The mismanagement of bet-the-company business crises has become pandemic. Consider just the most recent examples.

In December 2016, Yahoo disclosed that three years earlier hackers had stolen confidential information from more than 1 billion accounts, including users’ names, birthdates, phone numbers, encrypted passwords, and backup security data. The company’s announcement of the theft followed its disclosure in September 2016 of another breach of 500 million accounts in 2014. Senior executives had been aware of the 2014 hacking but failed to properly understand or investigate it. Following the December 2016 disclosure, Yahoo’s market value plunged 6 percent, and the sale of its internet business to Verizon was discounted by $350 million. Yahoo’s general counsel resigned as well, and CEO Marissa Mayer lost her 2016 bonus.

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