Agents of Change

Charles Heckscher is a Professor in the Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations at Rutgers University. His research focuses on organization change and its consequences for employees and unions, and on the possibilities for more collaborative and democratic forms of work. His books include The New Unionism, The Post-bureaucratic Organization, and White-Collar Blues.Michael Maccoby is an anthropologist, psychoanalyst, and consultant on leadership strategy and organization. He is President of The Maccoby Group in Washington, DC and Director of the Project on Technology, Work and Character -- a not-for-profit research organization. He was formerly Director of the Program on Technology, Public Policy and Human Development at the Kennedy Shool, Harvard University. His books include The Gamesman: The New Corporate Leaders (Simon and Schuster 1976)Rafael Ramirez is Professor in the Department of Management and Human Resources, HEC-Paris. He is also Visiting Professor of Scenarios and Corporate Strategy at Shell International in London; Senior Professional, SMG, Stockholm; and Visiting Associate Fellow at Templeton College, University of Oxford. His books include Designing Interactive Strategy (Wiley)Pierre-Eric Tixier is Professor at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, France.

• PART I: INTRODUCTION ; 1. Introduction ; 2. Overview of the Cases ; PART II: CASES ; 3. AT&T: Cooperation Is Not Enough ; 4. Ferrovie dello Stato [the Italian State Railways]: A Vision Without Agreement ; 5. Lucent: Towards Strategic Engagement ; 6. Electricite de France: Moving Towards the National Policy Level ; PART III: THE INTERVENTION APPROACH ; 7. A 'Full Engagement' Approach to Intervention ; 8. Techniques and Methods ; 9. The Consultant Role: Transference and Counter-Transference ; PART IV: THE EMERGING STAKEHOLDER REGIME ; 10. Assessing the Interventions: Achievements and Limitations ; 11. The Current Impasse ; 12. Towards Post-Industrial Relations

The authors, unlike so many in the field of future forecasting, do an admirable job of setting out their meta-narrative and offering a persuasive case for their views.