2. Where do they come from?
• Blackwater LLC is a Private Civilian Army founded in 1997 in North
Carolina.
• The company has had extensive personal security contracts in Iraq
and Afghanistan during the war as well as Africa and Eastern
Europe.
• Their license was revoked in Iraq in 2007 when 17 Iraqi civilians
were killed by a Blackwater convoy.
• The company name was changed to Blackwater Worldwide in 2007
in an attempt to broaden the scope of their operations.
3. Continued Changes
• Blackwater again changed the company named in a market
campaign in 2009
• Xe Security was formed to complete all outstanding blackwater
contracts as well as compete with other security companies
• Other than the name and logo nothing about the company
infrastructure changed
4. Academi
• In 2010 Blackwater again changed the company name and logo in
order to compete on the world stage
• The board of directors remained, the contracts remained, the
employees remained
• This name change was an attempt to “soften” the image of
Blackwater
5. The Code
• Academi’s Code of Business Ethics and Conduct or “the Code” as
their pamphlet repeatedly refers to it it a direct indication of
what type of business model Academi is trying to build
• Key words are used repetitively throughout the handout
• Integrity
• Honor
• Team
• Compliance
• Commitment
6. Non-unitary Culture Clash
• Although many researchers argue that organizations are built of
individuals and as such are comprised of a multitude of “sub-
cultures”, a Private Civilian Army is something else.
• As Blackwater/Xe/Acedemi only recruits Tier 1 Special Operation
trained soldiers (Green berets, SeALs, ParaRescue) they are
already ingrained with a common mindset
• Academi is at its foundation a continuation of military service with
better pay and less restrictive rules
7. Organization
Military
• Chiefs of Staff
• Commanding Generals
• Company Commander
• Platoon Sergeants
• Squad Leader
• Soldier
Academi
• Board of Directors
• CEO, CFO, COO
• District Manager
• Site Supervisor
• Employees
8. The Words of the “Code”
• One has to wonder if the emphasis that Academi palces on certain
words in their “Code” are a direct reflection on their attempt to
rebrand their company from the inside.
• The changing of the names multiple times has not had the desired
outcome (stock values continue to decline), so the next ploy must
be to change the company.
• The issue is that the company cannot stop recruiting Tier 1 vets or
it loses it market edge
• Enter into the equation the Montreal School of CCO
9. The Montreal School of CCO
• With the introduction of words such as integrity, honor, loyalty,
team, and ethics used throughout the Academi guidebook it is
easy to see the company is trying to “move the conversation”
• The attack of 2007 has had a devastating effect on Blackwater’s
economic stability and trustworthiness around the world
• This internal nemonic coding cultural building restarting from the
ground up rather than just taring over the old company
10. Self Structuring
• Academi is the epitomy of a self structured organization. In lieu of
past actions it makes sense that the company would place such a
high emphasis on documentation and time.
• The basic culture of recruitment at Academi allows the company
to maintain a high level of self structuring as a high percentage of
the workforce are accustomed to recordkeeping/securing data
when they are hired
11. Activity Coordination Flow
• Academi, like Blackwater before it, is a security contract
company. As such, their main selling point is keeping individuals
safe in the most hostile environments on the planet.
• There are several facets to Academi which work in conjunction
with each other (physical/data security, intelligence, individual
security)
• Although there are defined avenues of communications between
these different elements, the individuals work amongst each other
and form interpersonal relationships (which lead to informal lines
of communication).
12. The New Academi
• By emphasizing the key character traits desired by the company
and allowing elements of the company to work both independently
and together on projects, Academi has in effect been attempting
to rebrand the company
• I would say rebrand rather than rebuild, as they have not changed
their workforce, mission, policies, or even their guiding principles
13. Socialization at Academi
• The workforce at Academi can be seen as diverse only in that it is
multicultural
• Males
• 25-40
• Special Operation experience
• Combat experience
*recently (2014) Academi has began recruiting females as part of its merger
with Titan and Triple Canopy LLC. Females remain less than 15% of Academi’s
total workforce.
14. Socialization at Academi
• Because Academi is a Private Civilian Army (PCA), employees can
walk onto the jobsite already knowing what is expected of them.
• Academi hires veterans to do the same job for Academi they were
doing for the military.
• This lack of assimilation time is a significant benefit to the
company
• The amount of money saved by not having to trained the veterans
to complete tasks is also seen as a significant benefit to the
company
15. From One Job to the Next
Active Duty Private Contractor
16. Phases of Socialization
• Going to work for Academi involves a 1-3 month recruiting process
for overseas assignments
• Veterans during this time are “retrained” at Academi’s training
center to ensure learned skills are maintained
• It is important to note that this is a “pre-hiring” phase, in that
contracts are not signed until both the company and the veteran
are comfortable with the working relationship
17. Phases of Socialization
• The encounter phase at Academi is fairly different than many
companies, in that it is more like changing jobs within a company
that moving to a new company
• Many times the new employee will be working with or near the
same people he was working with recently as a soldier
• There is little need to learn a new “lingo” as Academi is
performing the same function as the military (with the same
people)
18. Phases of Socialization
• The metamorphosis phase at Academi is subtle but noticeable to a
trained eye
• Individuals that have been with the company for a period of time
stop thinking of themselves as soldiers (as they should) and begin
to act in a more professional manner
• These are not always supervisors as one would expect, but
individuals that have fulfilled multiple contracts with the
company.
19. Interviewing
• The interview process for a PCA is not different than any other job
interview
• Heavy emphasis is placed on the individuals credentials and past
experience
• There are multiple interviews ranging from informal (drinks) to
formal (Interview Panel)
20. Leader-Member Exchange Role Process
• While this heaily influences the process of any military unit (soldier
team building), special care is always taken with the boundaries out
in/out groups
• As Academi is a security company lives are on the line and lack of
support to a subordinate or supervisor could lead to injury or even death
• Individuals may not like each other and they always know who they can
count on to get tasks done on time, but they have to always have a basic
level of trust between one another
21. Work Cited
• Code of Business and Ethics. 2013. Academi. Accessed October 14,
2016.
https://academi.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/document/doc
ument/52/ACADEMI_CodeofConduct_OCT092013.pdf
