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My father (economics professor) said you can date the start of a company's demise from when they build a palace for a headquarters.

For one thing, the design of the palace becomes a huge distraction for top management. Once they move in, they start to believe they are the godlike businessman the palace suggests they are.

Yeah, the Apple saucer is a big risk.



Is there a name for the phenomenon of companies building themselves a headquarters right as they begin to fail? I've heard that idea before, but haven't been able to find either a name for it, or any data on it.


"Edifice complex"

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=edifice%20com...

The urbandictionary link refers specifically to college presidents & universities, but there've been a few articles about how it applies to corporations as well.


I seem to recall hearing that myself. Steve Blank has "The Curse of the a Building":

https://steveblank.com/2009/05/15/supermac-war-story-11-the-...

There's the economy-wide skyscraper curse:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-03/16/content_758...


In the German Language you'd say "Buddenbrooks syndrome". The phenomenon is as old as the ages.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddenbrooks




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