Scapegoating
How Organizations Assign Blame

Reveals the mechanisms involved in the creation of scapegoats in organizations.

Maurizio Catino (Author)

9781009297189, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 June 2023

262 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2 cm, 0.52 kg

'Organizations constantly fail us, often in shocking ways. This fascinating book is necessary reading for anyone who truly wants to limit such failure. By opening our eyes to the organizational dynamics of blame-casting with insightful analysis of political and organizational scandals, we come to appreciate why we repeatedly succumb to our unjust and unproductive for symbolic stigmatization of individuals rather than engage in the painful but essential process of figuring out how our organizations and systems can be improved.' Ezra W. Zuckerman Sivan, Alvin J. Siteman Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, MIT Sloan School of Management

A large cruise ship sinks after hitting some outcropping rocks near the shore. Who is to blame? In the face of negative events – accidents, corporate scandals, crises and bankruptcies – there are two organizational strategies for managing blame. The first is to take full responsibility for the event and to implement adequate corrective measures. The second is to create one or more scapegoats by transferring blame to some of the people directly involved in the event. In this way, the organization can appear blameless and avoid costly remedial interventions. Reappraising the Costa Concordia shipwreck and other well-known cases, Catino analyzes the processes and mechanisms behind creating the 'organizational scapegoat.' In doing so, Catino highlights the limits of explanations centered on guilt and individual solutions to organizational problems, and underlines the need for a different civic epistemology.

Introduction
1. Forms and types of scapegoat
2. The scapegoat as an instrument of organizational rationality
3. Corporate scapegoating: the Costa Concordia accident
4. How to spot organizational scapegoats
5. Organization and law: inquiry logics and policies of blame
Conclusions.

Subject Areas: Organizational theory & behaviour [KJU]