Workplace Bullying Institute » Robert Hare http://www.workplacebullying.org Work Shouldn't Hurt! Thu, 09 Sep 2010 19:11:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Corporations are people who can be very twisted http://www.workplacebullying.org/2010/02/05/corporate-psychopathy/ http://www.workplacebullying.org/2010/02/05/corporate-psychopathy/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:56:29 +0000 Dr. Gary Namie http://www.workplacebullying.org/?p=2064 You know how the post 9/11 world is supposedly so different from the 9/10/2001 world? Well, America changed after 1/21 based on the US Supreme Court decision granting corporations person status. Here’s some twisted logic: A. Corporations are people. B. Corporations enjoy unchallengeable control over individual, non-unionized workers (now 92.8% of American non-government employees). C. Corporations can act without remorse or accountability — they can be psychopaths.

North America’s expert on psychopathy is Robert Hare. The documentary, The Corporation, explores the premise that businesses behave maliciously and without conscience. This DVD is recommended viewing.

Hare draws the analogy between people and corporations.

- superficial, style over substance
- grandiosity, we’re number one, none better
- manipulative, that’s what PR is for
- lacks empathy, hey it’s “just business” to rationalize cutthroat competition
- lacks remorse, anything goes if not caught, bonuses after economic crash
- does not accept responsibility for actions taken
- impulsive and reckless, especially in the absence of regulations
- focus on short-term, quarterly stockholder gains are all that matter
- poor behavioral control, irrational and quick to rage
- ignores consequences of their actions on others (the climate, workers, economy)
- actions harm others, anti-social

Read his essay on the topic.

]]> http://www.workplacebullying.org/2010/02/05/corporate-psychopathy/feed/ 4