Zell's Tribune and the Hidden Costs of Bad Management

[Commentary] The Tribune Company's mismanagement by Sam Zell and Randy Michaels actually serves as a useful vantage point from which to consider the larger role that corporations and other types of organizations play in society -- and the rarely recognized social cost of their mismanagement.

An institution like Tribune Company does more than run media properties. It picks up where education leaves off, developing and refining a slice of the nation's collective human capital, from fresh-faced journalism school graduates to wizened publishing executives. And the extent to which a person fulfills his or her potential depends almost exclusively on how well they navigate this process (and the luck they have while doing so). But it also depends on how rational the process is -- how good a job the organization does in recognizing and promoting talent, putting people in the right places, and giving them opportunities for growth.

The societal impact of good or bad management goes unrecorded on any balance sheet. But consider the differences in abilities -- experience, mental health, contribution to the tax base, or any other measure -- between a person who spends, say, two years with a supportive mentor in challenging and meaningful work, and a person who spends the same two years in a place run like a frat house. Now, multiply that by the 4200 people who have lost their jobs since Sam Zell acquired the company, and the social cost begins to come into view.