Executive Guidance of Industrial Relations
by
[ University of Pennsylvania Press, $3.75]
DOES Personnel Work offer anything toward the solution of our industrial problem? Is it simply a by-product of prosperity to be indulged in by companies whose competitive positions are peculiarly favorable? Or is it an effort based on a sound philosophy of industrial relations, in which any company, regardless of its competitive position, may well join, to help solve the industrial problem in the common interest of owners, workers, and customers? Mr. Balderston attempts to throw some light on this question by presenting the results of his study of the personnel programmes of twenty-five companies, generally recognized as leaders in the field of industrial relations.
The study of a selected group of companies which represents diversity in respect to size, product, and competitive forces, all of which have carried on progressive personnel work, permits inferences as to the origins of and philosophies underlying their industrial-relations policies. Granted that the industrial relations of these companies are good, that if the general average were lifted to that of the selected group there would be a significant social gain, an analysis and appraisal of the methods used by these companies should be helpful to executives who are to-day frantically seeking reliable guides out of the industrial maze.
Too much cannot be said in praise of the procedure followed in making this study or of the form in which it is presented. The approach to the subject is realistic. So far as is practical, the case method of presentation is used. while the author confesses to certain biases, these are concealed with notable restraint; the book is completely free from that dogmatism which characterizes much personnel literature and which, by antagonizing business men, defeats its purpose. Whatever else an executive may feel after reading this book, he will appreciate that the author has a sympathetic understanding of his problems.
But excellence of workmanship will not forestall some questions as to current usefulness. The latest figures quoted in the study are for the year 1932, and even then it is apparent that the depression had compelled modification in personnel programmes. One cannot help wondering what two more years of depression have done, and whether, after all, social security for the worker can depend to a large degree on the initiative and resources of individual employers.
There can be no question, however, that as long as the capitalistic system endures, no matter what prerogatives of personnel work the State usurps, there will always remain a considerable area in the field of employerworker relations which must be hand cultivated. To employers who desire to survey this field, to employers who are already cultivating it and want to check their results, this book will have more than academic interest. For those actually employed in industrial personnel departments, it will provide a too frequently needed perspective and orientation. For them it should be compulsory reading.
JAMES F. DWINELL