The Productive Edge How U.S. Industries Are Pointing the Way to a New Era of Economic Growth

The Productive Edge

How U.S. Industries Are Pointing the Way to a New Era of Economic Growth

By: Richard K. Lester

368 pp.

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1998

Review by: Lydia Morris Brown

Beginning in 1985, Champion International, one of the largest and oldest U.S. industrial companies, began a change process that transformed it from an underachieving tradition-bound organization into a competitive visionary that is both a winner on Wall Street and an exemplary employer. Over the years, snippets of Champion’s story have appeared, accompanied by persistent criticism of the company’s modest financial outcomes, and its inability to counter difficult industry trends. As a result, many continue to overlook what the company has, and is, accomplishing in both cultural change and operating performance improvement.