Mount Everest Case

Case Assignment – Mount Everest - 1996

Why did this tragedy occur? What is the root cause of this disaster?

In my opinion this tragedy occurred due to several causes which were ignored especially by the team leaders but also by the rest of the team. This expedition was about leadership, decision making and team work, but it turned out to have unqualified climbers, poor logistic planning and execution, limited investment in technology, unclear definition of procedures and policies, no team integration, and most importantly lack of responsible leadership. Some examples of the causes were:

* Lack of responsible leadership – both team leaders and guides had to carefully analyze conditions of weather and should have also talked to their peers which had chosen to turn back. As cited on Mount Everest case, Boukreev was concerned with the weather conditions and wanted for his feeling to be heard, but Fisher did not look upon his advice. They did not take in account changes and did not consider them as possible problems. Also starting at the base camp few climbers were sick and not completely ready to pursue the expedition. Many of them felt emotionally and physically unready. Scott Fisher itself seemed exhausted from a series of unexpected logistical problems.

* Lack of team unity – most climbers met each other for the first time in Nepal. Unfortunately both leaders were not concerned in creating a unit. People were unfamiliar and had no trust in group companions. As mentioned by Krakauer: “We were a team in name only”. The trust to leaders was doubtful by some climbers. Even the guides started to doubt the plans of the leaders. The team did not respect the danger. Lack of team integration and decidedly leadership.

* Limited investment in technology – both leaders had taken only few radios which the planned to use but only the leaders and guides would carry a radio, and not the clients. Adams was concerned with the number of radios, but Fischer was not...