80% of Managers in Survey ‘Committed’ to Employers

The “Organization Man,” considered a vanishing breed in a cynical age and amid perceived U.S. economic decline, remains as viable a part of corporate America as when he was first defined 32 years ago, except that he now has a female counterpart, a new poll suggests.

A poll of mid-level executives at 20 major American firms by the Roper Organization for U.S. News & World Report magazine concluded that 80% are committed to their employers, 72% enjoy their work and 65% said they would do it all over again if they could.

The poll, released Saturday, said 90% of the managers felt that they were financially better off and 76% enjoyed a higher quality of life than their parents did at the same age; 90% of those over age 45 planned to work for their employer until retirement, but only 57% under age 45 and 50% of women felt that way.

The feminist revolution has had an impact on corporate America, not all of it harmonious. Forty-two percent of male executives said they knew women who were promoted to more visible middle- and upper-level jobs because the corporation wanted them there, not because they were qualified.

Forty-six percent of women felt that there was a dual standard at their company based on sex, but 84% said they had not been discriminated against for that reason.

On the negative side, 67% felt executives were too often rewarded for short-term successes and 56% said too many managers “try to be stars” when competence and hard work would suffice.

“The Organization Man” was the title of William H. Whyte Jr.’s 1957 classic book describing the struggle of post World War II Americans to retain their individuality within the bureaucratic ethic of the institutions that employed them.

Whyte portrayed the Organization Man--and he was invariably male--as a member of the middle class “who (has) left home, spiritually as well as physically, to take the vows of organization life.” Whyte’s executives strove to “beat the boss to work,” considered social invitations from superiors command performances and subordinated personal and family matters to the demands of the corporation.

Not so today’s managers, said the Roper Poll. Eighty-four percent said they felt “no pressure” to socialize within the company, and 72% would not hesitate to reject social invitations from superiors.

The magazine said Roper telephoned 647 mid-level executives at 20 well-known firms from Oct. 25 and Nov. 14, 1988, and asked them seven pages of questions. Some of the other responses, with all figures rounded off:

* Forty-nine percent of the women said they would take a pay cut for a job that provided more opportunity for advancement, but only 44% of men felt that way; 59% of the women said they would take less pay for a job that was more creative, and 56% of them were more likely to change employers to move up the ladder.

* Ninety-one percent felt that their companies appreciated their ideas; 78% said taking risks was necessary to advancement; 86% said “working well” with others was important, and only 27% said their employers appreciated “more driven, or even ruthless,” people.