The way I model it is that these guys believe that they will not get ahead if they dont pressure their employees. And their fear of being let go and losing their line in the g.c. queue forces them to put even more pressure on their employees.
One manager (IIT + MIT) once called my friend while he was waiting for the delivery of his second child. Incredible.
This is new york so it might be completely different on the West Coast.
I do think a bit of it is NY culture, but a lot of it is probably the belief that "driving hard" leads to more productivity which is near Universal, and probably more prevalent amongst people who come from hyper-competitive environments like IIT or the NYC financial world. Others who believe that "paying more" leads to more productivity are also wrong.
Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn is an excellent compendium of research on what drives people to work.
One manager (IIT + MIT) once called my friend while he was waiting for the delivery of his second child. Incredible.
This is new york so it might be completely different on the West Coast.