Company History

In the Early 1980′s Harvey Caras became the manager of Employee Relations for the GE manufacturing plant in Columbia, Maryland. The plant had a long history of labor unrest and low morale, and Harvey was determined to change the atmosphere. By talking to employees Harvey learned that the major issues were not necessarily pay and benefits, but instead revolved around the day to day activities of the plant. The major concern of employees was the inconsistency with which company rules and policies were applied.

Another main concern of employees was that there was no effective means to air their grievances to management. The company’s Open Door Policy was perceived to be nothing more than slow, ineffective, “rubber stamp” system, therefore it was rarely used. In an effort to change improve consistency and resolve employee disputes in a fair and timely manner Harvey developed the Peer Review dispute resolution system.

Peer Review was so successful at the GE Plant in Columbia that Harvey was soon asked to help other GE facilities to implement his system. Continued successes with Peer Review led other companies to ask for Harvey’s help. In 1985 he left GE to start his consulting firm.Today, Caras & Associates, Inc. has over 1,000 clients for whom they have implemented successful Peer Review systems Caras & Associates, Inc. is widely regarded as the world’s leading experts on the Peer Review ADR system.