Indicadores que evalúan el nivel de desarrollo de los procesos de Gestión de

A further way in which iRobot attempts to enhance its public image in the US is by constructing a narrative whose underlying idea is that the firm’s practice of hiring ex- military personnel for its G&I is beneficial for the nation as a whole, due to their expertise in the field and their ensuing ability to pursue strategic goals. A similar claim is made with regard to the military contracts received by the firm. The benefits for American soldiers and the US more generally are further emphasised by using the "us versus them" dichotomy and emotion-arousing language, whose aim is to sentimentalise the messages' recipients. Crucially, what this narrative does is present military aims as a clear priority, which feeds into a militaristic approach to foreign policy.

Over time, as iRobot’s G&I division has expanded, to a significant extent thanks to the growing number of contracts received from the various branches of the US military, iRobot has hired a considerable amount of people who used to hold positions in the Department of Defence (DoD) and thus had links with the American military sphere. Some even used to hold rather important positions; ex under secretary of Defence for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Jacques Gansler (iRobot, 2004d), or ex DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) programme manager Tom Wagner are only a few examples of personnel employed by the corporation that used to be closely related to the US military.

What is noteworthy about these ex DoD personnel being employed by iRobot is the way in which such practice is depicted, and how this contributes to the construction of the company's self-image and to the spread of a militarising narrative. In fact, iRobot’s spokespeople portray the hiring of these figures as contributing to the achievement of the nation’s strategic robotic initiatives. The argument advanced by the corporation in that regard is that the expertise gained by these figures in their previous military careers allows iRobot to pursue strategic goals in a more effective manner, as they are capable of providing crucial insights into the type of technology that is needed for military purposes. Much emphasis is laid on meeting what are supposedly soldiers’ most vital needs, such as satisfying the growing demand for unmanned vehicles that contribute to keeping soldiers out of harm’s way, given the growing danger posed by IEDs and the other threats within a context of urban warfare.

The line of argument revolving around the achievement of the nation’s strategic objectives is particularly noteworthy as in fact the opposite might be true. The risk associated to such practices is one of conflict of interest (Griffin and Bronstein, 2010): people moving back and forth from key positions in the DoD to positions in military

contracting firms might push for the acquisition of certain types of equipment merely in order to make profits, while the nation’s strategic objectives remain a secondary concern. This phenomenon is known as the revolving door and it has led attracted considerable attention in the United States, especially since all of the biggest military corporations like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing, have long been employing former military officers (Wayne, 2005). The attention received by this phenomenon, in turn, is hardly surprising, considering the enormous amount of public money used by the American government to pay their military contractors.

The analysis of the language used to construct the narrative put in place by iRobot with regard to hiring these figures closely linked to the military shows that the narrative often rests on the use of the "us versus them" dichotomy, i.e. the possessive adjective “our” is employed when referring to both US soldiers and the nation.

The statement on the appointment of former under secretary of Defence Gansler to iRobot’s board of directors exemplifies how his previous career in the Department of Defence is portrayed in beneficial terms from the perspective of the nation’s strategic objectives. In the press release announcing Gansler’s appointment, Dyer declared:

Intelligent robots are already saving lives on the battlefield, but true success depends just as much on the human and organizational infrastructures that use and support the robots. Jacques’ instinct and foresight will serve us well as iRobot continues matching its technological and practical expertise to the real needs of our nation’s soldiers’ (cited in iRobot 2004d – emphasis added to the original).

The use of the possessive adjective to refer to the nation's soldiers conveys once more the idea that iRobot clearly sides with American troops. Also, the quotation contains a clear reference to the fact that hiring Gansler is important in terms of the benefits that

derive for US soldiers, given his expertise both with regard to the technology and knowhow required. Gansler himself commented along those lines: ‘iRobot’s place at the forefront of military robotics will give me the opportunity to make a high-level contribution to our nation’s strategic robotic initiatives’ (cited in iRobot, 2004d). The terms used by Gansler reflect a similar approach to Dyer’s, as he argues that his appointment represents an occasion to make an important contribution to the nation’s strategic robotic initiatives and refers to the nation by using the possessive adjective “our”.

Dyer comments the appointments of former US Army Colonel Sulka and Marine Corps Colonel White to managerial positions within the G&I division is commented along similar lines:

[They] bring to iRobot detailed expertise in critical areas like defense acquisition […]. Their experience will be invaluable as we expand our division to meet the military’s rising demand for tactical and reconnaissance robots such as the PackBots®, which is already saving soldiers’ lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their talents will allow iRobot to fully engage in defense transformation and help develop a new robotics industry in the United States and abroad (cited in iRobot, 2005c).

In this case, much emphasis is laid on the expertise of the former military personnel appointed, mainly in terms of the benefits that will derive from expanding the use of iRobot’s robots in the actual conflicts where American troops are fighting.

These examples show how iRobot emphasises its appointments of ex military personnel by insisting on the positive impact that such appointments will have for American forces, while it seems plausible that hiring ex-military personnel is likely to have first and foremost a positive effect for the firm, due to the connections that these people have. A similar strategy of highlighting the benefits for the nation as a whole is