Title: Finding time
First published: 1997
Description: Why do Americans work so hard? Are the long hours spent at work really necessary to increase organizational productivity? Leslie A. Perlow documents the worklife of employees who assume that for their own success and the success of their organization they must put in extended hours on the job. Perlow doesn't buy it. She challenges the basic assumption that the more employees work, the better the corporation will do.

For nine months, Perlow studied the work practices of a product development team of software engineers at a Fortune 500 corporation. She reports her findings in detailed stories about individual employees and in more analytic chapters. Perlow first describes the individual heroics necessary to succeed in the existing work culture. She then explains how the system of rewards perpetuates crises and continuous interruptions, while discouraging cooperation.

Finally, she shows how the resulting work practices damage both organizational productivity and the quality of individuals' lives outside of work.
Subjects: Hours of labor, Leisure, Quality of life, Work and family, Tijdsbesteding, Qualité de la vie, Horaires de travail, Loisir, Kwaliteit van het bestaan, Travail et famille, Werkbelasting, Job satisfaction, Employee morale, Employee motivation, New York Times reviewed
LC classification: HD5106 .P42 1997