This, despite the complete lack of sexy packaging, is an extraordinary book - numerous powerful ideas that are before their time. As exisiting org.designs and structures crumble in the face of the information economy, the concepts outlined here will emerge and define business in the next century.

I have read over 180 books on leadership, organizational design and strategy. This book is in my top five.

Where the players are the adversaries of corporations and organized labor, Professor Charles C. Heckscher provides insight from a not so distant perspective, describing in clear and concise language what went wrong and how to fix it in a non-adversarial system.

This book is divided into three parts:

Part I deals with the rise and fall of the Wagner Act framework, which offers a short history of its creation for the purpose of providing a balance of power between the players, but how that balance no longer exists in a global economy, where the ultimate weapon of a strike is barely felt by a huge corporation; then

Part II explores new forms of organizing and representation including community coalitions, quality of work life programs, labor-management committees, and the need for representation of all employees, to include middle managers and semi-professionals; and

Part III describes what is required to build a new system utilizing the three elements of representation.

Throughout this book Heckscher builds on the concept of what he calls "managerialism" and "associational unionisim." He describes how the use of communication can be a far more pervasive weapon than the strike. He describes how the courts are too costly for the average worker to utilize as a tool for representation but how an association of workers can utilize the courts. He discusses how labor laws are affected by court rulings and how the courts and laws can be a help or a hindrance. How the interests of labor have become fragmented into the interest of specific groups, such as women groups, civil rights, environmental, and disability groups, and the importance bringing these groups together at the same negotiating table with the employer.

The book is well written in a modular format making the complex issues much simpler to understand and absorb. Heckscher writes in a nonjudgmental tone which is sometimes humorous but always enlightening.

I'd recommend this book as a reference tool for all union officers, business agents, and all human resource managers. If you are a steward with a desire to eventually become a union BA or company HR, or if you are a supervisor who is insecure about this new "semi-autonomous team" rhetoric coming from your boss, you too should read this book.

If you want to strengthen your union, if you want to increase employee commitment, if you want to create or strengthen a community coalition that supports both labor and business, you should read this book.

And finally, if you are at all confused or frustrated by the current adversarial labor-management relationships and what other options may exist to alleviate the problems you have with your members or with your employees (assuming you're a HR person), then this is the book for you.