Perhaps business schools should add anthropoloy to the curriculum; the paralles between the behaviour of corporate executives and that of great apes are uncanny. The spectacular collapes of the supposed alliance of drug giants GlaxoWellcome and SmithKline Beecham is a textbook
example.
There was a clear business logic to the union of the two pharmaceuticals giants. The deal gave the companies a drugs
research and development budget more than twice the size of their closest rival, Novartis and Merck, and the combination of their complementary research
technologies could have left them streets ahead of the competition; cost-cutting alone could have saved $1. But because these two great beasts of the jungle (the CEOs of the corporation) chose to throw sand in each other's faces, the deal is off, at least for now.
Corporate egos cause problems but they seem to be inevitable in a business culture that prizes drive determination and leadership above all. Having the strength of personality and the ability to outmanoeuvre other is a fundamental prerequisite to climb to the top of the corporate ladder.