Mitroff (2005)

Management > Crisis Management > Lectures > Independent Research > Mitroff's book >The effects of abnormal crises > Defence mechanisms > Victim and villain > Complexity > 4 styles of thinking > Assumptions > Structured problems > 4 views of crises > Crisis tool kit > Controlled paranoia > General Motors > Needed action > A well designed organisation > Spirituality > Benetton-Turkey > Corporate emotional intelligence > CM and betrayal

CM and betrayal

When crises occur, too often is there far more emphasis on the cognitive than the emotional, which results in feelings of betrayal. Particular crises and the resultant feelings of betrayal are as follows:

• Economic - Top management did not protect my pension, engaged in unethical financial schemes, and deliberately falsified accounting
• Information - Top management deliberately lied and falsified company documents
• Physical - Top management compromised the amount of resources devoted to safety
• Human Resources - Top management fostered a culture of corruption and promoted ruthless behaviour
• Reputation - Top management deliberately fostered a Crisis Prone culture which damaged the image of the firm
• Psychopathic acts - Top management acted in a sociopathic manner
• Natural disasters - Top management bent the rules to engage in unsafe practices, which exacerbated the consequences of a natural disaster

Entrepreneur as anti-hero

In much of today's society, the entrepreneur is encouraged to take risks in order to innovate, which often leads to an unsafe organisation, where the CEO can do whatever he wants. It leads to greed and corruption.

In Freudian terms, the entrepreneur "lives out Freud's infantile fantasy of complete omnipotence without any regard for the feelings and considerations of others"

Myths

Additional myths