Pfeffer, Jeffrey, Competitive Advantage Through People : Unleashing the Power of the Work Force

Abstract

Competitive Advantage Through People explores why--despite long-standing evidence that a committed work force is essential for success--firms continue to attach little importance to their workers. The answer, argues Pfeffer, resides in a complex web of factors based on perception, history, legislation, and practice that continues to dominate management thought and action. Yet, some organizations have been able to overcome these obstacles. In fact, the five common stocks with the highest returns between 1972 and 1992--Southwest Airlines, Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods, Circuit City, and Plenum Publishing--were in industries that shared virtually none of the characteristics traditionally associated with strategic success. What each of these firms did share is the ability to produce sustainable competitive advantage through its way of managing people. Pfeffer documents how they--and others--resisted traditional management pitfalls, and offers frameworks for implementing these changes in any industry.