When a company is at the center of a crisis (TEPCO or BP, for example), should that company's top executive resign to take responsibility?

One should only resign if it was the CEO's choices and actions were the causes that led up to said crisis or means to handle it. Responsibility should only lie on the shoulders of the ones that made the bad choices that cause an accident or lack of support in damage control.

No, for the same reasons suicide is not an acceptable way to take responsibility for ones actions. Resigning is the opposite of facing the music.

How does it make anything better? The company needs to pay finically for its mistakes, the resignation of the CEO doesn't do anything except show when the going gets tough the company's boss wimps out.

The problem with TEPCO is they already started lying when just after the tsunami, they said no radiation was escaping to the environment. But they have had to vent the steam off the reactor cores to relieve the ongoing pressures. That hydrogen-filled steam is radioactive. When plants #1 and later #3 exploded due to hydrogen buildup reacting with oxygen in the air, they couldn't deny it any longer and admit to the public that radiation was escaping to the environment and that residents should evacuate.

the people who cause a problem are not going to be the people who fix it. A clean break is needed along with a new attitude. Merely dragging along the same dolt(s) who allowed the same thinking will not change thinking, no matter how many times they bow.

resignation does no preclude investigation or jail time and sends a signal to other managers that they too might have to go.

plus ... not all disasters and crisises are created alike.

At some level you have got to realize that an earthquake is not your fault. Neither is a tsunami. The way you handled it could have been better, but quitting is definitely not taking responsibility.

If the CEO also gives up his pension, his 'consultancy' and other perks, yes. If he retains all those,he's just bailing out but benefitting. No purpose to that.

It is not always the CEO's fault that an incident happened. Resgining when it was an accident or a natural disaster just shows that they knew something would happen and that theu did not try to fix that issue. What they should do is all the can to fix the issue as fast as possiable.

The guy should stay on and right the ship instead of going on vacation to the Bahamas for a month.

Yes, they should resign themselves to a life behind bars when it's clear that their negligence played a large part.

CEO's should resigned when he/she is incompetent or/and ethics was violated.

CEO resigned because the board members, the company, and stockholders want a clean break in order for profits to not fall.

If the mess will result in two quarters of failing to meet their numbers, they need to leave. The shareholders and stakeholders expect it.

In TEPCO's case, the figure head's departure might not result in needed reform.

One function of a CEO is to become the official scapegoat for the company so its other executuves, investors and stockholders can escape blame for decisions they were also a part of. This is one reason CEO's are paid so much.

This sort of thing is a form of deception. It leads the public into believing everything is fixed and OK again when actually you still have 99 percent of the same bad decision-makers working at the company. More bad desisions will result.

Drag them out of those expensive Executive leather chairs then tar and feather them.

I don't like the options on this poll.

I don't like the options on this poll.

Me neither. I only commented not voted because of the narrow simplicity of the question

Mistakes are made. Show some leadership and get organized. If the disaster is the result of poor decisions by the top executives AND the other people directly below, then the top executive must resign. As they say in China, "Heads need to roll," when poor decision are made. Of course, Japan and other civilized countries will not literally "roll the heads" although some neighbors have not hesitated. It would be interesting to know from a JT report how many people who have resigned in similar situations return to a leadership position within three years.

It is their main responsibility to take over the recovery task...

In Japan's case I think seppuku would be the best choice.