This exploratory ethnographic study describes some of the control strategies used by a multinational manufacturer of communications technology to influence the attitudes and productivity of its clerical employees. Production quotas were applied to all clerical activities, but workers were also rewarded for their ability to creatively solve on-the-job problems. In addition, clerks were socialized to regard their jobs as careers, and they were expected to make personal sacrifices to benefit the corporation. The paper describes ways in which the clerical staff responded to these control efforts. Some found the rewards their jobs offered inadequate and they quit after a short time. The remainder, however, did not question the corporation's definition of the situation, and they devised ways to satisfy their employer's expectations. These ranged from superhuman efforts to meet targeted goals to quasi-legal manoeuvres to circumvent them.
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