Manufacturing Managerial Compliance: How Firms Align Managers with Corporate Interest

Abstract

Although the domain of labour process research is vast, few studies analyse compliance among managers. This article advances a neglected strand of analysis, focusing on how firms shape managerial actions. Organizational goals, such as downsizing, intensification, and reskilling, demand that professional managers cooperate and act in accordance with firm objectives, at times even at personal cost to themselves. To theorize this, I use the case of information technology (IT) firms in India that recently shed a large number of managerial jobs, fostering an environment of insecurity. Those who lost their jobs were positioned between lower-level employees and top management. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork, I contribute a two-part framing that theorizes the dualities of the managerial subject position and how it is instrumentalized. The article foregrounds the intersection of managerial insecurity and managerial hierarchy, emphasizing how firms utilize these to meet organizational goals.