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REPORT ON THE ARTICLE

HOW FREE ARE FREE AGENTS?

-By Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.

Submitted to

Prof. B.P.Patra

-Group 4UM14006 Aditi SahuUM14021 Prajakta ChavanUM14027 Akansha JainUM1404

INTRODUCTION:

This article is based on the book “Black and White on Wall Street: The Untold Story of the Man Wrongly Accused of Bringing down Kidder Peabody”. It is Joseph Jett’s account of his tumultuous career on Wall Street. He had two degrees from MIT, MBA from Harvard Business School. He was a maths Genius and was famous for trading strategy. The Investment Bank Kidder Peabody, named him as Man of the Year in 1991. Three months later he was accused of single handedly faking $350 Million.

Jett narrates his side of the story where he claims that the deals were sound and were carried out under his boss’s directions. The first story tells about the dark side of the Wall Street where vulgarity in communication was always soaring high, along with billions of dollars, millions of dirty jokes were exchanged every day.

The second story talks about the dark color of the Wall Street where there were endless obstacles faced by the members of the minority groups like Black Men. His boss even tried to monitor his personal life in hopes of finding grounds for dismissal.

The third story is about the dark scandal of the Wall Street which became the reason for Jett to write the book. It covered the descriptions of all the investigations he faced. It was clear that Jett and his superiors concealed $30 Billion in assets and some of these funds financed Jett’s transactions but, he argued that he was transparent on his part. And he got convicted only for suspicious record keeping which might lead to fraud.

OLD QUESTIONS IN NEW ERA:

The three stories described very well throws a lot of light on the old or bygone era of the Wall Street. Wall Street has always been condemned as a shrine of greed and recklessness. There have been numerous instances which have given testimony to this fact. However, the fourth story describes these in the context of the new era and the serious challenges to personal integrity faced by knowledge workers.

In the new era of Wall Street, rewards go increasingly to those who creatively add value to portfolios, not to those who have privileged institutional positions. According to Jett, this Wall Street version of the new economy offered valuable solutions to the age old problems of ethics and business. A person would be his own man. But still, maintaining personal integrity would be a lot of struggle. Amidst pressures and expectations and compromises and sell-outs, living a good life is a big challenge. To understand the implications of all these, it is imperative to compare Jett’s expectations of the Wall Street with what he found.

THE PROMISE OF THE NEW WORKPLACE:

Free agents are usually loyal to themselves and their talents but not to the companies that pay them especially in this new free-agent economy. In the article this phenomenon is compared to that which is seen in the film and theatre industry. There is a constant change to find new opportunities. This behaviour is now accepted by both Wall Street and Silicon Valley.

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Traditionally people stuck to one company and their growth mostly depended on their bosses, for which they could bend rules and sacrifice their principles. Unlike this, free agents work for mentors and coaches and have the liberty to leave according to their wish.

Further the work of such an agent involves excitement, self expression and social contribution. They make their work interesting by playing computer games for example. This results in allocating the world’s capital to an efficient usage.

A new concept that lays emphasis on compensation started in this field and salaries have become old fashioned. Young folks earn more than their parents in just compensation which requires them to work more efficiently.

All that they earn is rightfully theirs because they earned it on merit. It is a result of risks, hard work and a strong customer support to them. The article also adds that the race of an individual will not have an impact on such a free market economy where talent is given utmost priority.

OLD REALITIES IN THE NEW ECONOMY:

Jett talks about how he has had to encounter different types of bosses ranging from the more encouraging mentor type friendly boss to the cynical rival. He also said bosses greatly decided a free agent’s reputation, as their references played a part in future jobs. He mentions that power struggles do not change in the new economy, not everyone in the team has authority to take decisions and some people wield much more power than others. This is truer in the pay-for-performance ethic where bosses decide which battlefield you get to fight and which market you get to grab a share from. There are prejudices and ultimately your career is shaped by what decisions your boss takes – as to some extent they unconsciously carve out the cream – and determine who really gets to rise and yield all the power.

Jett also clearly mentions that he was not free of the age old biases against black men as he himself clearly felt in his own case, being an African American. Perceptions were affected by race and age old negative narrow-minded thought processes thus clearly proving that the free agent performance reward based work philosophy was a myth. He also talks about how the infinite avarice and lure of money leads people to abandon their ethics, especially when the pressure of work gets to them.

He also mentions how people above him in the hierarchy like Cerullo is boss got away lightly with a huge severance package but he had to take a hit of several million dollars as the people higher up always won at the greater expense of their subordinates. Machiavellian politics and the old order still prevail today and though environments , times and policies change but beneath the veil , much remains the same – human nature still leaving much more left to be desired.

BRIEF REVIEWS:

In the long run bonds are more volatile than equities. A vision has been formulated by the authors Peter Schwartz, Peter Leyden and Joel Hyatt. According to them a so called grand future is awaiting us which will be a combination American openness, European Solidarity and Asian discipline. But according to the author, this leads to a condition of resisting pessimism which might lead to protectionism and war.

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According to George S. Day understanding, attracting and keeping valuable customers is the key for a market driven organization. Managers are looking for customer interest which always find the business easy going and successful. Then comes Weaving the Web which is the original design and ultimate destiny of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners and Mark Fischetti. This essentially tells about the origin of the World Wide Web and its contribution to make the internet so popular.

Finally, the “Network Effect” which is explained by Stan J. Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis. They argue that the anti-competitive network forces have been over rated. It says just because a company controls a popular platform doesn’t mean that consumers will eventually be forced to use inferior products.

SOME GUIDELINES FOR FREE AGENTS:Maintaining integrity at the free-agent workplace is very important. Here are few guidelines for the same.

Be matured enough: Being ambitious, talented, and hardworking is not just enough sticking to your imbibed values is also important. Placing oneself in field of grand ambition, intense self-interest devastates career.

Be a fighter: Fight against outright discrimination and stereotypes. Fight to defend your dignity and get what is right. Rebuild your life and career when you face severe situations.

Have something worth fighting for: Work hard, make a lot of money, and keep your options open. Postponing the issue until it is established and financially set doesn’t lead anywhere in this world of intense competition and perpetual change.

Resist the isolation: There are long, unpredictable work hours and the frequent job changes as a result don’t take decisions that may lead to the trouble and put you in isolation. Free agency erodes the loyalty and stability of traditional companies, increasing the risk that people will make life-shaping choices from positions of isolation.

Consider underachieving at times: Extreme work, like extreme sports, is spreading. Single-minded focus is often viewed as high virtue rather than as a disconcerting competition based on people’s ability to shrink their lives.

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