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Intel CEO resigns after relationship with employee

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Re: Intel CEO resigns after relationship with employee

#51
post #20
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At most companies it basically means that a manager should not have a romantic relationship with anyone in their chain of command. In the case of a CEO this would extend to the entire company. I know it sounds punitive, but it’s really a question of fairness to every other employee working for that manager — nothing improper needs to be done by either party for it to negatively impact the other employees. It also dis…

> I know it sounds punitive, but it’s really a question of fairness to every other employee working for that manager — nothing improper needs to be done by either party for it to negatively impact the other employees. > It also discourages managers from taking their pick of young staff members, and discourages any lower-level staff who might try to sleep their way to the top. In addition, allowing these kinds of rela…

Oh of course; but I feel this kind of exploitation is closer to sexual assault than a consensual relationship.

Any relationship with a strong power imbalance can lead to this. Which is a big reason companies discourage this through fraternization policies; a sexual predator using your company as a hunting ground is a huge legal risk.

I was more referring to the situation where someone is working under say, a senior VP of another department. The lower status person would have an advantage over their peers in that they would have many more opportunities for personal social interactions with senior leadership as a result of their romantic relationship.

Overall, it’s best to be avoided. :)

Re: Intel CEO resigns after relationship with employee

#53

Interesting though experiment: Let S be the set of all humans. Remove any human from S who had at least one pair of ancestors (no matter how far in the past) that had a boss/subordinate relationship that is now deemed 'inappropriate' in large western countries. How many humans would be left in S? Conjecture: Zero. Does that say anything interesting about humans?

Interesting though experiment: Let S be the set of all humans. Remove any human from S who had at least one pair of ancestors (no matter how far in the past) that had an abusive relationship that is now deemed 'inappropriate' in large western countries. How many humans would be left in S?

Conjecture: Zero.

Does that say anything interesting about humans?

Re: Intel CEO resigns after relationship with employee

#54
post #19

So obviously relationships are bad when there's a power dynamic, and between different management levels is a common subset of this. However it feels like many people are spending more and more time at work, and it also seems cruel to say: "you cannot get to know anyone romantically during 50-75% of your waking day."

   So obviously relationships are bad when 
   there's a power dynamic,
In what sense is this obvious? And according to which substantial notion of power?

Re: Intel CEO resigns after relationship with employee

#55

There is no way you would fire a CEO you actually wanted in place because they had a consensual relationship with a subordinate in the past . Why are US companies always so aggressive about moralising these issues? No one would take issue if he carried a gun at work. Why is it that corporate morals rule?

Politics. People use whatever they can to take each other down at that level. Which is why they get paid so much. For their mindless ambition and to put up with each others mindless ambition.

Re: Intel CEO resigns after relationship with employee

#56
post #19

So obviously relationships are bad when there's a power dynamic, and between different management levels is a common subset of this. However it feels like many people are spending more and more time at work, and it also seems cruel to say: "you cannot get to know anyone romantically during 50-75% of your waking day."

I think the CEO's $19.1 million salary is adequate compensation for the fact his seniority stops him pursuing romantic relationships at work.

If it's not, maybe he should have chosen a different job.

Re: Intel CEO resigns after relationship with employee

#57
post #23

A board doesn’t fire its CEO because they went on a few dates with someone a while back—even if that’s against company policy. Getting the popcorn out to see how this unfolds...

They had so many reasons to push him out. I feel like the board has been aware of the relationship for a while, but they got together one day to figure out which public reason to give for the ousting of Krzanich. And they chose this, which is probably the reason with the least negative impact on whatever is left of Krzanich' career. He may even get high-fives for it at his next gig. At the end of the day, they had to…

Not just insider trading but getting caught so publicly is a bit problematic, especially if you're the SEC. I'm making a guess here but I wouldn't be surprised to here about a pending investigation into the incident that the board would rather distance Intel from before charges get filed.

Re: Intel CEO resigns after relationship with employee

#58
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem wasn't that she was a coworker. It was that she was a subordinate. Nobody cares if two engineers hook up, but it's a Very Bad Thing if your boss starts putting the moves on you. Relationships where one person holds real-world power over another are prone to exploitation and violation of consent.

It's a good thing if you are attracted to the boss. How do we know that the happiness such consensual relationships bring to employees does not outweigh the unhappiness of potential sexual harassment, averaged over all workers?

Leaving aside the supposition of utilitarianism, we don't know. We can only make educated guesses.

Re: Intel CEO resigns after relationship with employee

#59

There is no way you would fire a CEO you actually wanted in place because they had a consensual relationship with a subordinate in the past . Why are US companies always so aggressive about moralising these issues? No one would take issue if he carried a gun at work. Why is it that corporate morals rule?

>No one would take issue if he carried a gun at work You really don't think so? I'm no CEO but I imagine carrying a gun around would at least warrant some public criticism, particularly for a tech CEO in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In areas of the country where some material number of people do carry firearms (e.g. Texas), it's not uncommon to have explicit signs on company buildings that forbid firearms. I imagine that's pretty common policy at many if not most companies.
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