Putting People First

|PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST FOR ORGANIZATIONAL SUCCESS                                                                                               |
|By: Pfeifer, Jeffrey, Veiga, John F., Academy of Management Executive, 10795545, May99, Vol. 13, Issue 2                                     |
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|Executive Overview                                                                                                                           |
|There's a disturbing disconnect in organizational management. Research, experience, and common sense all increasingly point to a direct       |
|relationship between a company's financial success and its commitment to management practices that treat people as assets. Yet trends in     |
|management practice are actually moving away from these very principles. Why is common sense so remarkably uncommon when it comes to managing|
|people? Why do organizations habitually overlook readily available opportunities to boost their financial performance? Drawing on extensive   |
|empirical research, an irrefutable business case can be made that the culture and capabilities of an organization--derived from the way it   |
|manages its people--are the real and enduring sources of competitive advantage. Managers today must begin to take seriously the often heard, |
|yet frequently ignored, adage that "people are our most important asset."                                                                     |
|Over the past decade or so, numerous rigorous studies conducted both within specific industries and in samples of organizations that cross   |
|industries have demonstrated the enormous economic returns obtained through the implementation of what are... [continues]

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