After getting myself into the corporate world, I realized that the place is not for me to stay.. Yet, I have to as I need to earn my bread.. We need to compromise on various things, including our principles and also follow the saying - "Ignorance is bliss".. Even though we see the management in the wrong side, we will have to nod our head just because the concerned is our boss.. If you point out the wrong doings, you end up being in the bad books of your boss and in turn it affects your growth in the company.. I have seen many compromising on their principles because they have no other options left and when it comes to the question of the Job, one cannot afford to loose it especially in this period of recession.. Well, does money play such an important part?? Well, its for one to answer this..

Just a day back I had a long chat with one of my student who wanted me to give advice regarding his career plans but ended up getting a good lecture from me He says, money can give one all the happiness even if you are not satisfied working with the management.. Well, that is a serious NO..

Now, you have other hindrances like those in the good books of the boss.. They are always there to complaint against those who are in the bad books in order to get some incentive.. Well, every person wants to come up in life but do we really have to compromise on our principles just for this growth and money?? I have heard that even a principled man breaks atleast one of his principles being in this corporate world as he thinks, there is nothing wrong in breaking a small principle for the job that you have in hand..

So, what are your views on this corporate culture??

But who said this is there only in corporate world. Its a common practice in every field. Even in Govt services, be it educational, social or even services, this is rampant. So to call it a Corporate Culture is very wrong. The points mentioned is followed these days everywhere.

As for working for money and if Money can give happiness, well this depends upon a person's thinking and upbringing. There is no hard and fast rule here. Happiness for one person can never be the same for other. For you reading books may give happiness, there could be another for whom sitting idle could give happiness, for some working like superman can do so. Similarly for many its money that gives happiness as they are basically materialistic to the extreme level.

In every field , there are compromises, but compromises should be up to extent... i hate to do compromises , but still , we can;t survive in society without that..

Hmm....I agree that compromises are high when one has to seriously pursue a career..It becomes more of who is gud at "yes boss".....Good and innovative suggestions/a difference in point of view is rarely acceptable.But having worked in the corporate world and in an educational Institute,I personally feel that such compromises are higher in a corporate world.I found the competition to be more cut throat there,if ur boss finds that u r more talented than her,she wld take a lot of pain to get u into trouble/see that u go unnoticed...The set up in most corporate offices is that a person's work is recognized only by his immediate boss(or maybe boss' boss).Due to the numerous hierarchial levels,a junior guy-say a Jack Doe , cannot get noticed by the MD/CEO/even the department Head .The max he can do is enter the MD's office and talk to him for a minute(in an extremely employee friendly environment)This was what i felt.This one minute is grossly insufficient for him to voice any grievances.Now his boss wld get to spend 5 mintes with the MD(bcoz his boss is at one hierarchial level above him).So whtever this junior Jack Doe told the MD about his boss/work (in that one minute)will be undone and re- presented by the boss to the MD(thereby putting our poor Jack Doe in worse light than he started out!!)The irony in corporate offices is that u shld be at the top to get noticed by the top management.To reach the top,u shld be very good,but one step lower than ur immediate boss....But wht if ur immediate boss is a dud?..then u wait till his IQ improves/he is replaced!!!

In the two companies that ii worked,i faced this problem in Company "C" which was big MNC....Lots of branches..numerous employees reporting to numerous bosses who hv bosses and bosses and bosses....the top guy is someone u read abt in papers!!!i hated that culture and moved out soon......

The next company i joined was an 8 yr old Indian company(now a big MNC).It was in a fledging state whn i joined.The work culture was excellent.As a new employee,i still had access to my boss' boss(who was also the head of the dept)...so u can see that he hierarchial levels were very little.Anyone cld walk into the dept head's room anytime to talk to her.....this was possible bcoz of relatively fewer employees(only 30) in that dept.Everyone knew wht evreyone else was doing..so no question of talent being snubbed out.....the head had a habit of coming to employees' workstations suddenly to see wht they were doing..so she got a very gud idea of who did wht.....
Next,i moved to education. In an educational Institute,even if ppl are jealous of u/whtever,they can do nothing to tamper with students' feedback.The students' feedback goes directly to the Dean/Director,and this feedback becomes a clear indicator of whether a person is gud or not..Rest of the politics be damned.....OC,in the unlikely event that the Dean/Director themselves have their favourites/are partial...then hard luck...but this is a rare case.These are ppl at top levels and it is in their interest that the Institute runs well....so they hv no reason to throw away a gud teacher.The politics level is pretty bad here too..Ppl go to any end to get a hike....but ppl who do not get into politics and do a good job do get noticed thru the feedback system.(this cld happen in corporates also where customers directly give feedback to the top management.This was the case in my second company)

Right now,i feel wht I am doing is bliss(touchwood).I am a visting faculty in a number of colleges....works gr8 for me,since i get to choose the courses i want to do and my work timings....i stay away from politics and am judged purely on student feedback....I do not hv to do wht i don't like....

Wow good post Anita...

Actually I had considered even these educational institutes into the corporate world as my institute is nothing less than a corporate world.. But yes, you have pointed out everything there.. Yet in institutes like where i work, the contribution of an employee towards the institute in managerial level gains more preference than the students feedback.. I am not denying that students feedback is not the must - it is actually the ultimate.. But to get hike in the institute one has to contribute in the management level of the institute.. But anyways, exceptions are always there.. That is where politics play an important role..



But if this is the case, then I would suggest you to try out a full time job in my institute.. We are given all vague subjects which we might not even have studied in our college..

Why only blame Cooperate sector. It happens everywhere. Even in Top government services like IAS/IRS top officers have to follow some instruction of illiterate politician . Condition in Government services r . But yeah in cooperate world it is more visible because people working in this field r both smart and shrewd ( especially some zone or global heads) they can perform well as well as they can do politics .This can make a genius more frustrated when he work under such people .Politics is minimum in educational field.

Its a very nice thought... Yes there are many things you have to do when you work for someone that you would not do if you were doing own business... Anitaji is one of the few lucky once, who can take her own decision but she had to come through everything to achieve this right now... But its not only in corporate culture...

Cricket used to give me greatest happiness and hence I joined cricket in thailand. I worked hard for three years in nets and now I can say that I am a good player. However our team owner brings specialists for one match or two rather than sticking with people who have been with club. He will do anything to win, even if his own club members are not happy... Last year even after winning, I could barely smile and had fake smile on my face... I wondered if I could lead my own team in my own way giving everyone opportunity to play and enjoy and play without thinking much about result... So the compromises are here in this field too... Compromises are in family too...

About money and happiness... Money cant buy happiness and I am the prime example of that... I try to spend time here and there just so that I dont want to think much about whether I am happy, which I am not lolz... Lot of money in bank does nt matter... However this year I am feeling much better because my job had taken away my self confidence, and I fought back and got it back this year... And hopefully... i will find happiness next year lolz...

@ Kabhi_21..true politics is everywhere
Its in the system