The Good Jobs Strategy

By: Zeynep Ton

Narrated by: Tanya Eby

Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

Almost one in four American working adults has a job that pays less than a living wage. Conventional wisdom says that’s how the world has to work. Bad jobs with low wages, minimal benefits, little training, and chaotic schedules are the only way companies can keep costs down and prices low. If companies were to offer better jobs, customers would have to pay more or companies would have to make less. But in The Good Jobs Strategy, Zeynep Ton, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, makes the compelling case that even in low-cost settings, leaving employees behind - with bad jobs - is a choice, not a necessity. Drawing on more than a decade of research, Ton shows how operational excellence enables companies to offer the lowest prices to customers while ensuring good jobs for their employees and superior results for their investors. Ton describes the elements of the good jobs strategy in a variety of successful companies around the world, including Southwest Airlines, UPS, Toyota, Zappos, and In-N-Out Burger. She focuses on four model retailers - Costco, Mercadona, Trader Joe's, and QuikTrip - to demonstrate the good jobs strategy at work and reveals four choices that have transformed these companies' high investment in workers into lower costs, higher profits, and greater customer satisfaction.

Full of surprising, counterintuitive insights, the audiobook answers questions such as: How can offering fewer products increase customer satisfaction? Why would having more employees than you need reduce costs and boost profits? How can companies simultaneously standardize work and empower employees? The Good Jobs Strategy outlines an invaluable blueprint for any organization that wants to pursue a sustainable competitive strategy in which everyone - employees, customers, and investors - wins.

©2014 Zeynep Ton (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

very inspiring and interesting point of view

great book I believe. even before I read it I implemented some of the techniques from my experience and they work. all manager and decision makers should read specially in developing countries if they want to move forward

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great book

This book very succinctly ties together so many concepts. The content is well researched and the concepts are laid out ver clearly.

Another research useless in field for me

Like most "business" books is mislabeled. It's not about business, it is written about, written to and aimed at corporations with at least hundreds of emps. I have about ten and couldn't benefit from this read.

Understanding a unit of work

Well constructed argument for using your most important resources expressed in terms of ROI. The cost minimizing focus has limitations even in the traditional retail market and the analysis and prescription is supported by examples. This story of interdependence can be found in other areas of society as we struggle with the rules of the global marketplace. It is safe to summarize that every choice has a trade off and we are all better served if we take the time to think through the long run impact of the choices made for the good of the company. We may discover that the good of the company can be better served by an alternative strategy. That is the key. In the long run - what generates the highest value?

Good message

Many of the concepts in this book are fairly common but are well packaged and clearly explained. I like the message and agree with the values that are emphasized.

Interesting especially if you manage retail

This was a very interesting book on best practices for creating a great workplace, especially for those who work in the retail industry.

almost completely retail focused

some mention of non- retailers like southewest airlines. some interesting stories but not ground breaking

Great book and great knowledge

I loved this book all the way. When I read its reviews, when I started listening and when I finished it. As an operations professional, I cannot stress the amount of knowledge it added to me. The numerous examples provided are more than adequate to explain the theory behind.

For me personally, my take on it would be the focus on retail business which is not my line. It would have been great if it tackled a number of disciplines, yet this is the focus of the book and it is meant to be like this.

Operating the company to a growing bottom line

Talks about how to use operations management strategies to turn the usual focus on cutting labor thin to bleed out profits to over staffing to build a happy, healthy, fully engaged work force that will drive profit growth.

empowered Work Force

Would you listen to The Good Jobs Strategy again? Why?

Yes. Good back ground and versed in multicultural ethics and practice.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Toyota factory walk through was great.

Which scene was your favorite?

Over all enlightening

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me aware of how we as society with proper steps, strong management, and implementation of the Good jobs Strategy can improve our lives. Everyone would benefit from this.

Any additional comments?

At times some topics seemed repetitive. I would point out with all the variations, strategy's, and multitude of examples this was hard to avoid. She did a good job of putting it all together. I enjoyed the narration as well.