A necessary element of governance is that you have rules, or standards, to which the governed are supposed to adhere. Problems often arise when people don’t follow the rules. But can slavishly following the rules be as bad? Depends on the rules.
“Behind United Airlines’ Fateful Decision to Call Police,” The Wall Street Journal, April 17, 2017 B1. United has a strong demand and control system, and a system that rewards tenure over merit. Rules for everything. Rules that apply even to the third-party operator of last week’s flight from Chicago.
But who instituted a rule that requires having police haul a non-disruptive, paying passenger off a flight? Seemed like a good idea at the time, I guess. Hard to imagine this happening at an airline that hired attitudes rather than resumes.
Is a corporate cultural norm that would have avoided this also a part of governance? Is that the “ethics” part of ethics and compliance?
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