Moral Mazes: The World of Corporate Managers

309 Pages·2009·1.21 MB·English

by  Robert Jackall

Moral Mazes
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MORAL
MAZES
The World of
Corporate
Managers
TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
Robert Jackall
1
2010
3
OxfordUniversityPress,Inc.,publishesworksthatfurther
OxfordUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellence
inresearch,scholarship,andeducation.
Oxford NewYork
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Copyright©1988,2010byRobertJackall
Afterwordcopyright©byRobertJackall
PublishedbyOxfordUniversityPress,Inc.
198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016
www.oup.com
OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,
storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,
electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise,
withoutthepriorpermissionofOxfordUniversityPress.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Jackall,Robert.
Moralmazes:theworldofcorporatemanagers/RobertJackall.—20thanniversaryed.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN 978–0–19–972988–3
1. Businessethics—UnitedStates. 2. Executives—Professionalethics—UnitedStates.
3. Corporations—Corruptpractices—UnitedStates.
I. Title.
HF5387.J29 2009
174’.4—dc22 2009027219
Iamgratefultotheeditorsofseveralpublicationsforpermissiontousepreviouslypublishedmaterials.
Severalbasicthemesofthisbookfirstappearedinmyarticle“MoralMazes:BureaucracyandManagerial
Work,”HarvardBusinessReview,Vol.61,No.5(September–October,1983),whichIusefreelyherewith
thepermissionoftheHarvardBusinessReview.ThematerialfromTheApologiaofRobertKeayne:TheSelf-
PortraitofaPuritanMerchant,editedbyBernardBailyn(Gloucester,Mass.:PeterSmith,1970)thatappears
inthenotestoChapter1isreprintedwiththepermissionofPeterSmithPublishers.Theexcerptsfromthe
newspapercolumnsofDr.PeterGottthatappearinthenotestoChapter6arereprintedbypermissionof
NewspaperEnterpriseAssociation,Inc.
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
onacid-freepaper
InMemoryofJosephBensman,
ArthurJ.Vidich,andRobertF.Murphy
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Acknowledgments
This book studies the world of corporate managers. It examines managers’
work, the intricate social contexts of their organizations, their striving for
success, the habits of mind they develop, and especially the occupational
ethics that they construct to survive and flourish in their world. The book
doesnottreattheseissuesabstractly.Rather,itreportsfirsthandfieldwork
amongcorporatemanagersinafeworganizations.Throughsuchafocused
appraisal ofan institutionallycentral occupational group,the book triesto
exploreinsomedepthsituationsandexperiencesthatarewidespreadinour
socialorder.
This book has been a long time in the making and owes a great deal to
manypeople.Myfirstdebtistotheorganizationsthatallowedmetodothe
study(manywouldnot)andespeciallytothemanagers,ofhigh,middle,and
lowrank,whospentmanyhourspatientlyeducatingmeinhowtheirworld
works.Thesociologist’sfirsttaskistogetthingsrightand,ifIhavedonethat,
Ioweittothissizablegroupofunacknowledgedcoauthors.Managersmay
disagreewithsomeofthebroaderinterpretationsoftheirexperiencessug-
gestedhere.Ihavetried,however,tocapturethecomplexities,ambiguities,
andanxietiesoftheirworld.
The research would not have been possible without strong institutional
support. I am especially indebted to the National Endowment for the
Humanitiesforayearlongfellowshipwhich,togetherwithanAdsitFellow-
ship for junior faculty from Williams College, enabled me to do intensive
fieldwork in the corporations in 1980–1981. Several small research grants
viii Acknowledgments
fromWilliamsCollegehelpedsupporttheyearsofmoresporadicfieldwork
that followed. Also, a grant-in-aid from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for
Anthropological Research enabled me to pursue work on organizational
dissenters,someofwhichisreportedhere.Ireceivedvaluableassistancein
thislatterphaseofmystudyfromMichaelBakerandAlfredFeliu,formerly
of the Educational Fund for Individual Rights, and especially from Louis
ClarkoftheGovernmentAccountabilityProject.Myveryspecialthanksto
the men and women who agreed to be interviewed for this portion of my
work.
I want to thank my students at Williams College who have listened
patientlyandrespondedcreativelytomygrapplingswiththedataoverthe
last several years. Opportunities for more formal presentations of various
portionsofmyworkwerealsoimportant.Inthisregard,Iespeciallywantto
thankLawrenceGraver,WilliamMoomaw,andFrancisOakleyofWilliams
College, James Kuhn of Columbia University and Donald Shriver of Union
TheologicalSeminary,TroyDusteroftheUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,
andArthurJ.VidichoftheNewSchoolforSocialResearch.Thelecturesand
seminarsthattheyarrangedwerevaluableinbringingthisworktofruition.
The library staffs at Columbia University, the National Archives in
Washington,D.C.,theNewYorkPublicLibrary,andespeciallyatWilliams
College were very helpful, as were staff at the Textile Workers Union of
AmericainNewYork.IextendspecialthanksalsotoDonnaChenail,Shirley
Bushika, and especially Peggy Bryant who helped type, print, and revise
variouseditionsofthemanuscript.Iamverygrateful,too,toRodgerDavis
whoassistedincheckingsourcesandespeciallytoDuffyGrahamwhowrote
several research memoranda summarizing pertinent secondary materials
andwhohelpedinmanyotherphasesofmywork.
My thanks to Susan Rabiner, my first editor at Oxford University Press,
whonurturedtheprojectinmanyways,andtoBillSislerandJoanBossert
whobroughtittocompletion.LindaGrossmandidafinecopyeditingjob.
Many colleagues and friends have taken time to read and comment on
mywork.LilaAbu-Lughod,MichaelF.Brown,GillianFeeley-Harnik,Joseph
Ferrie, Clara Park, and Laszlo Versenyi each read a portion of the work in
earlyversionsandhelpedmesharpenmytreatment.GeneBell-Villadaread
severalchaptersindifferentstages,alwayswithakeeneyebothforcontent
and style. Joseph Bensman, Arthur Vidich, Robert Murphy, Hans Speier,
Janice Hirota, Stanford Lyman, Michael Hughey, Charles Payne, Robert
Friedrichs,MartyWhite,ElizabethTice,andDuffyGraham,aswellasaper-
soninoneofthecorporationsIstudiedwhowishestoremainanonymous,
carefully read the entire manuscript and provided me with a great many
thoughtful critiques and suggestions. I am most grateful to these men and
Acknowledgments ix
womenfortheirhelp.ButIseparatethemfromanyuntowardconsequences
oftheirkindness.
Janice Hirota and Yuriko Hirota Jackall sustained me in every way
throughoutthiswork.Mydeepestgratitudeandlovetothem.
The book has its origins in a conversation with Arthur Vidich in 1976
whilewereflectedonpuzzlingissuesthatemergedduringmyfirstfieldwork
experience,alsoinalargeorganization.AsIbeganfieldworkforthisbook,
IgottoknowJosephBensman.Ourmanyconversationsoverthenextfew
yearswereinvaluableinhelpingmegraspandarticulatemydata.Andeven
his last ravaging illness did nothing to deter his relentless editing. Finally,
during this same period, I came to know Robert Murphy and appreciate
hisparticularandremarkableanthropologicalsensibilities.Intheirwork,all
three explored the puzzles of humanity and modernity by looking at the
worldasitiswithaskepticalandunflinchingeye,withacharacteristicpas-
sionatedispassion,andwithanexpansivesocialimaginationthatdisregards
conventionaldisciplinaryboundaries.Withdeepaffectionandrespect,Iam
happy to dedicate this work to these fine scholars, fine teachers, and fine
men.