Book Description

Even job loss has a silver lining

A truly wonderful book! Through stories, myths and metaphors, Mary Lynn Pulley examines the factors which help people develop more meaning in their work and their lives. This book is not only for those going through career transitions, but for all of us who want to be more resilient in today's work world.
-- Betsy A. Collard, Career Action Center

Right-sizing. Reengineering. Organizational restructuring. No matter the corporate euphemism in which it's couched, the loss of a job remains one of the most devastating events a person can encounter. But some are finding it to be a blessing in disguise. In Losing Your Job, Reclaiming Your Soul, Mary Lynn Pulley presents a positive, practical and empowering new model of career resilience for everyone who has lost, fears losing, or is thinking of leaving his or her job. Here are the results of dozens of interviews withhigh-performing professionals who bounced back from the trauma of involuntary job loss. Their stories provide powerful, real-world lessons in flexibility, determination and fulfillment. It 's a book that puts the prospect of job loss in meaningful perspective, and gives us insight into how to turn one of life's most catastrophic experiences into a wellspring of personal and professional reawakening.

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Reviews (5)

A truly Inspirational Book - Read it!
If you have lost your job involuntarily, think you may be on the bubble or are just questioning your whole approach and understanding of the work-a-day world, you should read this book! I lost my job in August of 2002 after returning from a very successful 3-year assignment in London. I was devastated, how could I be treated this way. I thought if you showed up and did a great job, you were in for life. Boy was I wrong! I came across this book recommended by an author of a paperback called The Lay-Off Survival Guide.

I won't say this book changed my life (I am not sure a book can really do that) but it certainly changed the way I think about work and my own skills - forever! I realized that there are lots of people out there struggling with the same issues and lots of people going through their daily routines and feeling unfulfilled. I also realized that I had the power to change that about my life.

I find Mrs. Pulley's balance of personal interviews and research as well as reference work of other authors, psychologists, and philosophers to lend credibility, believability and inspiration to this book.

When someone asks you, "so, who are you?" and your answer starts with "I'm a manager of... or I work for..." then YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK!

I have now left big corporate America and am working in a 3-person start-up software company. I don't think I could ever go back to the other life. Thank you Mary Lynn Pulley for helping me transform!

Building Personal Resilience
Ms. Pulley has written a very useful treatise on resilience in the context of the workplace. She very succintly brings out the feelings and emotions that a person who has lost his/her job involuntarily feels and experiences. Her ideas and thoughts based on her interviews with people who have gone through the "trough" would make an invaluable contribution to those who are on their path to recovery and more importantly success on their terms. Though the book is written based on the American experience, I am of the opinion that it is applicable anywhere in the world. For those who live under the threat of likely loss of their job involuntarily, this book would be useful in understanding the feelings that you may be encountering.This book could even be a road-map to move-on and re-define yourself, discover a new dimension of success and of course, get on with re-building and living a more meaningful life in which you will find satisfaction and happiness in.

Outstanding self-help book for career transitions
I picked up this book with some skepticism after losing a job, but found that I could not put it down! And after finishing it, I went out and got a temp job in ONE DAY which I still have -- and have been asked to stay on. It is excellent as practical as well as philosophical support for anyone seeking to improve his or her resilience in a crisis. Instead of despair Pulley and Deal offer hope.

I liked the REAL LIFE stories in this book !
There are not many books that I stay up until 2:00am reading, but this is one of them. I was laid of, from a merger/aquisition, after working for the "company" for 10 years. I felt betrayed, I had no loyalty, and I was depressed ! Finding my resilance and takeing the "lessons" from each of the chapters got me through a tough time in my life. The bibliography was accurate and easy to follow. I even learned that "Pandora's Box did not release "HOPE"" from all the evils in the in famous Pandoras' box. One last not I also bought audio cassette of Sara Hickman's "Necessary Angels" when I had no income... not a wise decision you might say ?....wrong Ed Mc Mann....This was one of the best purchases I made when I needed a lift in my sprirts....what am I doing today.... I have started a new home based business, from my skills and past experiences. I may go back to "work" if the right "offer" come to me. I have also gotten involved in a small business group at my church....(sprituality).... I would rate this book right up there with WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE for people who have had an "involuntary job loss". I have also read William Bridges books on transitions which is also referenced in this book !

Timely, positive, and very helpful
In the past few years I've had a series of what I considered negative career experiences. I started out many years ago to be a teacher, but (due to an impossible job market) made a lateral move into a business career in which I'm using the same skills. But I kept on teaching part-time because I felt that was what I "should" be doing. Then I had a series of Classes From Hell that left me psychologically bruised and burned out, and finally, feeling utterly defeated, I quit teaching. A short time later, after years of working as an independent contractor, I took a "permanent" job that turned out to be a serious mistake: it was demanding but narrow in scope, so I was exhausted and bored at the same time; I did a mediocre job and eventually was laid off. I picked up Pulley's book just when I was in my worst "I'm a failure at everything" depressed state. It helped me realize that, on some level, I knew better all along: I went into teaching because of family expectations, and although I'm moderately good at it I was always uncomfortable as a teacher. Likewise, I felt I shouldn't turn down a permanent job because it was "secure" (the Depression-era mentality of my parents!), and, although it was patently wrong for me, I was afraid to quit for the same reason. The collapse of both jobs caused me to question all these assumptions. And Pulley's book helped me to realize that this FREED me to consider what I really wanted to do and what was most important to me in life. A very helpful book for anyone who has been laid off, or who feels he/she might be. ... Read more

Book Description

Economic Policy Institute

The State of Working America, prepared biennially since 1988 by the Economic Policy Institute, includes a wide variety of data on family incomes, wages, taxes, unemployment, wealth, and poverty—data that enable the authors to closely examine the effect of the economy on the living standards of the American people. ... Read more

Book Description

"Imagine what would happen in a work environment if people were given the freedom to act the way they really wanted to act-with courage, creativity, and independence from fear of criticism, or worse. And, when people are respected and appreciated, they want to contribute even more, to rise to their true potential. I call that kind of place-a place where people act heroically-a Heroic Environment."

It may sound impossible, but it’s not. In A Journey Into the Heroic Environment, author Rob Lebow uses the simple story of two strangers meeting on a train journey to simply and comprehensively diagram the journey toward a new measure of transparency, communication and common focus in any work environment, regardless of size. Key to this vision is the concept of Shared Values, when individuals within an organization "agree to agree on what certain values mean to them personally." The openness, trust and respect that would follow would ensure greater job satisfaction and performance levels. The end result will be an increase in morale and productivity company-wide, and a clearer focus on the goals and outlook of your organization.

Already in its third edition, A Journey Into the Heroic Environment is a trusted and proven tool for providingsatisfaction in the workplace and increasing overall productivity. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Shows how anyone can influence an entire work environment
For twenty years Rob Lebow headed the Lebow Company in Bellevue, Washington, an organization dedicated to creating a people-based "operating system" as a new global standard for the work environment. In this newly revised and expanded third edition of A Journey Into The Heroic Moment: A Personal Guide To Creating A Work Environment Built On Shared Values, corporate mentor Rob Lebow shows how anyone from a line worker to a corporate CEO can influence and change the culture of an entire work environment. The key is in utilizing critical concepts (backed by academic research) that connect job satisfaction with performance. These concepts are what the author refers to as "shared values". Of special note is the new section on "Personal Workstyle Assessment". A Journey Into The Heroic Moment is wonderfully accessible reading and enthusiastically commended to the attention of anyone in a business environment, especially those charged with the responsibility for enhancing productivity and efficiency within the workforce.
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Book Description

This is a classic exploration of how labor markets are influenced by economic forces and the legal and institutional framework as well as an analysis of their interaction. Combining the strengths of early and later traditions of labor economics, this book makes use of both practical and theoretical recent literature as it illustrates how collective bargaining works and how it changes as the economic and legal environments also change. The eleventh edition of Labor Economics and Labor Relations has been revised to include new chapters on policies to combat labor-market discrimination, the Japanese and German systems of industrial relations, and internal labor markets, as well as a new half chapter on the increasing inequality in earnings. It also presents important new information on welfare reform, minimum wage legislation, unemployment insurance, education reform, and immigration. An essential reference book for any professional or tradesman seeking a deeper understanding of the relationship between labor and management.

Reviews (1)

Best text on labor economics and labor relations
The authors do a good job analyzing the labor market conditons, and cover in great detail labor relations, go into some comperative analysis of circumstances in different economic systems. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

Lessons from a Lost Profession
You can't see train porters anymore, except in the movies. Everyone knew the role of the ubiquitous porter, a role with duties, uniform, and demeanor. In the movies, actors played porters as porters had played their occupational roles, busy and even servile, humorous and fawning, wise to the needs and foolishness of their passengers and ignorant as members of their race were held to be. The paradoxes of the porters get a wonderful historical evaluation in _Rising from the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class_ (Henry Holt) by Larry Tye. A history of the porters was overdue, but Tye is squeaking this one in. There were generations of porters, but the last of them is slipping away, and some of them he interviewed for the book did not live to see it printed. Porters, for all their servility and for all the neglect that passengers often gave them, made an impression, and Tye makes the wonderful case of another paradox. The porter, whose attitude might be classed now as "Uncle Tom-ism", was a necessary element to bring about the Civil Rights movement.

The porters were, from beginning to end, creatures of the Pullman Rail Car Company. George Pullman brought out the first one in 1865, and by 1867, he was looking for a reliable way to staff the cars; Pullman needed one single worker who would be hotelier, waiter, chambermaid, butler, and information desk. There was a newly invented pool of workers to draw from, the former slaves from the South. Many had worked in plantation houses and were familiar with duties requiring close proximity to wealthy white folk. There was poor pay and atrocious hours, but many porters appreciated the opportunity to escape the south and trade overalls for bow ties and starched pants. Porters could read the business pages discarded by their passengers, and they learned how the Pullman Company was flourishing while they were barely getting by. Part of the porters' history involves eventual unionizing and developing themselves as a commercial force, and the indefatigable efforts of A. Philip Randolph to bring about a union are highlighted here. Randolph was a Civil Rights leader for decades, and eventually organized the March on Washington, for which Martin Luther King (who held Randolph in reverence) is better remembered.

By the time the porters had reached their greatest unified commercial strength, their profession was coming to an end. Road and airplane travel took passengers away, and Amtrak was just a ghost of past glory. Tye convinces readers, however, that the porters had a disproportionate effect on the black community. At their height, porters were 0.1% of blacks in America, and yet for any black American excelling in any field in the last half century, there is an odds-on chance that there was a Pullman porter in that person's past. They did it by the same means: "... sacrificing for their children, and deferring dreams of self-improvement for a generation or even two, but never abandoning them." They may have been underlings, but the best of them profited by being around even the most unpleasant passengers. About one incident, a porter explained that after some slight, he was able to hold his tongue: "It was an accomplishment. I kept from hating passengers like that. I called myself outsmarting them." Tye's impressive look at the influence of a long-gone profession is at its best when bringing back the words and stories of the porters themselves. "My mother taught me never to quarrel with a fool, but to humor him. That's what I do," said one. Another concluded, "You just gotta haul folks as they come. Some's good, some's bad, some's nice and some's crabby." ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Practical & Balanced Book
This is a good & timely book that joins the recent debate on outsourcing. The book is a practical guide to understand the various aspects & nuances that a corporation has to consider while it is outsourcing its processes.

The authors makes a compelling reason to outsource... but while doing so, they continue to remain balanced in their approach. Of particular significance , is the chapter on Costs of Outsourcing. It is important to keep a count of all the costs mentioned there, (especially the costs of loss of goodwill), while determining the final benefits of outsourcing.

The best practices of GE, ABN AMRO, etc. are good examples to share.

Overall a good book to read..&, of course, ultimately you will have to decide whether outsourcing is appropriate for your business or not !!!

A wise book on Outsourcing Internationally
The book has some big names associated with it. This lends the book a great deal of credibility and offers a practical view to outsourcing.

Having lived through the journey of outsourcing, I almost felt that I was re-living the experience while reading the book.
Scott Bayman, President & CEO of GE's India Operations, has written the preface , which is particularly educative. It lends a good insight into how GE "persuaded" its managers to cut costs & enhance quality by outsourcing globally. The book clearly shows that Global Outsourcing cannot be done without a whole deal of planning, thought...& most important of all, leadership support. The thought of having a " champion" in the business to facilitate outsourcing & smoothen obstacles, is very appropriate. Case studies of Citibank, ABN Amro & Northwestern Mutual show how each business chose different paths for outsourcing based on their individual business goals & business situations. Read the Book. Outsourcing is here to stay & this book tells the reader how to outsource !!!

E-book
To buy the e-book, go to http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/
The e-book is really cheap.

Offshore outsourcing make sense!
I started reading the book early in the afternoon on Saturday on April 17th, but I only got up when I finished reading the book. The rich-in content, content-flow, and relevant content of the case studies are simply superb. I also amazed transparency and balance in the subject as well other alternate countries to India on outsourcing. The chapter 'Total cost of outsourcing' is another great attempt to educate the customers in pursuit of outsourcing. This is a definite resource book from project managers to CEO's who are in pursuit or practice of offshore outsourcing. The preface from Mr. Bayman is a good start to the book and the message is vital and clear to all the businesses - offshore outsourcing is a way to manage non-core (as well core) business processes to cut costs to compete head-head in the global markets.

Dr. Nandu's effort is worth spent on this book. I also congratulate George Albert who co-authored the book. I really enjoyed reading the book after all.

Should you outsource your IT requirements?
Dr Thondavadi's book is an important one for both executives and legislators who are confronted with strident voices fiercely advocating protectionist practices in regard to taking their information technologies offshore. This book brings a fresh rationality to the public debate regarding U.S. vis-a-vis offshoring practices and operations, especially as pertains to the use of IT systems. It is not intended to be an academic treatise on the subject; rather it is a practical playbook that can help decision-makers call the right plays from today's international scrimmage line. It's a quick read for busy people who need to learn the main issues of costs, quality and timing of "going off-shore" with their IT requirements. ... Read more

Amazon.com

A regular feature in the Web zine Word is a column called "Work," conceived as an updated homage to Studs Terkel's 1972 book, Working. A selection of these Word columns, augmented with some new material, has been collected under another monosyllabic title, Gig. The slightly more effusive subtitle describes precisely what the book offers: Americans Talk About Their Jobs at the Turn of the Millennium. Word conducted interviews with and accepted submissions from a wide range of people with an equally wide range of jobs. The editors have organized the entries into rough thematic groups such as Plants and Animals (lawn maintenance man, buffalo rancher, dog trainer), Bodies and Souls (palm reader, orthopedic surgeon, telephone psychic), and Artists and Entertainers (video game designer, Elvis Presley "interpreter," art mover).

This is a casual book of over 120 brief first-person narratives. It is not a survey or an anthropological study, but a window onto how other people spend their days and nights. A few of the people are famous (supermodel Heidi Klum, painter Julian Schnabel), but most are not, and the latter are in some ways more interesting, not least because we already hear so much about the former in the welter of entertainment coverage that already graces our TVs and newsstands. The joy of Gig lies in its conversational tone and intimate peeks into occupations that many would never even know existed (who knew you could be a "clutter consultant"?). So, if you've ever wanted to ask the human resources director of a slaughterhouse how her day was, Gig is for you. --J.R. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

You think you hate your job?
Then you should read this book. Gig is an unexpectedly engaging collection of vignettes of diverse American workers. It makes you think long and hard about your job...as well as all those jobs that someone has to do, but that no one really wants to. (What does the garbage man really think about when he's riding the back of the truck?) My favorite profile: man who runs a company that cleans up murder scenes and homes where people are simply found dead from natural causes.

Listen to the people.
If you liked Studs Terkel's working you will like this book. The folks form word.com talk to people from every possible occupation, such as coporate lawyer, stripper, taco bell worker, CEO, etc. Each of them gets a couple of pages at least, and they talk freely about what their work experience is like. Some people love their jobs, some people plan on quitting soon. It is like talking to these people yourself. Gig is a fun read. There are lots of nicely obsereved details. The UPS guy talks about having to wear certain color t-shirts. An artist talks about liking the smell of paint. A temp guy talks about the need to look busy. It has a very high hard-to-put-down quotient. Also, I think it is a important book. This is the way people really think about their livlihood. A nice antitdote to coporate bs. Best read I have had in a while.

awesome, awesome read
I only read one entry a night to drag it out. It's that good. Not only is there much hilarity, you actually learn insider info about how things work--excellent cocktail conversation. I must have told 20 people things I've read in here, and I"m only a third finished.

I've actually confirmed some of the comments with people who really have those jobs--and they're true!

Escapism that gives U Ideas!
This is by far the best book i've read in 2 years. The stories are perfectly edited, so they are either concisely funny or heart-wrenching or appalling (mostly funny). YOu never know what you're going to get when you start one of the 3-page nuggets.

Not only was this fabulous escapism during the recent Horrors, it gave me truly useful ideas of how to better use MY life in a way that is rewarding and of use to the planet!! And how to appreciate the value, the contributions, and/or the sheer hilarity of my many jobs, past and present.

It¿s Not Just an Adventure. It¿s a Job.
There are three fundamental questions about work.

* What do other people do?

* Who actually does that?

* Is their job better than mine?

As it happens, all three questions have the same answer: you'd be surprised. After collecting years of a column on "Work", the editors of Word.com can tell you exactly what Americans do all day, and those jobs are both more bizarre and more mundane than you might imagine. As _Gig_ demonstrates, Americans are working as florists, lemonade salesmen, clutter consultants, smokehouse pit cooks, paparazzi, Elvis Presley interpreters, buffalo ranchers, heavy metal roadies - and in most cases, loving it.

_Gig_ is fascinating for its variety alone. But more importantly, _Gig_ is inspiring. It's hard to read this book and not be impressed: impressed by Americans' creativity, by their insight, even by their dedication. A receptionist echoes the voices of the 120-plus interviewees when she says that "I take pride in my job. I really - it's my baby, you know? That front desk is my baby. I just take a lot of pride in what I do."

There's no one way to read _Gig_. You can turn to the oddities. (Yes, crime scene cleaner is a real job.) You can look for the parallels and contrasts. (Temp, preceded by CEO, preceded by slaughterhouse human resources director.) You can flip around for anecdotes. (The systems administrator's tale is riveting.) Or you can take heart in homespun philosophy. A steelworker says that "you work with people you like, and they like you because you do your work, and you're with them. You're together." A lawn maintenance man articulates his dream to "finish up school. And then maybe I'll try to get one of those jobs where you can wear khaki pants and relax."

At times the editors try too hard to keep the interviews raw; the constant punctuation of "[Laughs]" can wear thin. But overall _Gig_ is extraordinary: part entertainment, part oral history, part homage to the work of Studs Terkel. _Gig_'s editors pay explicit tribute to Terkel's 1972 _Working_, yet the collection will remind you too of _Hard Times_, his brilliant collection of interviews on the Great Depression. If _Gig_ is a documentary, then it's a documentary in which the central participant shapes the structure and uncovers the meaning. Not unlike a job. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (10)

This is the ONE to buy
If you buy one book to help you if you're fired, I recommend this one without hesitation. I found the advice and recommendations invaluable. In a coherent, sensible approach, Mr. Sklover's experience shows through. At times he seemed to read my mind as he methodically covered my concerns as well as introduced topics that had not occurred to me. He translated the legal jargon into plain English, rendering the advice both understandable and useful. The list of more than 100 negotiating points is alone worth the price of the book. I think "this is the one" on this topic.

Practical guide to losing your job
I am in-house counsel to a major corporation and have had a great deal of experience with downsizing and termination and found this book to be a treasure-house of good advice on negotiating severance packages. The writer, a well-known severance lawyer who has represented many employees, presents a practical, sensible approach to negotiating the best severance package possible. He is a proponant of civilized negotiation as compared with testosterone-driven war-mode litigation and his advice is sound. Unlike many lawyers, he addresses the emotional side of losing a job and has many good suggestions for dealing with hurt pride before going to the negotiation table. In addition, he does not propose running to a lawyer on the day or termination. Rather, the book could be used by an employee to assist in negotiating his/her own package. The book is easy to read, written in plain English, and well organized. The index contains invaluable forms for severance agreements and letters. I can't imagine a better book on this subject.

Essential information helpfully presented
The problem is that when we have a job we tend to invest in the illusion of security. We also feel disloyal to our employer if we prepare for the time of separation.

The funny thing is that when the whack comes (and to often it is as unforseen as club to the back of the head) you can bet that the company has prepared very carefully every aspect of our severance package before they apply that hit to the sweet spot on your noggin.

Very few people have the clout to get an employment contract let alone negotiate up front for a separation arrangement. For most of us we live in an "at will" world. The author points out that this "at will" isn't necessarily as once sided as our employers would have us believe.

They rely on the shock of the moment, our lack of preparation, and our shame for losing our job to streamline us into signing away rights and getting the heck out of dodge. It isn't in their interests to give you time to think and prepare, and, frankly, when you are laying off 1,000 or 10,000 people you simply can't enter into separate negotiations with every one of them. However, I can tell you that in the UK employees are routinely given employment contracts as they are hired.

This is why every employee should read this book today. Prepare and think about the ever more inevitable separation. Empoyees need to be on as equal a footing with their employer as they can; given current laws and the limitations of economics. We need to have more open eyes and be less sentimental about our jobs.

This book is a great first step or two on that path. Just as profits are made when you purchase an asset (buying at the right price) - not when you sell them, the basis for your separation (which you should accept as inevitable in some non-specified future) is laid when you are hired. We need to be smarter when we go into these situations and realize the planning and, well, practiced sincerity (masked insincerity) that employers now use during hiring, throughout the term of employment and during termination.

They aren't bad people, necessarily, it is just that they are prepared for what is happeneing and most employees are not. The message of this very helpful book is "Get Prepared!".

It isn't that they are all bad people; it is the nature of the current business and legal climate that leads to much of this nonsense.

This book will provide a great morale booster and provide some thoughts that can help even a newly terminated employee create a decent plan of counter-attack. Better to use this information and take positive action than be pushed downstream like so many cut trees.

Shipping was Delayed!
I would have rated this book, but unfortunately, I was not shipped the order as promised. Maybe in a couple of months I will be able to offer better feedback.

"Now I know what to do, and how to do it."
Before I came across Mr. Sklover's book, I didn't know where to begin, or what had to be done. It was recommended to me by a friend who used it to help her, and it did. This book starts off slowly, and proceeds step by step in leading you through the process of Going Back, Asking for More, and Getting It..In Writing. It is the book on this subject that I believe will be the book everyone will read, use and keep...for the next time. ... Read more

Book Description

In recent years, New Yorkers have been surprised to see workers they had taken for granted—Mexicans in greengroceries, West African supermarket deliverymen and South Asian limousine drivers—striking, picketing, and seeking support for better working conditions. Suddenly, businesses in New York and the nation had changed and were now dependent upon low-paid immigrants to fill the entry-level jobs that few native-born Americans would take. Immigrants, Unions, and the New U.S. Labor Market tells the story of these workers' struggle for living wages, humane working conditions, and the respect due to all people. It describes how they found the courage to organize labor actions at a time when most laborers have become quiescent and while most labor unions were ignoring them. Showing how unions can learn from the example of these laborers, and demonstrating the importance of solidarity beyond the workplace, Immanuel Ness offers a telling look into the lives of some of America's newest immigrants. ... Read more

Book Description

"Privatizing China demystifies one of the least understood institutions in China's reforming economy. The authors' thorough research and cogent analyses make this book essential reading for foreign investors poised to enter the securities markets of post-WTO China – or indeed, for any student of China seeking to make sense of the country's recent economic history."
—Catherine Gelb, Editor, The China Business Review, The US-China Business Council

"Carl Walter and Fraser Howie bring together a wealth of experience to this complex and deeply important topic. Their book contains a mine of invaluable quantitative and qualitative information as well as an incredible depth of knowledge. It is written in an absorbing fashion, with an abundance of penetrating judgments. It is essential reading for anyone investing in companies from mainland China."
—Professor Peter Nolan, Judge Institute of Management Studies, University of Cambridge

"This book will answer many peoples questions regarding SOEs and the stock market. I think it is destined to become the standard reference work on the subject."
—Jean C. Oi, Director, Center for East Asian Studies, Stanford University ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

This book examines how it was possible and what it meant for ordinary factory workers to become effective unionists and national political participants by the mid-1930s. We follow Chicago workers as they make choices about whether to attend ethnic benefit society meetings or to go to the movies, whether to shop in local neighborhood stores or patronize the new A & P. Although workers may not have been political in traditional terms during the '20s, as they made daily decisions like these, they declared their loyalty in ways that would ultimately have political significance. As the depression worsened in the 1930s, not only did workers find their pay and working hours cut or eliminated, but the survival strategies they had developed during the 1920s were undermined. Looking elsewhere for help, workers adopted new ideological perspectives and overcame longstanding divisions among themselves to mount new kinds of collective action. Chicago workers' experiences as citizens, ethnics and blacks, wage earners and consumers all converged to make them into New Deal Democrats and CIO unionists. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

In-depth Analysis of Chicago and Chicagoans
Cohen's work based on her Ph.D. Dissertation at UC-Berkeley proves to be a comprehensive, engaging, and insightful look into popular culture in 1920s and 1930s Chicago. She moves seamlessly from labor history to cultural history to ethnic history without losing the reader by including helpful charts, figures, and photographs. Her section on the nature of mass media and mass consumption undoubtedly provides evidence of her writing style in The American Pageant.

Cohen does not create a delineation between immigrants that came to the area and natives of the Chicago area, which goes a long way in terms of bias. She covers African-Americans, Polish, Italians, and Jews without being critical one way or the other. Each chapter seems to be able to live by itself, which gives the book a flavor of being a compendium of papers instead of a conjoined work. All in all, Cohen does a wonderful job examining Chicago and Chicagoans whatever their ethnicity may be.

Outstanding view of workers in Chicago between the wars
Making a New Deal is an absolutely incredible look at workers during the Interwar period in Chicago. Cohen has crafted a monumental work that not only covers workers political and union organization but also covers the changes in their lives resulting from societal changes such as the advent of radio and the chain store.
What's particularly appealing and interesting about this book is also what it says about modern times. Cohen discusses that due to the advent of radio and national networks, fewer workers got their local and world news from ethnic newspapers or other papers in Chicago. As can be seen from this, the current lement concerning the consolidation of newspapers, TV and radio stations isn't new, it began even in the 1930s. Also interesting is how many immigrant parents worried about their children becoming influenced by American culture that they did not understand, particularly clubs, dance halls and radio music.
Cohen's work is profoundly important and most of the book is a great read.

A superior book on labor, ethnicity, and politics
A well-researched and original book describing the shifting allegiances of Chicago workers from ethnic help societies to their welfare capitalist employers to finally the US government. In addition to the subject of the growing labor movement, the book is also a great survey of the various ethnic/racial groups of 1920s Chicago and their differing experiences with Americanization.

There is a book I would like to recommend as a virtual "sequel" to this one. The Origins of the Urban Crisis by Thomas Sugrue. While Cohen's book is about the creation of the New Deal coalition in the factory neighborhoods and towns of Chicago, Sugrue's book is about the disappearance of the factories and the departure from the Democratic coalition in the 1960s of the same groups who joined it in the 30s. Sugrue's book also won a Bancroft prize and if you like one you will surely like the other.

Making Sense of the Great Depression
Cohen's synopsis of Chicago through the 1920's and into the tough times of the 1930's is truly a remarkable account that makes sense of the Great Depression in a way that truly brings it to life for the reader. Though focused on Chicago, the story she tells really holds true for the whole US and delves deeply into the real world reality of the depression experience. Carefully outlining the change in America from an industrial capitalism to a welfare state society, the important changes in America are clearly explained and brought to life through understandable and vivid human stories. The fourth chapter discussing the actual alteration in the worker's mindset that created an atmosphere for not only the New Deal, but for the federal government activity we are used to today, is truly the highlight of the book. Just chapter alone earns this book my highest recommendation, as overall it is one of the better books of this era and topic with which I am familiar.

From Segmentation to Unity
After the conclusion of the Great War, labor suffered one of its greatest setbacks in its conflict with management. Due to its segmentation along racial, gender, and age lines allowed employers to subordinate worker to their prerogatives. These divisions underwent a gradual shift in attitudes and behaviors of social and cultural experiences and lessen the antagonisms between these groups that allowed the effectiveness of the CIO's intervention in the corporate world. The author analyzes the city of Chicago since it was the 2nd largest industrial center, its multiethnic and interracial workforce and the best-documented city during the interwar period. The Red Scare tactics, employer combativeness, and AFL ambivalence in organizing in non-craft into unions predetermined labor's failure in 1919. Segmentation tactics were similar in context as described in David Gordon's Segmented Work, Divided Workers. Companies hired Blacks and Mexicans as strikebreakers, circulated powerful racist handbills, and limited the contact between ethnic groups at work. Workers reinforced this segmentation by providing uncompromising loyalty to buying from grocers, enlisting in mutual assistance programs, investing in banks, and recreation activities with their own ethnic groups. However the exception to this rule was Blacks shopping at chain stores without fearing of discriminating practices by Polish or Italian merchants. Employers further eliminated the attraction of union by introducing of Welfare capitalism to appease workers demands. This paternalistic policy offered insurance policies, retirement and vacation plans. The author offers a different explanation that the changes developed between employer and employee is due to the innovation of the employee to modify the relationship to suit their own needs. The introduction of mass culture did not conflict or undermine their traditional cultures, but solidified them. The gradual incorporation of these ethnic groups into a mass culture had the undesired effect in unifying these ethnic groups to oppose their employers. These institutions that divided the various ethnic groups collapsed under the financial disasters from the Great Depression. Ethnic grocers and banks were viewed with suspicion and disgust. The supposed benefits given to workers by welfare capitalism demonstrated to every worker the need for a union and a welfare state. Workers united themselves into union in acquiring recognition as organizational bodies and acquiring benefits with the assistance of government intervention on behalf of workers. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Okay, but nothing new here...
It seems that in our ever-increasingly casual society, we have lost some of our common sense when dressing for the office. This book has no surprises - there are no hidden secrets for compiling a work wardrobe - if we put a bit of thought into it, I'm sure most people could determine on their own that belly tops, sandals, frayed jeans, see-through blouses and poor grooming are potentially career-limiting moves.

The information in this book is pretty basic. Save your money - you can probably get this quality of advice from Mom - for free.

The ultimate guide to looking your best...
If you are looking for a comprehensive guide to making a positive impact through appearance, this is your book. I am a recruiter with a Fortune 100 company in the US, and a professional image consultant recommended this book to me when I originally began my position. As a person who was looking for solid guidelines around professional dressing, as well as a reference for others who are looking to improve their appearance, I have found no other book to be comparable.

There are many aspects which make this book such an important resource for professionals:

1. The author provides specific guidelines around what items should be in a professional wardrobe, even going as far as to outline what quantities are particularly helpful of each piece of clothing.

2. The book is filled with "before and after" pictures, which allow the reader to see first-hand how the author's recommendations can make a startling appearance alteration.

3. To reflect the variety of workplace formality levels, there are six levels of workplace dress covered in the chapters. For those people who work for companies that have never successfully defined "Casual Friday", this book gives a lot of great hints of how to dress casual but still remain professional.

4. Two separate chapters outline accessories and generic grooming guidelines, and I have only found those hints in this particular guideline book.

5. For people looking to improve their wardrobe on a limited budget or a first job out of school, the author does not suggest spending a fortune on designer clothing. Rather, she suggests some key pieces to acquire first, and then others that can be obtained after your finances begin to improve.

Overall, I see the negative impact every day in my position from candidates who do not make the extra effort to go from "dressing up" to "looking professional". I strongly suggest that you make the $15 investment in this book, since it could help you to acquire the high paying career of your dreams!

An essential part of a working wardrobe.
This book is an excellent guide to dressing for the workplace regardless of where you work. I especially liked the sections on business casual (for both men and women). This section helped me to see that, though I am a manager in my firm, I was dressing like the delivery man. There are so many options for dressing these days and dress has become so casual that we lose sight of the impact that our clothing has on others and the subtle signals we send. The authors do an excellent job of demonstrating how important dress is, especially for women. And, it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg to dress well, it just takes conscious buying and this book as your guide. If you feel like you are not making the impact at work and maybe in your life that you would like to make, get this book. Perhaps your appearance is sending a different message.

Finally, a book to show you how to look successful!
As a young woman entering the workforce, I recognized the need to make a strong first impression. What I lacked was the concrete rules to pull this off. This book is outstanding! Given to me as a present, it will surely serve as my dressing bible for years to come. I was especially helped by the dress/grooming guidelines given for specific occasions and the tips for creating a more polished overall look.

Just be forewarned that the women's photos show fashions which are about five years out of style, but the overall ideas are still applicable to everyday life. Men's fashions are a lot more constant so their section is still current.

Success is Yours in 30 Seconds--With This Book!
I am currently beginning my second career and needed the Zero to 60 information, now, to level the playing field. You may think, gee, this guy should know all the rules--but my first career was 25 years in the military. Susan Bixler and Nancy Nix-Rice have me confident that when I walk into the interview, I will have the external factors covered (the first 30 seconds)--they even give you hints on how posture, speak, and express the internal you--your knowledge, skills, and ability. I notice people much more now--I look for the suit and tie color, suit make, belts, shoe style, etc., to see the type client the individual is playing up or down to. If you're at all uncertain--this is your next book--you will not be sorry. ... Read more

Book Description

A life-changing program to teach women and men the feminine way to start a business, develop self-confidence, self-love, and gain a new outlook on life.

Lynne Franks is one of the best-known public relations consultants in the world. In the years since she first began working from her own kitchen table, she has advised and guided women entrepreneurs from diverse cultural backgrounds across the globe.

In The SEED Handbook (Sustainable Enterprise and Empowerment Dynamics), Franks pulls together a twelve-stage program that is both an economic and personal growth tool. It contains practical exercises to give readers the confidence to trust their abilities, passions, and values to enable themselves to create something organic that grows naturally from who they are as people. Franks shows how to keep the dream alive with marketing, business planning, marketing launches, and case histories.

The women and men who Franks uses as examples are creating consciously ethical and responsible businesses based on integrity and love. Like them, many of us desire to start a sustainable enterprise but are too fearful. The SEED Handbook helps break the social conditioning and lack of confidence, find support, mentors, and plant the seeds that can create the garden we want to have in our lives.

With Franks's handbook, readers will not only become members of a thriving SEED community, but also happily take responsibility for their lives.

Illustrations by Anne Field ... Read more

Reviews (5)

There are better books on the market
Although I believe Lynne Franks has good insight for people who want to start their own business, I found it annoying the way that she would name drop and take credit for the success of others. If you are looking for an uplifting book that will help you take the next step toward running your own business, I would recommend, "Building a Business the Buddhist Way : A Practitioner's Guidebook" by Geri Larkin. This book provides the inspiration to take the next step and more practical advise on how to write a business plan and get started.

The Best Book in The World on starting a woman owned Busines
The book tells you that it is ok to shoot for the stars when every one else tells you other wise. If you want to start you own business and your a women PLEASE BUY THIS BOOK TODAY!

Good for inspiration, not for technical details
If you are thinking about starting your own business, and need encouragement and motivation to take the plunge, and if you are very visual, than this book could be helpful for you. It offers inspirational advice and is extremely well-designed and fun to look at (one of the reasons I bought the book was to put some of the illustrations on my bulletin board). If you are looking for hard-core information about the steps you will need to take to start your own business (i.e. legal and accounting information) this is not the book for you. Other than a list of organizations at the back, this book contains almost no practical information about the logistics of starting a business. Because the author's previous career was in public relations, there is a bit more information in that part of the book. Having said that however, if you get a headache every time you pick up one of those traditional business "how to" books filled with IRS type forms, this might be the book you need to ease you into the process. I find that it gets me in the mood and gives me the courage to tackle the dry practical books. Just be advised that you will need to purchase another book for the technical information. I would have given the book a higher rating, but I found the frequent mentions of the author's personal achievements to be quite irritating.

Warning! This book causes ideas and inspiration to bloom!
I have bought countless books on starting a business. You want to know why? Because all the others had two things missing. 1)That it is o.k. to have fun creating your biz. The exercises and bright graphics in The Seed Handbook uphold that theory. 2)Creating a business that allows my girl power to ooz. Other biz books for women mainly focus on juggling kids, chores and work. Do we need to read about this? This makes you stop and think about you, who you are and who you want to be. I found the exercises liberating! This book has given me a new perspective and rich soil to bloom.

Watch the Garden Grow
The Seed Handbook is a beautiful, challenging and practical read. The core ideas of personal development, balance and success are wonderfully conveyed and explored from beginning to end. The exercises that pepper the book take you through the often difficult and ugly business of assessing your life. But stick with it - it's well worth it! On every page Lynne Franks shares her wealth of experience and business savvy with people who, like me, are teetering on the edge of pursuing their innermost dreams coupled, with their natural abilities and affinities. Get the book and grow! ... Read more

Book Description

American feminism has always been about more than the struggle for individual rights and equal treatment with men. There's also a vital and continuing tradition of women's reform that sought social as well as individual rights and argued for the dismantling of the masculine standard. In this much anticipated book, Dorothy Sue Cobble retrieves the forgotten feminism of the previous generations of working women, illuminating the ideas that inspired them and the reforms they secured from employers and the state. This socially and ethnically diverse movement for change emerged first from union halls and factory floors and spread to the "pink collar" domain of telephone operators, secretaries, and airline hostesses. From the 1930s to the 1980s, these women pursued answers to problems that are increasingly pressing today: how to balance work and family and how to address the growing economic inequalities that confront us. The Other Women's Movement traces their impact from the 1940s into the feminist movement of the present.

The labor reformers whose stories are told in The Other Women's Movement wanted equality and "special benefits," and they did not see the two as incompatible. They argued that gender differences must be accommodated and that "equality" could not always be achieved by applying an identical standard of treatment to men and women. The reform agenda they championed--an end to unfair sex discrimination, just compensation for their waged labor, and the right to care for their families and communities--launched a revolution in employment practices that carries on today.

Unique in its range and perspective, this is the first book to link the continuous tradition of social feminism to the leadership of labor women within that movement.

... Read more

Reviews (1)

Superb and Genius
A brilliant novel that sets precedents. ... Read more

Book Description

Learn to minimize your stress level -- both at the office and at home -- to maximize your productivity and happiness.

Learn all you need to know about coping with stress in the workplace, from identifying the causes and symptoms of stress to monitoring your response to pressure and implementing coping strategies. Reducing Stress shows how to reorganize your work practices and think positively, plus it also provides practical techniques to use when dealing with potential problem areas. Power tips help you to handle real-life situations and develop first-class stress-management skills that will dramatically improve your ability to deal with pressure. The Essential Manager have sold more than 1.9 million copies worldwide! Experienced and novice managers alike can benefit from these compact guides that slip easily into a briefcase or a portfolio. The topics are relevant to every work environment, from large corporations to small businesses. Concise treatments of dozens of business techniques, skills, methods, and problems are presented with hundreds of photos, charts, and diagrams. It is the most exciting and accessible approach to business and self-improvement available. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Reducing Stress
As the other reviewer said this book is for everyone and as the writer himself says this book wont make your stress disappear from your life it can only help you minimize it. And when I bought this book it sure did minimize my work-related stress that affected everything in my life but it still remained there.
The more I minimized it the more it grew. I never were more confused until I re-read the book only to find the line I thought I've read and there it was saying "Stress is infectious".
Soon after, I said bad-bye to the job of my dreams which shocked
the world around me when they knew how madly in love I was with that workplace. Then as I have felt it in the beginning it turned
up to be that I was drowning and that if I didn't quit that job I would have refused myself the lifejacket So my advice to all of you who deal with stupid stress generator people is :

BE BLIND, DEAF and ignore them IF YOU are that strong,
or If you're weak like "I was" create a lifejacket for yourself,
grab it, swim to some other place. And as you know it the biggest
city on earth which must have billions of work positions available is not even bigger than your smallest nail - when you look at it in the globe and an usual globe is bigger than thousands of nails put together :) Think about it!

Something else that may help you too is Charlie Chaplin's saying
"Life is a tragedy when you look at it in close up but a Comedy in long shot".

Emotional despair? Reduce Stress!
How Stressed Are You? This is the first question arising in today's Tech times. World Health Organization has predicted that by 2020, depression will be the greatest burden of ill health in the developing world and will be the second largest cause of death and disability!!!! One wonders but sure this book has a great indepth dose of Reducing Stress pills of info with analysis Quiz on Page 16 that actually lets one recognize existence of stress and later reducing it. In Analyzing the causes of Stress, society, the working world and daily life have changed almost beyond recognition in the past 50 years and these changes have contributed to a major increase in stress, says the author. Many factors add fuel to blown minds as we deal coping with daily life. The book has cool tips on Getting Organized in life itself, manage time,check the attitudinal traits, taking out time to relax, understanding personality types, building better relationships and check Health. Emotional despair is a major health disorder and so, before it's late, check those Stress flaws and learn to use mind power through Tim Hindle's book on 'Reducing Stress' - a Good Pick.

This could help anyone in the workplace!
Some of these manager books are not just for managers. They could be read and enjoyed by all employees. Of all the books I have read, this one seems to be the most wide ranging and could help everyone in your office.

Let's admit it. Work and life in general can be stressful. How we cope with stress can be a key to our success. This book will show you how to reorganize your work practices. It also explains how thinking positively can reduce stress.

"Make sure your home office is separate from your living space." -pg 25

Well, I fail that one.

"Start each day stress-free by straightening up the night before." -pg. 40

This works!

Learning to say no is something I really have to work on. Some people do find it difficult to say no because they are afraid of causing offense. Sometimes you just have to be assertive, after all, it is your life!

There is a section on making a time to relax. there are exercises and relaxation techniques you can use and this makes the book very practical. Deep breaths, deep breaths....there, see you feel so much better now. If anything helps, breathing will! ... Read more

Book Description

Recasting labor studies in a long-term and global framework, the book draws on a major new database on world labor unrest to show how local labor movements have been related to world-scale political, economic, and social processes since the late nineteenth century. Through an in-depth empirical analysis of select global industries, the book demonstrates how the main locations of labor unrest have shifted from country to country together with shifts in the geographical location of production.It shows how the main sites of labor unrest have shifted over time together with the rise or decline of new leading sectors of capitalist development and demonstrates that labor movements have been deeply embedded (as both cause and effect) in world political dynamics.Over the history of the modern labor movement, the book isolates what is truly novel about the contemporary global crisis of labor movements. Arguing against the view that this is a terminal crisis, the book concludes by exploring the likely forms that emergent labor movements will take in the twenty-first century. ... Read more

Book Description

Hardbound. This book consists of a selected subset of papers presented at the International Symposium of Linked Employer-Employee Data, held in Washington DC, in May 1998 - to address the creation and analysis of such matched data in an environment that safeguards respondent confidentiality. The conference brought together a wide range of social scientists and statisticians from more than 20 countries.

Three broad themes are highlighted:(1) The analysis of linked employer-employee data.The basic finding of this and the next section is that the firm matters a good deal in explaining the differences in earnings, productivity, and work experiences of individual workers. Linked data allow the researcher to disentangle the firm effects from the worker effects.(2) Econometric issues involved with the analysis of such data.Creating and analyzing employer-employee matched data sets presents a number of new econometric problems ... Read more

Reviews (65)

Interesting inside view of a family struggle.
Cliff Walk made me look at and change my attitudes about people who do manual labor as an occupation. The book is enjoyable because of the way it is written, almost at times like poetry. But that doesn't