Pitfalls of Corporate Leadership

Our nation is still reeling from the 346 fatalities suffered on two flights of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes the first in May 2017 and the second in March 2019. These are just one of the series of costly and deadly consequences of defective products described in this book. Besides the Boeing 737 planes the examples of bad products include automobiles electrical energy networks pipelines bridges and other large structures banks drinkable water and financial services. While the immediate or proximate causes of the disasters have been bad design or bad production the root or underlying causes have been bad corporate management and business cultures caused by corporate leaders. The final five chapters provide short essays on product design production quality control management and culture and what the leaders of our private companies and government agencies might do to reduce the pitfalls that have led to so many defective products and their dire consequences.