Machiavelli's "The Prince" Short Answer?

Question

Imagine that you work for a company that is managed entirely on the principles outlined in The Prince. What would this company be like? Describe it from the point of view of an entry-level employee. How would this person be treated, and what could they expect from the company? Then describe it from the point of view of an executive. How would this executive view the employees, and what would this executive’s relations with others be like? Consider the company’s competitors. If they were also Machiavellian companies, what would interactions between the companies be like? How would a non-Machiavellian company fare against a Machiavellian one?

Answer 1

The entry level employee had better align himself with the right executives or they will be canned (or worse) in fairly short order. They would ned to spend a lot of their energy proving themselves to the right people.

The executives would view the employees as pawns.

Competitors companies would need to contend with a lot of really dirty dealing.

Actually, The Prince applies in business today (any large organization really), but don't tell anyone, it appears that not a lot of people read it these days and I like it that way.

Answer 2

Some of his more general principles apply today, many do not. A modern corporation can be rather amoral at times, but Machiavelli wrote "The Prince" back in the days when monarchy was the only form of government around and he intended it as a guidebook for those specific kinds of political structures, which simply do not exist in the U.S. I suppose a machiavellian company is one where it's executives believe that the end justifies the means and that they should appear moral and honest to it's employees and the public, without necessarily having to be so. A machiavellian boss is one who feels that it's more important to be feared than to be liked by his subordinates. To that extent, I would say most big businesses in the U.S. are machiavellian and cannot think of any exceptions.

Answer 3

Doing weekend homework at the last minute eh? I'm not doing it. Stop procrastinating, and you won't have this problem.