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Office theft. Leaked confidences. Disgruntled employees. Built-up anger and frustration. All of these point to an underlying pressure growing in the business world and seeping into society on every level to form a man-made tsunami.

Office theft. Leaked confidences. Disgruntled employees. Built-up anger and frustration. All of these point to an underlying pressure growing in the business world and seeping into society on every level to form a man-made tsunami.

The symptoms are easy to spot in business settings:

* Defamation of personal character and corporate brands

* Rising discontent among employees over wages and working conditions

* Lay-offs and corporate downsizing

* Lack of control in the work setting

What's behind this increasing surge of strife? What pressures add to the highly damaging man-made tsunami phenomenon? Some causes include:

* Built-up anger plus frustration concerning a hierarchical society

* Feelings of oppression or irrelevance

* Communal turmoil, protests, and riots

* Looting and property destruction

* Rising anger and growing hatred

A few examples of tsunamis we've seen a short time ago in the commerce and political world include the credit catastrophe, financial collapse in Greece, near bankruptcies of European countries, Enron, Merrill Lynch, and many more in the realm of finance, real-estate, insurance, in addition to elsewhere in the corporate world. Something would seem primarily wrong with our company designs and social structure.

This flood of unrest affects not only the people directly involved but also hordes of others as the results radiate out from the center. We see the effects in our local communities and, thanks to the explosion of technology in media, around the world as well.

While this is a complicated matter, one factor that contributes to the tidal wave of anxiety is the belief that some humans are naturally better than others, and all that this involves. This is known as a hierarchical, elitist value system. Though this may sound like a daring proclamation, it is a value system in which our mainstream is greatly deep-rooted. It is a structure of beliefs where there are winners and losers, a divide that produces revolt due to frustration and anger. It is a system of perception that makes an endless and self-defeating rotation. It shows up in companies, nations, and in the wide disparity between First and Third World nations.

This elitist, hierarchical belief system will cause anger and hatred in individuals at the subordinate ranges of the hierarchy. This frustration and anger only proves to those at the peak the need for hierarchy, resulting in still more frustration and anger from the bottom-up - a dangerous and self-reinforcing cycle.

Hierarchical elitism is a mark of cultural irresponsibility, with many looking out only for their own wishes, using the infrastructure to take advantage of others. It is wasteful in its 'everyone for himself' mentality. Maturity lends itself to interdependence, cooperation and a team spirit: resulting in high productiveness and ethics.

In short, this is one of the fundamental flaws in corporate, social and economic systems. It's a fault so profound that tidal-wave triggering societal earthquakes are virtually guaranteed unless leaders in business, teaching, and other local communities take notice and commit themselves to nurturing an atmosphere of experience and cooperation.