Yahoo!

And eBay
In March 2000, Yahoo! Began negotiating to but online auction leader eBay Inc. Tim Koogle, Yahoos CEP was fully in support of the deal, believing it would enable the company to beef up its e-commerce revenues and bring needed new blood to the increasingly insular Yahoo culture. But the deal never happened. As Yahoo plummeted, eBays stock have continued to climb. What happened? Jeff Mallet, then Yahoos President opposed the deal and used political tactics to squash ever move made by Koogle who had always been a consensus style manager. He believed the top leaders would deliberate the pros and cons and come to a solution. But Mallet, who was anling for the CEO role himself, began courting the cofounders Jerry Wang and David Filo and eventually convinced them that the eBay culture was a poor fit with Yahoo. With Koogle outnumbered, the deal fell through. A former Yahoo insider said it was management by persuasion. By failing to call the shots on an important coalition, Koogle gave power to Mallet. Its only one example of how Koogle let things slip that led to his ultimate ouster from the firm. Koogle coolly said that had I taken active interest in shielding myself from Mallet, I would still be the CEO. It didnt turn out ok for Mallet as well, as he Board decided to get an outsider whom they hoped would turn the fortunes around.

Aluminum Company of America / International Association of Machinists

When reps from both IAM approached the then CEO of AlCoa, David Groetsh, and offered to create a new work system, Groetsch immediately agreed and decided to give it a try. AlCoa members and managers joined union leaders for a week long course at the Unions school in Maryland where they learned to setup a labor-management partnership and spur productivity. Both labor and management studied everything from history to current accounting procedures and brand manuals. Following the course, the union sent experts free of charge to help union leaders and managers to create joint teams and decision making councils. The IAM is at the front of a revolutionary change in the relationship between labor and management. After decades of suspicion about company-sponsored teams, many unions are now actively embracing the concept of partnership. According to Groetsch, the situations have improved due to each side understanding the concerns of the others better. The 1950s style table banging are not over yet, but integration devices between labor and management is dramatically improving cooperative relationships and decision making.