ABSTRACT
The chapter shows how defences against the death of the organisation were evidenced and presented in emergent themes of mania, denial, greed, and splitting. Klein's theory has been helpful in building on the original contribution of Sigmund Freud. The splitting of the developing ego into good and bad objects is relevant for Klein and others in the object relations school. However, at the root of this splitting are the unconscious processes Freud identified. The chapter examines the defended response of individuals, vulnerable within this dying organisation. Defence mechanisms are also employed at an organisational level: repression is a useful tool to deny a crisis, projection can be directed to place failure into other, less achieving, organisations, and splitting can be used as a means of protecting the organisation from its less savoury aspects. The negative ethical and social connotations of global financial dirty work have stigmatised the work that once brought the employees enormous pride and hope for the future.
