Productivity and quality through people : practices of well-managed companies /

In this volume the editors (academics in business administration) have published the proceedings of the 1983 and 1984 productivity and human resources seminars held at Utah State University. The seminars were organized around the theme that US industry can compete successfully. Con- ference members-academics, consultants, and practicing mana- gers-present their ideas and experiences on a wide range of issues: the need for a managerial shift of philosophy; the linking of human resources and strategic management; quality and productivity improvement methods; and proposals for business and government cooperation. Although familiar topics are covered-quality circles, quality control, and organizational culture-the special strength of the book is the presentation of case histories by managers who were personally involved with enhancing their firms' competitive position (for example, the paper on Nucor, the steel-fabricating company, details that company's experience with developing and implementing company-wide systems of overlapping monetary incentives that yielded enviable quality and productivity improvements). The volume is well written and useful to teachers and upper-division and graduate students of industrial sociology and business administration.-C. Tausky, University of Massachusetts at Amherst