What Happened to Goldman Sachs: An Insider’s Story of Organizational Drift and Its Unintended Consequences

Written by Steven G. Mandis

Narrated by Sean Runnette

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Highbridge Company
• Release date: Apr 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781622314478

Steven G. Mandis

Steven G. Mandis is an adjunct associate professor in finance and economics at Columbia Business School, having previously worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and as a senior advisor to McKinsey & Co. He also teaches at Columbia University’s Masters of Sports Management Program. He is the author of What Happened to Goldman Sachs: An Insider’s Story of Organizational Drift and its Unintended Consequences and The Real Madrid Way: How Values Created the Most Successful Sports Team on the Planet (2016).

Reviews for What Happened to Goldman Sachs

[Evan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Stresses values and drift in those, from family style partnership and exploitation of partner pipe dream to more recently short term incentives driving decision making and increased risk taking and value drift

[annbury_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well worth reading, especially for the balanced approach of the author. In my view, having spent 35 years following the industry on Wall Street, the act of going public led to a fatal divorce between risk and reward, since the firms now had almost unlimited capital and no risk for the principals. Mandis goes further than this, pointing out the different focus when one is trading compared to doing banking. A solid contribution to the literature.