Bootlegging: Encyclopedia - Bootlegging

Bootlegging

Bootlegging is a slang term to describe smuggling. Most commonly, the word refers to the illegal sale of alcoholic beverages on which excise taxes have not been paid. It is said that the term comes from how the alcohol (or "booze" as it is commonly called) was hid in flasks on the legs of sellers, above or under the boot. The term is sometimes mistakenly used to refer exclusively to the production of untaxed alcoholic products; however, that is more accurately called "moonshining." Most bootleg liquor is not "home-made" by a moonshiner but, instead, bottled by professional distillers.

During Prohibition of the 1920s in the United States, much of the bootleg whiskey was brought in from Canada and much of the bootleg rum was imported from Mexico or Cuba via "rum roads" or "rum routes." Today most bootleg alcohol in the United States is made domestically but sold "under the table" or "off the back of a truck" without the necessary permits and taxes.

The illegal sale of many consumer products other than alcohol is often termed Bootlegging as well. Goods such as compact discs, DVDs and other Intellectual Property are considered to be "bootleg" if they are replicated without permission of the copyright holder. Unofficial audio recordings of live performances in particular are often called bootlegs.

Bootlegging - In economics and business administration literature

In economics and business administration literature, K. Knight introduced the notion ‘bootlegging’ in 1967. Bootlegging is defined as research in which motivated individuals secretly organise the innovation process. It usually is a bottom-up, non-programmed activity, without the official authorisation of the responsible management, but for the benefit of the company. It is not in the department’s action plan nor are there any formal resources allocated towards it (Augsdorfer 1996).

Quite a few firms have their own specific term for it: Anglo-Saxon firms call it: Friday afternoon work, work behind the fume cupboard, free lance work, moonlighting, under the counter work, under the table work, pet-project, discretionary research, free wheeling, illicit research, scrounging , renegades work, work in the shadow- or underworld. French firms call it: recherche camouflagé, recherche caché, recherche parallel, recherche libre, recherche en perruque, recherche sauvage, or recherche sous-marin. German firms call it: U-Boot Forschung, or graue Projekte.

The main reason for the occurrence of bootlegging is the lack of ‘free space’ for creativity. In particular rigid planning ignores the nature of experimental trial and error research. Bootlegging, as a kind of self-regulating element, bridges the mechanistic world of organisation (hierarchy, project proposals, MBO, decisions can only be made after some initial findings) with the chaotic world of creativity and innovation. The theory of path dependency explains why bootleg innovations are (most often) in line with the strategic objectives of the firm: corporate competencies define the search paths for its future. In this respect are the learning processes, beside the tangible output of bootlegging beneficial for the firm.

Bootlegging should not be confused with skunk works: skunk work is defined as a sort of elite, working officially on a given project alongside the formal organisation to solve problems more efficiently. In fact the Pacific Tech's Graphing Calculator project at Apple computers was not a skunk works project (as mentioned under the key word 'skunk works' in this encyclopaedia) but a bootleg project.

'Permitted bootlegging' is research time where technical staff are allowed to spend a certain amount of their time working on ‘pet-projects’ in the hope that some day there is some return for the company. Famous examples of companies, which follow such an initiative, are 3M and Hewlett Packard. They allow ten to fifteen per cent of the working time for own product related interests. A well-known example of a permitted bootleg product is the yellow sticky ‘post-it notes’, developed by Art Fry and Spencer Silver at 3M.

Also, bootlegging must not be confused with private handicraft also called ‘moonlighting’,which is sometimes carried out in companies. In general, a firm’s management does not tolerate moonlighting as it serves only private purposes such as private car repairs.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Bootlegging", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki