports in Jeffrey Pfeffer's book
to be published next February: this, Donkin says, especially from PhD work
of Brent Keltner at Stanford on German and US bnking organizations).
Donkin recites Pfeffer's description of Henry Ford's response to Ralph
Waldo Emerson's piece on "Compensation" - Ford reportedly gave his workers
a significant pay increase and, Donkin says, Ford said it was among the
most effective moves he ever made to cut costs. Donkin also refers to
comments by ServiceMaster's Chairman, William Pollard, in the 1995 annual
report, regarding the superior value of the company's people as compared
with profit motivation, not to mention machines.
In conclusion, this article makes Pfeffer's forthcoming book sound as if
it will speak to many of our ongoing conversations.
Regards, Debbie Roth
--Debbie Roth <dr@sprintmail.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>