Investigating business toxic leadership

Abstract

This manuscript investigates toxic leadership in modern business. It focuses on the key role that poor ethics, and Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy (the three elements of toxic leadership (Nahavandi, 2016)) have played in the failures of a variety of modern major business enterprises. Toxic leadership is management that goes beyond corruption and results in irreparable damage to the organization and its stakeholders (e.g., Adolf Hitler). The emphasis is on toxic leadership that has contributed to the catastrophic failures of several major firms over the past quarter century. It uses a book by Stephen Arbogast entitled "Resisting Corporate Corruption (RCC): Practical Cases in Business Ethics from Enron. The manuscript complements this book with a New Leadership Model that enhances the analysis of a variety of recent toxic leadership case studies. The model is illustrated in failures such as the Madoff Ponzi Scheme and in major firms such as Theranos, Nikola, We Work and Volkswagen. It provides a useful tool and shows that the dark side of leadership can be examined in real-world cases. The model is recommended for firms to employ in finding toxic leaders and in evaluating the consequences of their nefarious actions.