Lessons learned from the Columbia disaster.

• Position: Brief Article

In uncovering the causes of recent corporate scandals, investigators not only attempt to dig up the methods of wrongdoing, but also identify the wrong-doers, usually highly visible corporate executives. Whenever possible, the media dramatizes the finger-pointing with clips or photos of the alleged wrong-doers taking their "perp walk." So it's surprising, perhaps, that, in its report of the investigation of the Columbia breakup, NASA focused not only on individual actions, but also on NASA's corporate culture.

In an essay on the NASA report for Business Ethics Newsline, "Organizational Lessons from the Columbia Disaster," ethicist Rushworth M. Kidder cites the following report statement in a "key paragraph."

NASA's organizational culture and structure has as much to do with this accident as the external tank foam.

The Investigation Board, however, does not let individuals off the hook, saying that they indeed need to be held...