ranslated into loss of employment for American workers, particularly corporate managers: "While layoffs hit people at all levels of the corporate structure, the heaviest blows fell on middle-level managers--the people who take the decisions of top corporate executives and translate them into specific actions to be carried out by employees" ("Lean and Mean," 1988, p. 101). Job security became a thing of the past as managers at corporate giants like IBM, AT&T, and Citicorp joined the ranks of the unemployed.
Now that millions of jobs have been eliminated and the nation's overall economy shows signs of improvement, a new economy has emerged. This economy reinforces America's two-tiered society in which the rich profit while employment opportunities for the middle class rapidly disappear: "By 2020, the top fifth of American earners will earn more than 60 percent of American income, with the bottom fifth dropping to 2 percent" (Wirth, 1992, p. 199). At issue is whether the record-breaking salaries being paid to recent graduates with MBAs is fair, given the rapidly increasing wage gap in America.
The willingness of employers to pay high wages for management reflects the value system of American economic society. Fairness in salaries is not a recent issue. The Greek philosopher Plato believed that no person in an organization should earn more than five times what the lowest paid worker earned. Plato also theorized that a just price for workers should be based on compensation that would allow them to retain a similar social status as their parents. By the 14th century, craft guilds were formed which helped determine the pay of their members. The concept of a minimum wage came into being in Great Britain in the 16th century. By the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution had given rise to the urban labor movements. Economist Adam Smith contended that labor should be viewed as a value to be exchanged for wages, a value that wa...