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ing commitment to the product. Team-family members must compete with

each othe r for the attention and favor of the team s manage r-father. For
instance , Vinny reporte d (as I had obse rved) that he always arrive d early
at team meetings so that he could sit next to the vacant chair of the PDT
Chie f who typically arrived much late r into proceedings. Vinny reported
that he listened for whispe red comments, joke s, and gestures from the
Chie f that indicate d his approval or disapproval of various action plans,
proble m solutions, and employees. Vinny used such information to achie ve
strategic advantage ove r other team members in the conte st for recognition
and reward. The Chie f, likewise, used these familial group dynamics to pa-
 
tronize favore d sons, to disperse factional contestations, and to informally
regulate and control team members and actions. Team meetings reinforce
and reproduce the ambiguity of the cultural discourse s thereby forcing
members to adopt psychic strategie s to contain ambivale nce by discipline d
attention to the practical proble ms of production.
The self-initiate d confe ssion further illustrate s the manne r is which
team meetings function for the organization as regulatory and disciplinary
practice s. Confession commonly occurred at team meetings, particularly at
the disclosive , bonding sunrise meetings. During such an event employe es
Corporate Organizat ion al Culture 173
would report to their assembled colle agues, with expressions of culpability
and remorse, failure s, delays, mistake s, and doubts in their work perform-
ance . On one occasion, Andrew, a senior marketing manage r with 25 years
in the company, solemnly delive red a careful speech to a team meeting (of

about 30 people). Asking for quiet, he declared: I want to talk about last

week s deal with Centacorp . . . . I got pretty beaten up at this meeting
last week . . . and I went away feeling kinda beat . . . . But I want to say
that I realize d I was wrong . . . and because of what was said here, I took
  
action . . . . So I want to say, thanks, Team.
These public admissions of fault, displays of remorse, and promises to
do better next time ostensibly serve to alle viate guilt and failing, and to
build group harmony and solidarity. Reconciliation strengthens team bonds

and identification. The individual s confession of failure to the team pro-
vide s some immediate anxie ty relie f and psychic comfort, circumvents
scapegoating against oneself, and gains the approval of peers and seniors.
But the burden of guilt is not displace d. Rather, it is returned by the col-

lective recognition of the offender s fault and confe ssion reflected back to

the offender and the offender s anxie ty relief is thus only temporary. Re-
cycle d guilt in turn encourage s further reparative efforts toward the or-
ganization as ego-ide al. I obse rved, for instance , that, away from team
meetings and the dire ct gaze of manage r-fathe r, employe es voluntarily
 
worked late r, on weekends, or on extra proje cts to make up for their
perceive d organizational failure s. Confe ssion, although visibly voluntary,
manifests an effective , internalize d disciplinary apparatus of the familial
culture and encourage s further narcissistic ide ntification with the organi-
zation-ide al.
The discursive disciplinary practice s that accompany the formal struc-
ture of disciplinary proce dure s ope rate on an everyday, ever-present level,
and the rule s and expe ctations appe ar to be more commonly understood
than those of the formal structures. Employe es reporte d that they fear hav-
ing their failings displaye d in front of their peers and team leade rs during
meetings, and the repercussions of criticism or attack, more than they fear
punishme nt for breaching some formal company regulations, which they
can defy to some extent. Again, this is an effect of normative , familial,
control in which members are monitore d and regulate d by inte rnalize d
rules of authority and group behavior rules originally laid down in child-
hood socialization, and to which family-style cultures encourage regression.
The decentralization of discipline enables deeper levels of identification
with the company as employees assume, and honor, the authority and identity
of the disciplining executive-fathe r as representative of the organization-ideal.
The repeated admonishme nt to be a good, familial, team-playe r, the immedi- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]