tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694698198776950317.post2877104631125673074..comments2023-05-14T10:28:56.522+01:00Comments on MechanicalMole: "Inequality - social evil or acceptable cost of free market capitalism?"Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12545947702362352201noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694698198776950317.post-68157829800420753442015-11-27T15:04:12.773+00:002015-11-27T15:04:12.773+00:00I think the reason we focus so much on corporate p...I think the reason we focus so much on corporate pay Michael is the fact that so many people at the top of corporates are not the most skilled. This notion, which people often feel instinctively, was supported in a long article by Anderson and Brown on the functions and dysfunctions of hierarchy, which showed that those who are often highly skilled at leading and influencing people are not those who get to the top. It is those who are motivated by power who get to the top - something that McLelland pointed out many decades ago. No-one minds that Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg get paid so much nor one of the richest men in the world, Bill Gates, because they earned their rewards and have contributed so much to society. It is the Tony Haywards (BP's I want my life back), the Fred Goodwins, the Paul Flowers of this world that earn our ire. And, we all know of those who reach the top through machination, greed, and in fact psychopathy - see the Daedalus trust website for incontrovertible evidence of this. In fact the according to the UK Government’s Department for Business Innovation and Skills, CEOs of FTSE100 companies received average increases of 13.6% per annum between 1999 and 2010. This compares with just 1.7% annual increase in the FTSE index during the same period. They conclude that the FTSE index appears ‘to have had no impact on the level of remuneration awarded’ (Department of Business Innovation and Skills, 2011, p. 11). People who get to the top of corporates are more likely to be psychopaths (there are more of these at the top of organisations than there are in the general population) and often use their positions to rob the till before they leave. They may also contribute to some of the great ills in our society - environmental disasters, bribery, corruption, exploitation, low levels of child wellbeing. In addition, the organisation if often left worse off by certain CEOs suffering from low morale and chronic underinvestment. This is why the Tony Haywards, the Martin Shkrelis and the many anonymous leaders of their ilk will never earn the same respect as the Andy Murrays. Karen Blakeleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17388106415575725275noreply@blogger.com