Mainstream business writers are talking about the quality of working relationships

Two recent books, one published by Wharton Business School called
"Firms of Endearment", written by Sisodia, Wolfe and Sheath (2007)
talks about the importance of a firms stakeholders and how well people
in a firm attend to and build relationships with all the stakeholders
who contribute to success.

http://www.firmsofendearment.com/

The other, written by Robert Sutton, professor of management science
and engineering at Stanford University, called "The No Asshole Rule:
Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't", (New
York: Warner Business Books, 2007), is the subject of a McKinsey
Quarterly article here:

http://www.successfactors.com/docs/McKinseyQuarterly-Q107.pdf

The focus on this book is on the quality of internal working
relationships and what happens if an organisation does nothing in
response to people who behave like "jerks" to one another. It leads
with a piece on SuccessFactors, one of the fastest growing firms in
the world, which requires new employees to sign up to rules of
engagement which include, at number 14: "I will be a good person to
work with - I will not be a jerk"

http://www.successfactors.com/company/rules/

What are your thoughts? Is this a passing interest or likely to
indicate real curiosity in the nature of relationships at work?