Values at Work

Values at Work is an analysis of organizational dynamics with wide-ranging implications in an age of market globalization. It looks at the challenges businesses face to maintain people-oriented work systems while remaining successful in the larger...

George Cheney is Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Utah. He is coauthor of Organizational Communication in an Age of Globalization and coeditor of International and Multicultural Organizational Communication.

Values at Work is a landmark contribution to our knowledge about workplace democracy. The clarity of writing, the richness of data, and the careful analysis make this book a must read for anyone interested in democratic participation in an organizational setting.

In this thoughtful, well-written book Cheney eschews simplistic answers in favor of complex, thoughtful analysis. He raises important questions about the ability of socially conscious companies to operate in a world economy dominated by an ethos of unbridled competition. Rather than adopt a 'good-guys' versus 'bad-guys' approach, the author leaves it to the reader to weigh the long term consequences of unchecked economic development.

Peter Ackers, Loughborough University:

Values at Work is an ambitious theoretical and research study.... This is a worthwhile and interesting study, full of bright ideas about the future of work and employee participation.

Critically examines how one business... is dealing with external pressures to compete in the global market while working to revive its long-held values of workplace democracy within the new configuration of the customer-centered or market-driven firm.

Cheney's book offers practical guidelines for value-based organizations engaging in today's market, who want to preserve their social integrity.

Jacquelyn Yates, Kent State University:

Cheney has identified a deadly fascinating dilemma: Mondragon's executives feel that they must grow or die: either meet and match foreign competition or be overwhelmed.... Cheney renders a valuable service by bringing new systemic concerns to the attention of the scholarly community and Mondragon leadership and by uncovering the process by which success and growth in any organization may ultimately corrupt its purpose and values.

Charles Derber, author of Corporation Nation: How Corporations Are Taking Over Our Lives and What We Can Do About It:

Values at Work is a provocative read on the prospects for workplace democracy in today's hyper-competitive global economy. George Cheney excels in showing how both cooperatives and conventional corporations must reconcile relentless marketization of our cultural and economic life with the democratic spirit.

Christopher Gunn, Professor of Economics, Hobart and William Smith Colleges:

George Cheney provides new insight into the evolution of the Mondragón cooperatives, and the key tensions between their internal and external environments. This book ranks with the best of the organizational and sociological writing to date on Mondragón, and it productively uses the Mondragón case to reflect on larger issues at stake between innovative organizations and 'global' markets.

Raymond Russell, University of California, Riverside:

Can democracy in the workplace co-exist with global competitiveness? George Cheney seeks answers from the workers and managers of the Mondragón cooperatives, providing a balanced and sensitive record of their contemporary voices.