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Moral Mazes: The World of Corporate Managers
01 Jan 1988-
TL;DR: Moral Mazes as mentioned in this paper is an eye-opening account of how corporate managers think the world works, and how big organizations shape moral consciousness, based on extensive interviews with managers at every level of two industrial firms and of a large public relations agency.
Abstract: Robert Jackall's Moral Mazes offers an eye-opening account of how corporate managers think the world works, and how big organizations shape moral consciousness. Based on extensive interviews with managers at every level of two industrial firms and of a large public relations agency, Moral Mazes takes the reader inside the intricate world of the corporation. Jackall reveals a world where hard work does not necessarily lead to success, but where sharp talk, self-promotion, powerful patrons, and sheer luck might. Cheerfully-bland public faces mask intense competition in this world where people hide their intentions, and accountability often depends on the ability to outrun mistakes. In this topsy-turvy world, managers must bring often unforgiving technology and always difficult people together to make money, an uncompromising task demanding continual compromises with conventional truths. Moral questions become merely practical concerns and issues of public relations. Sooner or later, managers find themselves wondering how to act in such a world and still maintain a sense of personal integrity. This brilliant, sometimes disturbing, often wildly funny study of corporate thinking, decision-making, and morality presents compelling real life stories of the men and women charged with running the businesses of America. It will interest anyone concerned with how big organizations actually function, or with the current moral malaise in our public life.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that to be truly transformational, leadership must be grounded in moral foundations, and the moral character of the leaders and their concerns for self and others.
Abstract: The morality of transformational leadership has been sharply questioned, particularly by libertarians, “grass roots” theorists, and organizational development consultants. This paper argues that to be truly transformational, leadership must be grounded in moral foundations. The four components of authentic transformational leadership (idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration) are contrasted with their counterfeits in dissembling pseudo -transformational leadership on the basis of (1) the moral character of the leaders and their concerns for self and others; (2) the ethical values embedded in the leaders' vision, articulation, and program, which followers can embrace or reject; and (3) the morality of the processes of social ethical choices and action in which the leaders and followers engage and collectively pursue. The literature on transformational leadership is linked to the long-standing literature on virtue and moral character, as exemplified by Socratic and Confucian typologies. It is related as well to the major themes of the modern Western ethical agenda: liberty, utility, and distributive justice Deception, sophistry, and pretense are examined alongside issues of transcendence, agency, trust, striving for congruence in values, cooperative action, power, persuasion, and corporate governance to establish the strategic and moral foundations of authentic transformational leadership.
2,243 citations
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2,207 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors draw on a variety of cognate literatures to discuss the field-level structural characteristics and organizational attributes that shape institutional complexity and explore the repertoire of strategies and structures that organizations deploy to cope with multiple, competing demands.
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2,129 citations
Cites background from "Moral Mazes: The World of Corporate..."
...Fligstein (1985), for example, referred to “a totalizing world view of managers or entrepreneurs that causes them to filter the problems of the world in a certain way” (see also Jackall, 1988)....
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...Fligstein (1985) , for example, referred to “a totalizing world view of managers or entrepreneurs that causes them to filter the problems of the world in a certain way” (see also Jackall, 1988 )....
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TL;DR: The authors examined the historical contingency of executive power and succession in the higher education publishing industry and found that a shift in logics led to different determinants of executive succession, such as author-editor relationships and internal growth.
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