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What Happened to Goldman Sachs

An Insider’s Story of Organizational Drift and Its Unintended Consequences

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About this listen

In What Happened to Goldman Sachs, Columbia Business School professor and former Sachs executive Steven Mandis charts the evolution of Goldman Sachs from an ethical standard to a legal one and uncovers the forces behind what he calls Goldman's "organizational drift". Drawing from his firsthand experience; sociological research; analysis of SEC, congressional, and other filings; and a wide array of interviews with former clients, detractors, and current and former partners, Mandis exposes the pressures that forced Goldman to slowly drift away from the very principles on which its reputation was built.

Combining insightful analysis with engaging storytelling, Mandis has written an insider's history that offers invaluable perspectives to business leaders interested in understanding and managing organizational drift in their own firms.

©2013 Harvard Business School Publishing. Recorded by arrangement with Harvard Business Review Press. (P)2014 HighBridge Company Banks & Banking Business Economic History Economics Leadership Management Management & Leadership Organisational Behavior Professionals & Academics Workplace & Organisational Behavior Banking

Critic reviews

“An accessible, clearly written book. Those interested in all things Goldman will find it useful for its appendixes, which include a timeline of the bank’s history and biographical sketches of its top leaders.”
— The New York Times
“A remarkable new book.”
— The Economist
“In this riveting debut, Columbia Business School professor and former Goldman Sachs executive Mandis examines the factors that tarnished the firm’s reputation in recent years. . . . A must-read for anyone interested in the world of business and finance, history, or organizational dynamics.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Fascinating . . . for its sympathetic yet unflinching study of a firm and an industry that has come to epitomize what is problematic about Western capitalism, What Happened to Goldman Sachs is hard to beat.”
— strategy+business magazine
“entertaining and informative… a welcome addition to the literature on the rise and fall of corporations.”
— Seeking Alpha (seekingalpha.com)
“A profound tale.”
— The Financial Times
“Several authors have tackled the question of how Goldman’s culture changed post-1999 but none so deftly as Steven G. Mandis.”
— The Wall Street Journal
“Mandis’s book describes changes at the bank and across the industry that have contributed to the unflattering portrait of Wall Street that has taken hold since the financial crisis.”
— Politico (politico.com)
“A more somber, studied look at the bank’s culture. . . . His book, [ What Happened to Goldman Sachs] has the added gravitas of being the basis for Mandis’s PhD dissertation on his former employer at Columbia University.”
— Bloomberg Businessweek
All stars
Most relevant
A fair and balanced view of Goldman’s drift in culture; don’t read this for an in depth coverage of Goldman’s business.

The appendix is interesting, but very long (2hrs+). Skip it without losing the core message of the book

Balanced, in detail read on organisational drift

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