Careerism
The term careerism describes behavior in which a responsible person ( civil servant , functionary , manager , officer , scientist ) places the interests of their own career at the center of their decisions.
In practice, this means that a decision is not based on the criterion of which path is most beneficial to the overall order (e.g. the long-term well-being of the company or the military order), but rather which path has the highest prestige at higher management levels and thus ensures personal advancement.
Examples are:
- in politics and public administration: When decisions are made on the basis of lobbyism and populism .
- in the economy: When investments in the future are neglected in favor of short-term balance sheet improvements (e.g. cutting development budgets).
- military: When important training is neglected in favor of externals such as bare boots.
- At universities and colleges: When lecturers concentrate mostly on their research instead of teaching and helping students.
- In the social: When conversations are intentionally directed indirectly to oneself (similar to opportunism).
Two circumstances that allow a discrepancy between career goals and the assignment are characteristic of situations that promote careerism:
- The person responsible does not have to expect that the wrong decision induced by careerism will later fall back on him as a problem (e.g. due to short-term retention in the position).
- The consequences of the decisions are usually not fully apparent to higher management levels.
In socialist countries many attempts have been made to establish the concept of careerism as a criminal offense . Although this was intended to prevent career-induced wrong decisions, the facts degenerated into a rubber paragraph under Stalin at the latest : Regardless of externally comprehensible reasons, every decision - which could not be completely traced back to regulations - could be interpreted as careerism and, in the worst case, lead to the gulag ; free decisions thus meant a considerable personal risk. A film document in this context is the DEFA film Trail of the Stones .
Careerism is often associated with elbow mentality or opportunism , but should not be confused with these.
Individual evidence
- ^ Definition in Duden. Retrieved November 22, 2014 .
- ↑ Spiegel interview. Retrieved November 22, 2014 .
- ↑ Definition of operational issues. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on November 29, 2014 ; Retrieved November 22, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ rubber paragraphs. Retrieved November 22, 2014 .
- ^ Description of the film. Retrieved November 22, 2014 .
