In each of these periods companies
tended to be reactive, blaming a few bad apples, dismissing values as “not
central to what we do,” or ignoring opportunities to improve because “we
don’t have to make major changes.”
The current wave of disapproval began in 2001 with the bursting of the dotcom
bubble, the ensuing bear market and the financial scandals involving
Enron, WorldCom, Tyco and others.