The we-force in management

by Lawrence G. Hrebiniak

"One of American business's most pervasive and least recognized problems is a lack of internal cooperation. Managers talk a great deal about teamwork, but can't get employees to work well together. Departments strive to be more efficient and customer-focused, but often waste time overcoming bureaucratic obstacles erected within their own organization. CEOs exhort their companies to outperform the competition, yet employees spend more energy competing with the person down the hall." "Corporate strategy expert Lawrence G. Hrebiniak asserts that the inability of most Americans to cooperate with each other in the workplace curtails innovation, reduces product quality, slows responses to customers, wastes resources, and jeopardizes alliances. Drawing on his extensive research and consulting experience, Hrebiniak identifies the individual, organizational, and cultural impediments to cooperation. One of the chief barriers is the same force that is responsible for many American business succes