Factory town in transition: A community's reaction to change

详细信息   

• 作者：Wilcox ; Kristina
• 学历：Doctor
• 年：2015
• 关键词：Philosophy ; religion and theology ; Social sciences ; E
• 导师：Uchimura,Kazuko
• 毕业院校：Georgetown University
• Department：Liberal Studies
• 专业：American history;Ethics;Economic history
• ISBN：9781321671988
• CBH：3688524
• Country：USA
• 语种：English
• FileSize：1053324
• Pages：217

文摘

This is the story of my hometown of Endicott,New York,for over a century a factory town built by the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company and later dominated by International Business Machines (IBM). My research addresses the fundamental question of how the treatment of these employees transformed over time,and how workers felt in return about IBM and its management,the impact of globalization on their jobs and personal lives,and how their community and families changed. This work is important because it not only enriches the history of the region,which has long been dominated by work on Endicott-Johnson,but addresses corporate behavior,employee expectations and the shifting social contract from the perspective of the ultimate "insiders" - the employees themselves. IBM was part of a small group of large American companies to practice large-scale corporate welfare,and employees enjoyed numerous benefits including job security,advancement opportunities,health and pension plans and recreational activities. The company for decades dominated the computing field and at the instruction of its patriarch,Thomas J. Watson Sr.,shared the success of the company with workers,allowing the company,employees and greater Endicott community to thrive. The plant,which employed upwards of 15,000 people in the 1980's,was sold in 2002,with only 700 employees remaining. What I learned through a series of 40 in-depth interviews with community members is that these workers,above all,have continuously desired to feel needed and valued by their employers. When a worker feels needed,he or she feels secure,and comfort in the ability to provide for one's family. Employers simultaneously have had a continuous interest in maintaining a loyal and talented workforce. The variables necessary to achieve this alignment have indeed shifted over time,but workers and employers continue to find ways to make the relationship work,as it is in the interest of the company to retain good workers,and in the interest of the workers to retain good jobs.