The George W. Bush School of Management

We decided to rework this post because there's just too much supporting material for it. Begin with this story about "The Corporation," a Canadian documentary airing a harsh critique (subs req'd)) of big business:

One sequence that gets a laugh features a string of talking heads pronouncing the words, "Bad apple"

Perhaps one achievement of Dubya's administration will be to make Enron and Worldcom look good. Or, for that matter, Allied Irish Banks. This has to be one of the world's most incompetent banks, or at least the most incompetent yet profitable one. This is a bank that lost about $600m in a "bad apple" (or was that "rogue trader") scandal a year ago, and now is revealed to have overcharged thousands of customers for years in foreign exchange transactions. A nice analysis in today's Irish Times identifies the fundamental problem -- one that is identically present in Dubya's White House:

...In both cases [trading and overcharging scandals], individuals lower down the hierarchy became aware or suspected that something was wrong, but did not feel under any imperative to ensure that it was resolved...In both cases, the matter was just passed up the line to a level at which it was effectively shelved...AIB senior executives are falling over themselves to point out that the problem was not brought to their attention until last week and, once it was, they acted appropriately...

Last week's revelation and the reaction of Mr Buckley [CEO] and his management merely serves to confirm an impression that backside covering is a core value in AIB and accepted management practice...he has had two years since the Rusnak [the $600m bad apple] affair to try and stamp out what he called a culture of "passivity" and has manifestly failed if the events of last week are any guide.

And culture - in any organisation - is embodied by the chief executive. It is hard to change an organisation's culture without changing the person at the top.

It was Dubya's spinners who made the decision to market him as a CEO President who would bring his MBA training to the government. If only they meant it.