Base and Superstructure

Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology

Category: Corporate World (Page 4 of 13)

These are posts on the corporate world from the blog Base and Superstructure. The corporate world is complex. It’s confusing to anyone not involved. Corporate life has its own characteristic forms, language, jargon, and mannerisms. Neoliberalism structures our politics and thought, and so this is also a major focus of these posts. The non-profit corporate sector is its own distinct mini-world. And, in particular, spending significant time involved in corporate life engenders a special form of ennui. All of these subtopics feed off of one another. Each is critical to thinking about corporate life and its role in the United States.

Universal Design and IT Security

September 22, 2022 /

Last month, I wrote a post on the limits of universal design. Among other things, I pointed out that people often use the ‘universal design’ label for things a few people need, but most people find inconvenient. I used the examples of the adjustable standing desk and activist Zoom meetings to illustrate the people. Both increase accessibility, but they do so in a way that most people don’t really like.

In the area of IT security, I can add one more example of this usage: multi-factor authentication (MFA). In a paradigm case of MFA, a person tries to log in to their work account or email account, puts in their user name and password, and then isn’t able to immediately log in using those credentials. Instead, the system sends them a text message and they have to enter a code to complete the login*.

Why do we need MFA? It provides some protection from scammers and other ne’er-do-wells. But often it’s a safety measure for people who fail to take very basic, 101-level IT security steps. Like not handing out their password and not clicking links from strangers.

In short, it’s designed for a small number of people who need extra services. But businesses push it on everyone, even those who don’t need it. For those who don’t need it, which is most people, it’s yet another inconvenience and hassle.

*Note: I realize there are less intrusive and annoying forms of MFA. In some cases, those are good, non-invasive designs.

best practices

Corporate Politics 101: ‘Best Practices’ Are Anything But

September 1, 2022 /

If you’ve spent more than 5 minutes working for a large company, you’ll hear talk of something called ‘best practices.’ Companies love doing things according to best practices. In theory, this means they look at what other companies do, figure out which practices work the most effectively, and then they do those things.

Is this how it actually happens? Well, no. In the actual world of work, when companies perform ‘best practices’ they just do what everyone else does. They look at what most other companies do, and then they do it, too. They do it when it works effectively, and they do it when it doesn’t work effectively.

But why does it go like this? Lots of companies don’t want to take risks. Plus, they put many of these decisions into the hands of HR, which is traditionally a bastion of unoriginal thinking within large companies.

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quiet quitting

Is ‘Quiet Quitting’ a Thing?

August 25, 2022 /

Every now and then, the business press lifts up a new term. Sometimes with insight, but often without it. The new term usually falls under the broad heading ‘workers who won’t work as hard as bosses want them to work.’ If nothing else, ‘quiet quitting’ slots comfortably within this framework.

And why shouldn’t the business press play it this way? Who reads the business press? Not just the bourgeoisie (though, of course, the bourgeoisie). Middle managers, project managers, and various elements aspiring to that status also read it. Collectively, they fear and loathe nothing more than the worker who won’t work as hard as bosses want them to work.

The business press plays to this fear and loathing. When workers are quiet quitting, then by gum, they’d better write an article about it! Even if they aren’t quiet quitting, maybe they’d better write an article about it anyway. After all, they could do so in the future.

And the aforementioned eyeballs will turn to the page.

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universal design limits

The Limits of Universal Design

August 15, 2022 /

Suppose you’re in charge of designing the environment in the workplace or the classroom. What if you could design it so that everyone can access it. What if by designing features so that disabled or marginalized people can use it in the best ways for them, everyone can use it in the best ways? That’s the basic premise behind universal design. When you design something for those with the least access, you thereby design it for everyone.

It sounds great. But does universal design work? Does it run into limits? Let’s think about these questions.

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bullshit committees

Corporate Politics 101: No Bullshit Committees

March 24, 2022 /

So, lots of workplaces create committees. They create them for all sorts of things. Anyone who works as university faculty knows this all too well. But lots of other companies do it, too. Especially large ones.

On the face of it, there’s nothing wrong with committee work. Let’s say you’re in a workplace that’s relatively democratic. And one that lacks a suffocating corporate structure. In those cases, it even has its uses. You can work with colleagues fairly and equally to get things done.

But that’s not how it works most of the time. Committees are a great way for a company to save face on some issue. Especially if and when the public perceives the company badly on the issue (e.g., racial justice, and so on). At other times, a middle manager really wants to feel important. So, he (it’s not always ‘he,’ but it usually is) organizes a committee.

When you find those latter forces at work, avoid it. No bullshit committee work, folks. It’s a waste of your time. It won’t do anything useful for the world, and it won’t get you anywhere.

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