Diane Vaughan reconstructs the Ohio Revco case, an example of Medicaid provider fraud in which a large drugstore chain initiated a computer-generated double billing scheme that cost the state and federal government half a million dollars in Medicaid funds, funds that the company believed were rightfully theirs. Her analysis of this incident—why the crime was committed, how it was detected, and how the case was built—provides a fascinating inside look at computer crime. Vaughan concludes that organizational misconduct could be decreased by less regulation and more sensitive bureaucratic response.

“An in-depth account of the events and personal actions which led to a great tragedy in the history of America’s space program.” —James D. Smith, former Solid Rocket Booster Chief, NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center When the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986, millions of Americans became bound together in a single, historic moment. Many still vividly remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard about the tragedy. Diane Vaughan recreates the steps leading up to that fateful decision, contradicting conventional interpretations to prove that what occurred at NASA was not skullduggery or misconduct but a disastrous mistake. Why did NASA managers, who not only had all the information prior to the launch but also were warned against it, decide to proceed? In retelling how the decision unfolded through the eyes of the managers and the engineers, Vaughan uncovers an incremental descent into poor judgment, supported by a culture of high-risk technology. She reveals how and why NASA insiders, when repeatedly faced with evidence that something was wrong, normalized the deviance so that it became acceptable to them. In a new preface, Vaughan reveals the ramifications for this book and for her when a similar decision-making process brought down NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003. “Vaughn finds the traditional explanation of the [Challenger] accident to be profoundly unsatisfactory . . . One by one, she unravels the conclusions of the Rogers Commission.” —The New York Times “A landmark study.” —Atlantic “Vaughn gives us a rare view into the working level realities of NASA . . . The cumulative force of her argument and evidence is compelling.” —Scientific American

Why is ethics important to organizations? What are the characteristics of an ethical organization? How can we audit the ethics of an organization? What measures and activities stimulate the ethical development of organizations? This book addresses these questions. It is easier to say that ethics is necessary than to tell how to organize ethics. This book provides a fundamental and coherent vision on how ethics can be organized in a focused way. This study examines the assumptions for organizing ethics, the pitfalls and phases of such a process, the parts of an ethics audit and the great variety of measures. The methods and insights illustrated in this book are based partially on practical research. One of these methods, the Ethics Thermometer, was based on more than 150 interviews at various organizations. The Ethics Thermometer has been applied in a great variety of profit and not-for-profit organizations in order to measure an organization's perceived context, conduct and consequences. This book will be important to scholars in the field of business ethics, as well as to managers and practitioners. For scholars, this study provides general knowledge about auditing and developing the ethics of an organization. A summary is given of the criteria by which the ethical content of an organization can be measured. For managers and practitioners, this study provides concrete suggestions for safeguarding and improving ethics within their organizations.

In this authoritative exploration of contemporary organisations and the ways they mirror their environment, Howard Aldrich and Martin Ruef chart the development of organisational forms, as well as assessing the impact on these of external innovations.

First Published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The emerging knowledge economy is prompting decisive changes in the organization of business firms. Corporate hierarchies flatten under the impact of ICT and the need to delegate decision rights. The boundaries of the firm shrink under the impact of outsourcing and viable relational contracting. However, we still know very little about the mechanics and manifestations of this process. Killian McCarthy, Maya Fiolet, and Wilfred Dolfsma s The Nature of the New Firm breaks new ground in our understanding of changing economic organization. It will appeal not only to theorists of the firm, but also to management scholars and sociologists interested in organization. Nicolai J. Foss, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark The Nature of the New Firm presents a number of studies on the blurring of boundaries within and between organizations and institutions. Globalization has created new ways of doing business, new institutions to oversee them, and has introduced a spectrum of new protagonists to the international arena. Scholars and practitioners have been challenged by the evolving environment to find new ways to interact and, in the process, many of the traditional boundaries that have existed within and between organizations and institutions have become increasingly blurred. This unique compendium sheds light on these and other topics on the question of change, both within and between organizations and institutions. The contributors have expertly combined the insights of some of the biggest names in the fields of economics, business and strategic management, both present and future and in doing so offer scholars a tailor-made, up-to-date study on the topic of economic change. This book will prove to be a compelling read for students, scholars and policymakers of international business, industrial organization and strategy.

For many years, if businesses were caught dumping waste, it was treated more as a nuisance than as a crime; the common images of the criminal and the dumper were worlds apart. In Dangerous Ground, originally published in 1992, Donald J. Rebovich closes this perceptual gap, providing essential information about and analysis of hazardous waste crime and the hazardous waste criminal. This paperback edition includes new material, noting important changes since the book's original publication. Rebovich finds that the criminal dumper is usually an ordinary businessman. The author's research discovers that hazardous waste disposal crimes are more likely driven by the cost of legitimate disposal options, rather than by organized crime figures. It is also a world where one's criminal position is often determined by industry connections and personal relationships. Dangerous Ground places the criminal dumping culture in perspective by detailing the basics of hazardous waste generation, its legitimate disposal, government responses, and efforts to control illegal disposal. An epilogue concludes with an analysis of new threats to our environment posed by gas and oil drilling, declining federal prosecutions, progressive sentencing for offenders, and recommendations on how the global community can effectively address international environmental crime.