Anonymous Agencies, Backstreet Businesses, and Covert Collectives: Rethinking Organizations in the 21st Century PDF
Preview Anonymous Agencies, Backstreet Businesses, and Covert Collectives: Rethinking Organizations in the 21st Century
ANONYMOUS AGENCIES, BACKS TREE T BUSINESSES, AND COVERT COLLEC TIVES A N O N Y M O U S A G E N C I E S , B A C K S T R E E T B U S I N E S S E S , A N D CO V E R T CO L L E C T I V E S Rethinking Organizations in the 21st Century Craig R. Scott Stanford Business Books An Imprint of Stanford University Press Stanford, California Stanford University Press Stanford, California © 2013 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any informa- tion storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press. Special discounts for bulk quantities of Stanford Business Books are available to cor- porations, professional associations, and other organizations. For details and discount information, contact the special sales department of Stanford University Press. Tel: (650) 736–1782, Fax: (650) 736–1784. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Scott, Craig R. (Craig Richard), author. Anonymous agencies, backstreet businesses, and covert collectives : rethinking organizations in the 21st century / Craig R. Scott. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8047-8138-1 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Communication in organizations. 2. Comparative organization. 3. Secrecy— Social aspects. I. Title. HD30.3.S377 2013 306.3'4—dc23 2012033111 ISBN 978-0-8047-8563-1 (electronic) Contents Acknowledgments vii Preface: Necessary Disclosures ix 1 To Name or Not to Name, That Is the Question 1 2 Unmasking What We Know about Hidden Organizations 25 3 Revealing Research on Organizational Identity and Related Issues 53 4 Unveiling a New Framework of Organizations and Organizational Regions 81 5 Taking It to the Extremes: Transparent and Dark Organizations 106 6 Hiding Only a Little: Shaded Organizations 130 7 Under the Radar and Out of the Spotlight: Shadowed Organizations 160 8 Classified Conclusions, Implications of Invisibility, and a Faceless Future 197 References 219 Index 245 Acknowledgments Ih ave benefited from many sources of inspiration and support through- out this project. Much of this has come from my academic colleagues. I wish to thank my mentor, Steve Corman, who encouraged me to explore ano- nymity and identification issues in organizations and whose work with extrem- ist groups has inspired me to think more broadly about organizations. I thank Cynthia Stohl, whose comments about clandestine organizations at a confer- ence we both attended several years ago—and in other helpful conversations since then—have helped to focus some of my own interests in issues of organi- zational anonymity and member identification. Several other colleagues have provided valuable reviews of the book that have helped to keep me on track (George Cheney, Hans Hansen, Vernon Miller, and Tracy Russo) or joined me on conference panels specifically examining hidden organizations (Jack Brat- ich, Kevin Corley, Paul Godfrey, Bryant Hudson, Dennis Schoeneborn, Michael Stohl, and Angela Trethewey)—all of which helped to clarify my thinking and motivated me to continue with work in this area. In a broader sense, I am grate- ful to several former colleagues at the University of Texas at Austin who encour- aged me to write a book related to anonymity and also to my current colleagues at Rutgers University who have been equally supportive of my efforts (listening to me ramble on about my ideas and picking up the slack when I took a long- awaited sabbatical to write this book). I wish to specifically thank my colleague Brent Ruben for his unwavering support and for pointing out connections in this work that even I did not see initially. vii viii Acknowledgments I am grateful to all the good people at Stanford University Press who have guided me through this project—most notably Margo Beth Fleming, who not only recognized the importance of this topic but also provided the perfect mix of praise and feedback in helping me craft this work. Closer to home, I’d still be writing were it not for the tremendous logistical support of my research assistant and doctoral student Muge Haseki. Later on, Ph.D. students Chris Goldthwaite, Katie Kang, and Surabhi Sahay provided valuable help with final revisions and figures. Closer still, I want to acknowledge my fam- ily. My incredible kids Parker and Mikyla were patient (even when I was not) and regularly asked how my book was coming. My wife and colleague Laurie provided me with not only useful advice for writing a book but also good ideas for this project. More than that, her undying faith in me and my work provided inspiration even when I doubted myself. Preface: Necessary Disclosures On certain days, I take a back route to the Rutgers University cam- pus where I work. Part of that journey takes me past a business park that I never used to notice, but which one day began to strike me as a bit odd. The lot houses two somewhat similar multistory office buildings with dark windows but no identifying information on the structures at all. In fact, the only real signage to be found is along the road where two address mark- ers read 45 Knightsbridge Road and 53 Knightsbridge Road. The occasional appearance of a delivery truck and the rare sighting of people entering/leaving suggest to me that the complex is not abandoned. The presence of a few dozen cars in the back of the buildings, several with state government tags, seems to confirm the existence of one or more organizations. An online search of the addresses reveals at least a management company and a law office in one building; moreover, the other seems to include a state youth and family ser- vices office, a church, a children’s learning and skills development center, a business intelligence software company, an IT company, a religious foun- dation, and the office of a registered nurse—though few of these have their own websites (and most of those that do seem to downplay the location). As a result, this place and the organizations inside are essentially invisible. Most people would never drive by these addresses, and even if you did there are few clues as to what organizations may reside there. For me, this obscure office park began to symbolize an entire range of organizations that are hidden by their own design and circumstances—tucked ix
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