[bb101]

The larger and more successful a company becomes, the greater the distance between senior management and the hierarchy underneath. Once the spotlight of fairness and corporate values is removed, psychopaths amongst middle management are free to rule their minor fiefdoms as they see fit, wreaking havoc along the way until challenged.

[DannyBee]

This assumes that everyone is pretty much a comic villain :)

[bb101]

True, but I've worked at quite a few large companies now and I haven't once been proven wrong. Conversely, there can be pockets of light dotted throughout the company but the bad departments have the ability to turn the company into a curate's egg.

[marcosdumay]

No, that assumes comic-like villains exist, not that everyone is like them.

Reality is, obviously, more complex. But the big corporation environment does incentive people to act that way.