A Great Place to Work: What Makes Some Employers So Good--And Most So Bad

Levering revisited 20 of the best and worst companies he featured in The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America to identify essential characteristics and dynamics that motivate employees, stimulate productivity and a sense of personal fulfillment. He contends that, apart from wages and special benefits, a great workplace, regardless of the type of product or service, results from a company's nonmanipulative approach as opposed to the mechanistic model of scientific management, the elitist ``human-relations'' psychological treatment of workers or the variety of mostly bottom line, objective-centered management theories of experts such as Peter Drucker and Tom Peters. The author suggests that the fact that companies with good workplace practices also have top market ratings may encourage an effort on the part of other management teams and labor pools to pursue quality in both products and employee relations. First serial to Self; Macmillan Book Clubs dual main selection. (July)