WAS ENRON also a cult?

"There are elements of cultish behavior in Enron," asserts Dave Arnott, management professor at Dallas Baptist University. Arnott is author of Corporate Cults, which describes how some companies take over their workers' lives, using methods similar to those employed by traditional cults. The book identifies other all-consuming organizations as corporate cults. They include Southwest Airlines, Microsoft and Nike (where some employees had the swoosh logo tattooed onto their ankles).

Cults share three basic traits, according to Arnott. (1) They demand complete devotion of their followers, (2) they have a charismatic leader, and (3) they foster separation from the community. Enron scores on all three.
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leaving wisdom behind: corporate mentality seizes national consciousness

A pumped-up corporate definition of intelligence is making headway in US society. CEOs are regarded as experts on political and sociological change, and excellence in public education is defined in terms of its service to the private sector. Equating intelligence with conformity to corporate values is not a new concept, but the extent to which wisdom is being confused with business savvy is an increasingly insidious trend.

A popular magazine recently surveyed "some of the smartest people we know" and their choice of intellectual luminaries consisted primarily of Fortune 500 CEOs. When asked to devise post-September 11 paths to peace and prosperity, respondents such as Disney CEO Michael Eisner offered, "America is hated not because of our ideology, but because of our freedom, our lifestyle and our products . . . so the solution is to make our things available around the world." Ogilvy & Mather CEO Shelly Lazarus discussed the "interesting marketing challenge" of stimulating US consumer demand in the current economic slump: "What people are saying is, 'You know what? I just don't feel like going out,' ... and we've got to tell them, 'That's what the terrorists want. I don't care if you feel like it or not - go buy a bra.'" In other words, recession, inequity and poverty are nothing that Goofy dolls and underwires can't fix; throw money at a problem and it will magically disappear.
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