United we stand

The year is 1990. General Motors, the erstwhile giant of the automotive industry, is in trouble. Beset by labor woes, plagued by lackluster performance, and threatened by unprecedented competition on a global scale, the company's future looks bleak. Then, during national negotiations between GM and its primary union, the United Automobile Workers, an idea that had been hatched and developed over the past three years was solidified - a joint commitment to continuous quality improvement that would ultimately redirect the company's course away from possible disaster and assure its long-term customer satisfaction and profitability goals. Now, for the first time in book form, here is the spellbinding story of how GM and the UAW formed an audacious, risky, and indisputably triumphant partnership charged with adopting the tenets of Total Quality Management at every level of the organization. It is a story without equal in the annals of American labor and management history, and it is told by two central players around whom the astonishing events unfolded. Part detailed case study, part insider expose, and part inspirational parable. United We Stand contains lessons and insights galore ... and of a type that have tangible significance for everyone, no matter what side of the labor-management fence you're on.