Learning Team Reflection Leman Brothers

Learning Team Reflection Leman Brothers

Learning Team Reflection
MGT/521
December 1, 2013
Learning Team Reflection

Discussion Question 2
What was the culture at Lehman Brothers like?
In general, the culture at Lehman Brothers was founded upon the idea of the classical view of social responsibility: “that management’s only social responsibility is to maximize profits” (Robbins & Coulter, 2013, p. 147). Additionally, the leadership style of upper management appeared to be quite autocratic. There was a blatant disregard towards employees who attempted to question certain practices that looked suspicious. The executives set the tone at the top to be very aggressive, risk taking and quick decision making way of conducting their business and running the company. There was also a certain level of Laissez-Fair management taking place as upper management let the certain employees “do what they wanted” without interjecting. The Lehman Brother’s traveled a road of greed and irresponsibility which resulted in a major financial meltdown.


How did this culture contribute to the company’s downfall?
This culture created by the upper level executives contributed to the company’s downfall by openly applauding and rewarding the employees who took part in questionable and overly risky practices, while downplaying or overruling the warnings of employees who brought to light wrong company practices. The lack of leadership in conjunction with irresponsible decision making led to mistakes on a colossal level. Finally, it encouraged unethical behavior thus, leading to the company’s downfall.

Discussion Question 3
What role did Lehman’s executives play in the company’s collapse?
According to the bankruptcy court-appointed examiner, the Lehman executives ignored their “own internal risk limits and controls” (Robbins & Coulter, 2013, p. 147). They turned their heads and ignored the obvious. It appeared that the company’s main objective was to “make money at any cost”. The Lehman Brother’s...

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