The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits Author: Visit Amazon's Zeynep Ton Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0544114442 | Format: PDF
The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits Description
Review
“In the last few years, [Zeynep] Ton has become a revolutionary force in a field that would seem unlikely to generate many — the Kafkaesque-titled Operations Management. Her central thesis is that many of [the] big-box retailers have been making a strategic error… but she believes her core findings are relevant in nearly every industry. After re-evaluating the relationship between worker management and profit, she argues that many corporate leaders will realize that paying their workers more and treating them better will actually make everyone better off. And this, indeed, would foment a small revolution.”
—The New York Times Magazine“…at a time when the complexity of workers’ jobs is increasing and labour force investment declining, [The Good Jobs Strategy] is a methodically researched riposte to cutting staff and wages.”
—Financial Times “In this brilliantly conceived and written book, Zeynep Ton shows that companies that view their workforce as an asset to be maximized rather than a cost to be minimized, have both happier workers and better business results. This book is a 'must read' for anyone that wants to think creatively about how they manage their workforce.” —Marshall Fisher, professor at The Wharton School and co-author of The New Science of Retailing
“Using years of research and analysis, Zeynep Ton has proven what great leaders know instinctively—an engaged, well-paid workforce that is treated with dignity and respect creates outsized returns for investors. She demonstrates that the race to the bottom in retail employment doesn’t have to be the only game being played. In fact, The Good Jobs Strategy shows that smart business leaders can create great shareholder value while creating good jobs.” —José Alvarez, senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and former president and CEO of Stop & Shop
“Stop the presses. Tear out the front page. Employers can increase profits by paying their employees more and treating them better. Raising wages and improving working conditions is not just a matter of public policy. The private sector itself can make a huge difference. Everyone who cares about good jobs—and especially every CEO—needs to read this highly informative and thoroughly readable book.” —Peter Edelman, professor of law at Georgetown Law Center and author of So Rich, So Poor: Why It’s So Hard to End Poverty in America
“In The Good Jobs Strategy, Zeynep Ton offers insights into how successful companies utilize operational excellence to thrive, and she reminds us that the spirit and culture of an organization—that sparkle in the eye—comes only from fully engaged employees.” —Michael Eskew, former CEO of UPS
About the Author
ZEYNEP TON has been a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management since 2011. Previously she was on the faculty of the Harvard Business School, where she was given an award for excellence in teaching in 2010.
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- Hardcover: 240 pages
- Publisher: New Harvest; 1 edition (January 14, 2014)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0544114442
- ISBN-13: 978-0544114449
- Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Many years ago, Southwest Airlines' then chairman and CEO, Herb Keller, was asked to explain why Southwest is the most profitable of the ten largest airlines and has a cap value greater than the other nine airlines combined. He replied, "We take great care of our people, they take great care of our customers, and our customers take great care of our shareholders." I was reminded of that statement as I began to read this book. Although Zeynep Ton focuses much of her attention on four companies (Costco, Mercadona, QuikTrip, and Trader Vic's), she explains how others such as Southwest and Zara have also used a good jobs strategy to achieve and then sustain high profitability while continuing to be ranked each year among companies that are the most highly admired and the next to work for. According to Ton, more than ten years research leaves no doubt about this reality: "Great performance, whether in customer service or the quality of manufacturing, requires operational excellence. Operational excellence requires a great operational design [begin italics] and [end italics] great people to carry it out. Neither can make up for the lack of the other."
However different companies in service industries may be in most respects, Ton has identified what those among them that have a good jobs strategy share in common. She calls it the "Virtuous Cycle of Retailing" which has four interdependent, mutually supportive components: High Labor Budgets > Good Quality and Quantity of Labor > Good Operational Execution > High Store Sales and Profits > High Labor Budgets > etc.
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