Powerplay; What Really Happened at Bendix

286, [2] pages. Long, substantive, dated inscription by author on fep. Mary Cunningham Agee is an American business executive and author. She served in the top management of two Fortune 100 companies in the 1980s, one of the first women to do so, and was voted one of the "25 Most Influential Women in America" by World Almanac in 1981 and 1982. Agee is a Managing Partner of the Semper Charitable Foundation and CEO of the family's boutique wine business, Aurea Estate Wines, Inc. Agee is the founder of The Nurturing Network (TNN), an international charitable organization which throughout its 30 years of service has taught about the need for empowerment among the most disadvantaged in society. Following public accusations of an affair with Agee, Cunningham resigned on October 8, 1980. Stanford University Business School made Cunningham's experience a case study in its course, "Power and Politics in Organizations". Derived from a Kirkus review: Cunningham resigned as Vice President of Strategic Planning at Bendix Corporation amid a media circus spawned by rumors that her meteoric leap up the company's organization chart was due to an affair with chairman William Agee. Her denials sound convincing. But Cunningham's admission that she "wasn't very savvy" when she first went to work at Bendix qualifies as the understatement of the year. A good record at Harvard Business School brought her to Agee's attention. Cunningham signed on as his executive assistant, and progressed rapidly. Senior executives resented her and anonymous letters began arriving for Bendix board members. Agee's well-publicized denial of any "personal relationship" just fanned the flames and, under heavy pressure from his board, Agee finally decided "one of us has to go." Cunningham's account of their subsequent alienation and reconciliation--first as friends, and finally as lovers--is the most effective section of the story..…