IMD alumnae Alicia Micklethwait and Patricia Dimond have co-authored a new book on the importance of corporate governance, board leadership and corporate culture.
Driven to the Brink is a collection of short stories about corporate disasters and how inadequate governance and flawed culture caused a massive destruction of shareholder value.
The issue of corporate leadership and culture has risen up the agenda after high-profile scandals at companies such as Uber, where a recent internal investigation into widespread sexual harassment claims led to the departure of its CEO, Travis Kalanick.
Dimond and Micklethwait argue that two factors emerge in any major corporate meltdown: a failure of corporate governance and a culture where short-termism and greed are rewarded and risk is encouraged to flourish unchecked.
Two years before the global financial crisis of 2008, Micklethwait co-wrote the best-selling book Greed and Corporate Failure, which examined some of the top corporate disasters that erupted in the early years of the 21st century.
Now, with co-author Patty Dimond, they draw on in-depth case studies of the Libor scandal, Olympus, Co-op, Kids Company and others. The pair ask: what have we learned from these scandals and more importantly, what can we do to prevent them from happening again?
They examine the less widely understood world of Corporate China, with detailed discussion of the Lixel and Glaxo frauds. They also look at the story of ecommerce giant Alibaba and ask: is an ethical culture enough to protect shareholder rights?
Dimond and Micklethwait are both members of the IMD MBA Class of 1993. Dimond is a Chartered Financial Analyst a Chartered Accountant and a Mckinsey Alum. She is an undergraduate of the Richard Ivy School of business. Micklethwait is an ex IMD Research Associate, a graduate of the University of Oxford and a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Both have held board level roles in Industry.
