Emerging from Turbulence: Boeing and Stories of the American Workplace Today

Grunberg and Moore%E2%80%94professors of comparative sociology and psychology, respectively%E2%80%94present a sometimes insightful but slow-going second book (following Turbulence: Boeing and the State of American Workers and Managers) based on their two decades of research into Boeing's corporate culture. They emphasize changes that have occurred since 1997, when Boeing merged with another aerospace giant, McDonnell Douglas, and shifted from focusing on being a "great engineering firm" to minimizing risk, pleasing shareholders, and achieving profits. The "Boeing family" was no more; employees were told by the new president to "quit behaving like a family and become more like a team. If you don't perform, you don't stay on the team." The authors set out to chronicle this sweeping shift in one company's social contract using personal narratives from past and current employees, categorizing them by the timing and duration of their employ. Sub-categories include "No Longer Family," "I Work to Live," and "Not What I Expected." The workers'-eye-view is valuable, but the authors don't quite show that Boeing is an interesting enough case to merit a second book. (Oct.)