The Counterintuitive Truth
How Retailers Can Invest in Labor to Lower Costs and Improve Profits
Every once in a while you come across a simple idea that really forces you to stop and think…and then it makes you stop again and think some more.
For me that happened just the other day when I purchased and read a copy of Zeynep Ton’s new book entitled The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits.
Ms. Ton is an Associate Professor of Operations Management at MIT Sloan School of Management. Over the past 10 years she’s conducted a vast amount of research focused on the critical role of store operations in retail supply chains and exploring how retailers can design and manage their operations in a way that satisfies employees, customers, and investors simultaneously.
Professor Ton’s simple, but powerful, idea is that retailers can invest heavily in store employees and simultaneously deliver lower prices, higher profits, and better customer service than their competitors.