Business > The Mafia & Corporate America
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Article rating : 0.00, 0 votes. Author : Manik Thapar
The Hollywood Mafia Industry and Corporate America share operational similarities. Take the scenario: Al Capone running General Motors or Jack Welch running the Bonnono crime family (One of the most powerful families out of the five original New York Mafia families). Larger than life, film replicates reality, inspires it and role models it. I am one who likes to learn from everything I do, whether that be watching television, or reading a book. The following letter brings to light how corporate America and organized crime are in the same operational mode.
At the core of any relationship, there are certain rules and values. Going to work for the Mafia as many of us have come to know it, is similar to putting your suit on and going to work for GM. The only underlining difference is that of the rules from which each entity operates. The Mafia is in business for one and only one reason, and that is profitability. The corporation is in business for one and only one reason, which is profitability. Cut all the feel good - touchy feely stuff out. In reality, this feel good - touchy feely stuff is only a tool to attain the final purpose of existence. The core purpose as we have learned is your company’s reason for being! Well I beg to differ; the core purpose of any entity’s existence is to fulfill its personal agenda. What is different is the means used to attain these needs. The corporation exists for a purpose and so does the Mafia. They are both a set of organized entities that are governed by a set of rules driven by the founding member’s values.
There are more ways than one that the Mafia is similar to corporate America, but I will not indulge you the reader in all these similarities and analysis. What I want you to take away from this letter is that you can learn from every little thing that you do, and that others do. You can learn from what you watch on television, and you can learn from what you listen on radio. But you must learn the right kind of things. Learning right from wrong is important, but more important is answering the question why? Why do I disagree with what I just watched and why do I agree with what I just watched? Similarly the activities of the Mafia might be something that you disagree with, but have you considered the question why you disagree with theses activities. In most cases, you will disagree with these activities because you are scared, or because your moral value system does not allow you to partake in such activities. But we must learn to differentiate the activities from their desired objectives.
As mentioned earlier there are many ways of getting to the same objective. You can either run to the finish line or walk, you can even run and walk. In fact there are numerous combinations that you can put together to achieve your objective of reaching the finish line. Similarly the Mafia or organized crime and Corporate America have similar objectives but different means to get to it. They both have a product or service, both have customers, both have leaders, both have a board of directors, both have a distribution system, both have a collection process and both have shareholders and stakeholders.
By now you must be curious to know what the similarities are between the Mafia and Corporate America. Below I have listed and explained briefly how the Mafia is similar to some of the biggest corporations in the world.
Loyalty and Honest:
These are characteristics that are part of both entities. Whether they are upheld is another issue, but the fact that both corporate America and the Mafia look for employees who will be loyal and honest provides a basis to consider this similarity.
Rules vs. Policy and Procedures:
The Mafia has rules according to which it operates
and to which its members must adhere. The corporation has policy and procedures which it must follow and to which the company employees must adhere.
Strategy derived from the top:
In both a corporation and in the Mafia the strategy is derived from the top. The CEO and his executives decided where the corporation must head towards. In a Mafia family, the decision comes from the Godfather and his board of directors. In the Mafia the key decision makers are the Don, the under don and the councilory.
Power politics and association:
Individuals in a Mafia or Corporation both work to attain power through politics and association. In a Corporate setting, if you are liked and well connected you are sure to move up the ladder quick. In the Mafia if you are liked and well associated you are made man, a Goodfella.
Ranks vs. titles:
In the Mafia, Ranks are important; they determine who you are and the scope of your authority. The same goes for a corporation, where titles determine the importance of an individual along with the scope of his or her authority.
Mentioned above are just a few major similarities between a major crime family and a large corporation. What is different about the Mafia is what fascinates me.
The heads of these Mafia families are mostly individuals who are uneducated, if we look at their educational background from the eyes of the general public. Majority of them have little schooling, yet they are able to run a large organization profitably in an environment where its existence is considered against the law. Members of the Mafia operate openly in the free market system and in places where communism is still practiced. What is more is that they flourish in both environments. The Mafia and its leaders are focused on results and objectives. They use what ever mean that they have available to their disposal to achieve these objectives. This to many of us may sound “BAD” or “WRONG” but consider what we know and have learned so far. All the Mafia is doing is operating in a different environment governed by a different set of rules. It is still a business just like a corporation.
Of course some individuals might be thinking that the values systems are different and that is what causes the Mafia to operate the way it does. In-fact the values that the Mafia and most corporations share are the same, the rule of the game are different. The Mafia values fair treatment of its employees, the Mafia values giving back to its community, the Mafia creates jobs for the unemployed, it benefits society by keeping the law enforcement, on its feet. In-fact I would argue that the mafia supports the huge budgets and workforce of many law enforcement agencies. The Mafia which is considered evil also invests in Corporate America. But in my opinion, the most important job that the Mafia does is to bring organization in an environment where everything goes. What I have learned from how the Mafia operates might be different than what you might learn. I have summarized my learning below:
1. Trust is earned not given
2. Forgive but don’t forget
3. Without power, you will swim with the sharks
4. Learn the game of deception, and learn when to use it
5. Focus not on the results, but on achieving the objective
6. Do what you do best, hire for the rest
7. Always give more than you take
8. Remember the people who favored you
9. Forgive those, who tried to bring harm to you. (You never know when you might need some one. Once in power, the people who hated you the most suddenly become your best friends, and in most cases these people are the ones who are the most loyal to you, as they have more to prove)
10. Pick and choose you fights ( You always live to fight another day)
11. Only say what is needed to be said and be blunt
Manik Thapar (MBA)
http://www.careerpath.cc
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