Toxic - by Benjamin Van Rooij (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The first authoritative account of the specific processes that lead to harmful behavior in large organizations with insights into how they can avoid such behavior

While we often read about the scandals organizations cause, we are often left wondering: why do organizations keep causing harm?

Benjamin van Rooij and Nicholas Lord argue that to truly understand and address the harms we must understand the economic, social, and governmental contexts. To do so, Toxic draws on dozens of in-depth case studies to connect the dots between various scandals and illustrate the deeper toxic patterns within organizations that lead to them.

The authors paint a colorful picture of the people and behaviors leading to toxic organizations including:

• Clarence "Chuck" Manabag, an Oakland PD field training officer who trained his recruits to plant false evidence, file incorrect reports, and cover up police abuse of suspects,
• The role the US Federal Aviation Authority played in Boeing's failure to ensure the safety of its 737 MAX airplanes,
• Volkswagen executives deciding to install emission cheating software in 11 million vehicles, and
• How Monsanto was able to suppress critical scientific evidence of the harmful nature of some its most important products.

Toxic connects the details of these stories with organizational and criminological theories to show what processes lead to deviant and illegal behavior--ultimately, to show how good organizational features turn bad. Accessible, engaging, and full of insight, Toxic, breaks down the warning signs of toxic organizations and equips readers with the tools to unearth and prevent toxicity.

About the Author

Benjamin van Rooij is Professor of Law and Society at Amsterdam Law School and Global Professor of Law at UC Irvine, School of Law. He directs the Centre for Law and Behavior. He researches and writes about how legal rules shape human behavior. He is the co-author of The Behavioral Code. His work has been published in outlets the New York Times, the LA Times, Huffington Post, NPR Newsradio, and The Hill.

Nicholas Lord is Professor of Criminology in the School of Social Sciences at The University of Manchester. He is the founder of the Manchester Organisational (Non-)Compliance Initiative (MONI) and formerly the Director of the Centre for Digital Trust and Society. His research has been featured in outlets including the Guardian, the Independent, the BBC, and the Conversation.