Where the Buck Stops

The short answer: At the top. As it should. Sometimes it just takes longer.

Pointing fingers at underlings are increasingly passé. Such tactics ring hollow. The public demands that those ultimately responsible be taken to task.

The latest to fall was C.L. Max Nikias, ousted as president of the University of Southern California after eight years. He’d overseen billions in fundraising, for campus expansion and in raising USC’s profile as a top-tier university.

But in the end, all that was for naught.

Also on his watch was a seemingly endless stream of scandals, most in USC’s sports program and two in its medical school. Many were accompanied by bungled cover-ups. This made the embarrassment even worse when it came to light. The Federal government has piled on with its own investigation.

USC isn’t alone, of course. Educational and non-profit institutions attract an outsize proportion of attention. The public expects higher standards from them.

Consider the sex-with-boys scandal by assistant coach Jerry Sandusky at Penn State. Trustees cleaned house all the way to the top, including Joe Paterno, the winningest head coach in college football history, and Graham Spanier, one of the highest-paid university presidents in the nation.

The same is true for companies.

Volkswagen initially blamed a small group of “rogue” engineers for manipulating diesel emissions and denied upper echelons had knowledge of the deceit. Finally, they could no longer deny the evidence, sacked senior executives, and tried to turn the corner in the public’s perception. Now top officials at Audi and Daimler are also caught in the glare.

Or United Airlines, which in the course of one year, was involved in three scandals — dragging a screaming passenger from an overbooked flight, the death of a giant rabbit at O’Hare airport, and the death of a dog in an overhead bin. United’s CEO Oscar Munoz reportedly flirted with being fired but escaped with his rich compensation being halved.

You’ve heard the story again and again in recent years. You’ll encounter it more in the future.

The math is simple: Not paying attention = Loss of confidence = Expendable.

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You can reach Roger Gillott and Eden Gillott directly at 310-396-8696.

Check out A Board Member’s Guide to Crisis PR and A Lawyer’s Guide to Crisis PR (Second Edition) on Amazon.

Gillott Communications is a Los Angeles-based public relations firm that specializes in high-stakes Crisis & Reputation Management with more than 50 years of expertise in strategic communications, corporate public relations, and working with the media.