The emergence of a new category of disasters: manager-made disasters

Abstract

The rise of manager-made disasters—crises stemming from incompetent leadership—demands urgent attention. Unlike natural or traditional human-made disasters, these failures are preventable yet increasingly destructive, with cascading impacts on organizations and societies.

To mitigate these risks, we propose four key measures:

First, appoint qualified leaders. Leadership selection must prioritize technical expertise and proven managerial competence, reducing reliance on political or regional favoritism.

Second, enhance training programs. Rigorous training in crisis management, risk assessment, and ethical decision-making should be implemented for current and aspiring leaders.

Third, strengthen accountability mechanisms. Transparent systems must be established to hold leaders responsible for failures, including independent audits, whistleblower protections, and performance-linked consequences.

Fourth, integrate safety-centric leadership practices. A culture of safety should be embedded in organizational governance, ensuring leaders prioritize risk mitigation, resource resilience, and employee well-being in all decisions.

Public awareness campaigns are equally critical to fostering accountability and demanding higher leadership standards. We urge academia and policymakers to address this gap by dedicating resources to studying and combating manager-made disasters.