It promotes kiss ass mentality and the only people left are the ones who blindly follow the boss. If a company ever needs to have Performance reviews, 360 degree reviews are good. The manager also gets to be reviewed by the subordinates anonymously and quickly every one knows where the trust is missing. This eliminates all the managers who are promoted by randomness, and really do not have any leadership skills but p…
Problem with 360s: at least in my experience, I've never seen people "done in" by their direct boss, because the boss wants has too much of a stake in the performance of those below him to be a total jackass. It's middle management and influential co-workers (people who are technically same-level but have more influence over those with power) that you have to watch out for. Much more common than the caricatured asshole boss (a rarity in my experience) is the "too nice" (often overburdened) hands-off boss who inadvertently leaves newbies to be eaten alive by co-workers. 360s are just going to make that sort of Lord of the Flies environment more common and harsher.