The book studies the work of corporate managers.
It is based on semi-structures interviews with 143 managers in three American
companies, carried out in the early to mid-1980s. The general conclusion to the
book is expressed towards the end: "What matters in the bureaucratic
world is not what a person is but how closely his many personae mesh with the
organisational ideal; not his willingness to stand by his actions but his agility
in avoiding blame; not his acuity in perceiving falsity or errors, but his adeptness
at protecting others; not his talent, his abilities, or his hard work, but how
these are harnessed with the proper protocol to address the particular exigencies
that face his organisation; not what he believes or says but how well he has mastered
the ideologies and rhetorics that serve his corporation; not what he stands for
but who he stands with in the labryinths of his organisation." (p. 193) The
bureaucracy of corporate America poses an intricate set of moral mazes that managers
have to negotiate their way through. As such the book is a treatise on organisational
politics and it is surprising that Machiavelli’s Prince is nowhere
cited. Ethics is defined as the rules-in-use that guide the behaviour of
managers. Little time is spent in discussing definitions of ethics or outlining
different ethical approaches. Rather it is posited that managerial morality is
always situational, always relative. Morality on the corporation is different
from morality at home and, in the words of one of Jackall’s subjects "What
is right in the corporation is what the guy above you wants from you." (p6) Corporate
bureaucracies consist of a series of authority relationships and success in managing
these relationships makes a successful manager. Understanding the nuances of the
social life of the organisation, expressed through ritual, metaphor and symbolism,
is a key factor in understanding how organisations work and how to be successful
in them. Jackall explores this through the perceptions of key events by different
managers in the organisations under study. He reproduces interview data and provides
a rich picture of how managers understand corporate life. The picture is nonetheless
a depressing one: ethics comes second to practical politics and principles are
laid down at the feet of expediency. The crucial virtue in the uncertain world
of the corporation is making other managers feel "comfortable"; he (usually) ‘fits
in’. Of course actions are taken which affect others adversely, both
inside and outside the corporation. Where such actions enter the public arena
then managers must be adept at manipulating symbols and in the use of the language
of legitimation; a chapter on Public Relations could be rewritten for contemporary
resonance by using the words Spin Doctor. The reader is left with an interesting
account of how managers learn to play the rules- of-the-game and organisational
politics in corporate America in the early 1980s. Whether those rules still obtain
in the early 21st Century is an interesting question. (Oxford
University Press, New York and Oxford) pp249 ISBN 0-19-503825-8 >>
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