When Things Go Wrong: Organizational Failures and Breakdowns

The book, ‘When Things Go Wrong: Organizational Failures and Breakdowns,’ edited by Helmut K. Anheier, is a collection of essays and articles concerning organizational failure. Some of the contributions appeared earlier in a 1996 special issue of ‘American Behavioral Scientist,’ in which this same topic was addressed. The reviewer, who has spent the last decade researching organizational decline, downsizing, and turnaround, found that, despite some weaknesses, the chapters of the book were a coherent package that stimulated new thoughts about organizational failure.