Chapter 2Perception, Personality, and Emotions 69OBAT WORKCBC VIDEO CASEINCIDENT
NovaScotian Crystal
Do opposites attract? Meet Denis Ryan and Rod
McCulloch—partners in NovaScotian Crystal, a small com-
pany situated on the quaint waterfront of Halifax.
NovaScotian Crystal makes fine crystal the traditional,
old-fashioned, expensive way, with trained craftspeople. It is
the only company in Canada that produces mouth-blown,
hand-cut crystal.
Ryan started the company in the late 1990s on an
impulse. He had already had successful careers in the enter-
tainment and the financial services sectors. With a vision,
intrigue, creativity, an impulsive nature, and a contagious
enthusiasm for making crystal the traditional way, Ryan set
up his glassworks. He even convinced craftspeople to come
from Ireland to work for him.
After a few years of making crystal, but not many sales,
Ryan found himself facing a serious financial crisis and pos-
sible bankruptcy. He needed someone who could focus on
the financial side of the business. On another impulse, Ryan
hired Rod McCulloch and a new partnership was born. Ryan
took on the role of chair, figurehead, and liaison, while
McCulloch became president.
McCulloch—a details, numbers, cost-conscious, organ-
ized kind of guy—looked for ways to turn the company
around. Using his years of experience as an accountant, he
thought about how to manage the company better, make
it more efficient, and iron out production. He then began
searching for more ways to cut costs and increase sales.
With each taking on different roles, Ryan and McCulloch
worked well together. While McCulloch presented tough
cost-cutting measures, Ryan brought impulsive ideas about
new markets and, often, much-needed personal and emo-
tional support. Even in the face of continuous failures anda strong personality but, for the most part, kept his mis-
deeds to little white lies.
Friends remember Dennis as an easygoing kid who did well
in school without trying very hard. He was elected “class politi-
cian” by his high school graduating class in 1964. He went to
Seton Hall, paying his way through college by playing guitar in
a band. He served in Vietnam, held a few accounting jobs,
and eventually joined Tyco in 1975.
Over the course of the 1980s, Kozlowski’s happy-go-
lucky demeanor disappeared. As he climbed the ladder at
Tyco, he became a corporate tough guy, both respected and
feared. He eventually become CEO in 1992 and oversaw
the rapid expansion of the company.
Meanwhile, Kozlowski learned to live big. He had a $17
million apartment in New York, a $30 million mansion in
Florida, and a $15 million yacht. He spent $20 million on art
for his luxury homes. He took extravagance to the
extreme—for instance, spending $6000 on a shower cur-
tain! The more he made, the more he spent—and the more
he allegedly stole. Although his total compensation was
$170 million in 1999, it was not enough. He manipulated
the company’s employee relocation fund and Key Employee
Loan Program (the latter created to help executives pay
taxes due on stock options) to take hundreds of millions
in interest-free funds. In 2001, for instance, he gave his
wife $1.5 million to start a restaurant, spent $2.1 million on
a birthday party in the Greek Islands for his wife, and gave
away $43 million in corporate funds to make philanthropic
contributions in his own name.
A former Harvard professor suggests Kozlowski was
undone by a rampant sense of entitlement: “By entitlement
I mean an aspect of a narcissistic personality who comes to
believe that he and the institution are one” and thus “that
he can take what he wants when he wants it.”Questions
1. How did Kozlowski’s past shape his personality?- Does this case contradict the view that personality is
largely genetically derived? Explain. - What does this case say about corporate ethics?
- In the movie Wall Street,Michael Douglas’s character
says, “Greed is good.” Is this true? How does this
apply to Kozlowski? - “Kozlowski just did what anybody would do if they
had the chance. The people at fault in this story are
Tyco’s Board of Directors for not controlling their
CEO.” Do you agree or disagree? Discuss.
Source:Based on A. Bianco, W. Symonds, and N. Byrnes, “The Rise
and Fall of Dennis Kozlowski,” BusinessWeek,December 23, 2002,
pp. 64–77.continued