Corporate Nietzsche: assessing prospects of success for managers with master and slave moralities

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru/

Institute of Business Management

Corporate Nietzsche: assessing prospects of success for managers with master and slave moralities

A. FAISAL, A.R. ALEEMI

Karachi, Pakistan

Annotation

job experience morality work

Purpose. Nietzschean proponents classify people into seemingly two distinct groups: those possessing 'Master' moralities and those with 'Slave' moralities. Each type of person is characterized to have certain qualities, traits, ideologies, and methods of dealing with everyday situations. This paper attributes these moralities to the personnel working in the corporate sector of Pakistan to observe their prospects of success. Originality. A specialized survey instrument was designed to gauge different Morality Types of the study subjects by calculating a Morality Quotient. The respondents were then categorized into three categories possessing, Slave, Master and Neutral or Mixed traits. These traits are then contrasted to the position(s) held by the subjects to see which morality type was more prevalent in higher management levels and whether the association was significant. Conclusions. Our results prove to be contradictory to common wisdom and shows that despite the leadership-like qualities of those with Master moralities, the proportion of those with Slave moralities was significantly higher at senior management levels of the corporate sector in Pakistan. Moreover, a trend of declining Master morality traits is observed with the rise in managerial level. In addition, an association between work experience and Morality type was also observed indicating adaptability of cross morality traits with increasing job experience. These findings are in line with the increasing focus on democratic and adaptable leadership instead of autocratic leadership styles in contemporary organizations.

Keywords: leadership; master morality; Pakistan; prospects; slave morality

Анотація

А. ФЕЙСАЛ, А. Р. АЛІМІ Інститут управління бізнесом (Карачі, Пакистан)

Корпоративний Ніцше: оцінка перспектив успіху менеджерів управлінською та рабською мораллю

Мета. Прихильники Ніцше поділяють людей на дві групи: тих, хто має мораль "господаря", та тих, хто має мораль "раба". Кожному типу притаманні характерні риси, якості, ідеології та набір засобів для вирішення повсякденних проблем. Презентована авторами стаття ставить собі за мету осмислити зазначені моральні якості персоналу сучасного корпоративного сектора Пакистану, щоб спостерігати за перспективами їх росту. Наукова новизна. Були підготовлені спеціальні методики опитування відповідно до розроблених етичних тестів для респондентів із метою виявлення їх моральних якостей. Респонденти були поділені на три категорії: підлеглі, керівники та змішані групи. Порівняння трьох категорій протестованих дало можливість виявити певні типи моральної свідомості респондентів. Висновки. Наші результати суперечать загальноприйнятій думці й демонструють, що лідерські якості керівника не завжди вищі моральних якостей підлеглих. Значна частина людей з типології "рабів", як підлеглих, була в моральному плані значно вищою типології "господарів", тобто керівників корпоративного сектора. Спостерігається певна тенденція до зниження моральних якостей керівників при підвищенні їх статусу та посад в управлінській ієрархії. Такі результати свідчать про посилену увагу до демократичного лідерства, яке приходить на зміну автократичному стилю управління в сучасних організаціях.

Ключові слова: лідерство; мораль господарів; Пакистан; перспективи; мораль рабів

Introduction

The objective of any organization is not just to stay alive, but also to maintain its existence by raising its performance. Organizations such as fast-moving consumer group (FMCG) organizations, pharmaceutical companies, educational institutes and banks have leading positions in the corporate sector due to astute leadership vision and teams that have vital roles in the productivity of the organization and its subsequent revenue. Although it is commonly believed that leadership generates the fundamental link between organizational success and the employees' output (Bass & Avolio, 1994; B. Bass & R. Bass, 2008; Judge & Ilies, 2002; Judge & Piccolo, 2004; Keller, 2006; McGrath & MacMillan, 2000; Purcell, Kinnie, Hutchinson, Rayton, & Swart, 2003; Teece, Pisano, & Shuen, 1997; Yukl, 2010), it does not matter that only those who have strong positions at higher levels have positive and accepting mentalities. The first-line managers and middle managers may also display good leadership and possess leadership traits.

It is the traits of leaders with which this research paper links the concepts visualised by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). Nietzsche's concept of Master- and Slave- morality has been the subject of a great deal of research - and debate. He provided a view about society by demarcating it into two classes: a militarily and politically powerful, dominant group of "masters" who have control over the other, subordinate groups of "slaves" (Nietzsche & Kaufmann, 1989; Nietzsche & Smith, 1998). Master morality is the feature of strong-minded or -willed people who lead and accomplish great achievements. This is stated in the supremacy of qualities such as bravery, broad-mindedness, realism, and trust. Nietzsche shared his view that slave mortality resulted from a counterpoint to the morality of the strong-minded and success-oriented master, and that the slave morality is doubtful and conservative: it commends usefulness, social equality, political correctness, fairness, and consensus.

Degrees of this master and slave relationship can be seen in some leadership styles when the moral dimensions of charismatic leadership are observed. It is not necessary that the master-and- slaves-morality relationship is always paralleled in the current state, nor that it is seen in every leadership action. Charismatic leadership assumes a robust leader who directs visions, mission, goals, and objectives for the organization or group of people, who will be entirely devoted to the achievement of the leader's goals (Bass & Avolio, 1994; B. Bass & R. Bass, 2008). Where an organization runs along with traditional hierarchical management, there are observable parallels with the master-slave relationship. The management of the organization may not have complete ownership of their employee force, but they believe an absolute right to form a strategy, and they presume a strict devotion to the organization strategy and its execution. Furthermore, they assume an absolute right to cope the time and action of the workers, as a minimum while they are at work (e.g., firm control of labouring hours and monitoring of the electronic activity of labours). In effect, modern management theory and practice has accepted - however accidentally - the viewpoint that at work, the employer owns the employee's time and so, in effect, owns the employee for that time.

Purpose

Nietzsche's concept of master and slave moralities has allocated certain qualities and characteristics to each morality group. The problem is that it is unknown if these allocated qualities and characteristics determine which level an employee occupies in a corporate organization in Pakistani society? To the best of our knowledge, we could not find any established evidence on whether these morality-wise qualities are sought after for certain positions and shunned for others. Thus, we endeavour to fill this gap and investigate the distribution of these qualities, to understand the type of moralities that people at senior management level may possess.

In addition, we aim to determine if the people at senior management positions in organizations are more likely to have Master morality or Slave morality traits; as compared to junior- level managers. Furthermore, the study aims to assess whether morality type has any association with the work experience of personnel in the corporate sector. The following hypotheses in particular were tested for the latter case:

Hypothesis 1

Null: Type of Morality is associated with years of experience Alternate: Type of Morality is not associated with years of experience Hypothesis 2

Null: There is no association between type of Morality and level of management Alternate: There is an association between type of Morality and level of management

Statement of basic materials

Friedrich Nietzsche proposed that Master and Slave moralities have different principles; kind-heartedness, humbleness, and consideration are related to Slave morality however master morality principles are arrogance, power, and nobleness. However, this morality system does not take human emotion into account. The soul of master morality is superiority; other frequently represented traits include progressiveness, bravery, straightforwardness, and a perfect

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International logic of one's self-confidence (Nietzsche, 1885; Nietzsche & Smith, 1998). Slave morality does not object at employing one's own will but it is usually a response to stimuli from someone with a Master morality; slaves have a cautious, reactionary outlook. Slaves are not interested in pursuing those with Master moralities in an effort to overtake them; they are generally concerned with doing what is best for the collective whole (Nietzsche, 1885; Nietzsche & Smith, 1998).

However, studies that tested the distribution of moralities in modern-day workspace could not be found; assumptions had to be made from existing literature on the effect of different managerial traits on the outcomes of the organization. For the purposes of this study, the qualities of persons with Master and Slaves moralities were gleaned from the relevant works of Nietzsche, namely, Beyond Good & Evil (first published in 1886) and On the Genealogy of Morality (first published in 1887). The extracted traits and characteristics of both moralities are presented in Table 1 below.

Table 1

Traits of Master & Slave Moralities