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Why is common sense so uncommon when it comes to managing people? How is it that so many seemingly intelligent organizations implement harmful management practices and ideas? In his provocative new book, The Human Equation, bestselling author Jeffrey Pfeffer examines why much of the current conventional wisdom is wrong and asks us to re-think the way managers link people with organizational performance. Pfeffer masterfully builds a powerful business case for managing people effectively--not just because it makes for good corporate policy, but because it results in outstanding performance and profits. Challenging current thinking and practice, Pfeffer: --Reveals the costs of downsizing--and provides alternatives; --Identifies troubling trends in compensation, and suggests better practices; --Explains why even the smartest managers sometimes manage people unwisely; --Demonstrates how market-based forces can fail to create good people management practices, creating a need for positive public policy; --Provides practical guidelines for implementing high-performance management practices. Filled with information and ideas, The Human Equation provides much-needed guidance for managing people more wisely--and more profitably.
About the Author
Jeffrey Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is the author of eight books, including Managing with Power and Competitive Advantage through People, both from HBS Press. He has consulted extensively for companies, universities, and industry associations in the U.S. as well as in 20 other countries.
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First Sentence
TRY THE FOLLOWING EXERCISE in your organization. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
TRY THE FOLLOWING EXERCISE in your organization. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The Human Equation (1998) is an exceptional book. In the first chapter Pfeffer shows that conventional wisdom about the sources of organization success are not correct. In particular he disproves the ideas:
- that it is essential to work in the right sector,
- that the size of the organization is crucial,
- that it is necessary to have an international precense,
- that downsizing is indispensible, and
- that it is necessary to have a technological lead.
Then the author clearly and impressively presents the enormous amount of evidence of the last decade showing the strong association between how organization treat people and how they score on financial and operational performance indicators. Pfeffer describes the following seven HR practices that demonstrable correlate with organization success. He names these practices High Performance Work Practices. They are:
1. Employment security
2. Selective hiring of new personnel
3. Self-managed teams and decentralization of decision making as the basic principles of organization design
4. Comparatively high compensation contingent on organizational performance
5. Extensive training
6. Reduces status distinctions and barriers, including dress, languag, office arrangements, and wage differences across levels
7. Extensive sharing of financial and performance information throughout the organization
This list contains some elements that may seem counterintuitive to some. For instance: how can it be that high wages contribute to financial performance? Don't they just keep the profits low? And how can you afford to be selective in this hard labour market? And how can companies afford to invest much in training of personnel? Aren't employees so mobile and disloyal that you run the risk of training them for your competitor? Speaking about this, how can you in this time of employability of employment security? And it is wise to have an open information policy? If you'd do that, wouldn't you weaken your position by feeding your competitor with valuable information?
If you read this book you will find crystal-clear answers to these questions. The conclusion is that the seven practices do indeed work.
Coert Visser
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Pfeffer dispels the widely held view by most western organisations that employees are an asset to be exploited rather than nurtured. He uses real life studies rather than just dry theory to show HOW organisations can really perform better in the long run.
If you care about your organisation's performance, you will unquestionably benefit by reading this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is very well researched, although perhaps over-long in some parts.
The underlying message is that "do you see people as labour costs to be reduced or eliminated, or do you see your people as the only thing that differentiates you from your competition?"
I did find it quite satisfyingly radical for a US author to actually recommend that US Managers need to look overseas, as in this quote :
"One might be well-served to spend more time outside of the United States ... What has come to be taken as 'good management practice' in the United States is very, very culturally specific to the United States. Managing in a different way may require developing a broader world view ..."
I can related to that, given that I work for a US Fortune 500 Company.
The Case Studies cover a broad range of Industries such as Automobile, Banking, Steel, Clothing, Semiconductors, Retailing, Oil Refining, Energy, Airlines; and Geographical coverage includes not only North America, but quite a number of Countries in Europe & Asia.
A Chapter dedicated to Unions but yet not to Union-bashing is a pleasant change.
All in all, an interesting book that I wish more CEO's & HR Officers would read to see the alternatives to boom-and-bust downsizing & outsourcing.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good overview
I enjoyed the professor's book and its thesis. It clearly gives the history of the subject and why, in conclusion, it's important to emphasize people in your organization. Read more
Published on 2 Aug 1999
Thank you Dr. Pfeffer
This sequel should have been first. The prof's book: Competitive Advantage through People gave tactical initiatives to create a motivated and productive workforce. Read more
Published on 11 April 1999
quite good summary of people oriented management style
Pfeffer presents a very readible summary of the relationships between "people-oriente" management practices and positive organizational outcomes. Read more
Published on 6 Jan 1999
A 'must-read' for every executive!
Using hard data and perceptiveness, Pfeffer cuts through today's conventional 'wisdoms' to reawaken us to the human core of organization. Read more
Published on 21 July 1998
Insightful, logical, humane--and well written too!
Peffer, along with Alfie Kohn and a few others (like W. Edwards Deming, Peter Senge, and Douglas McGregor), is a paragon of sanity, clarity of thought and analysis, and uncommon... Read more
Published on 3 Jun 1998
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