CorporateNature Metaphor Series, No 108
If you faint, you fall to the ground. Fainting is usually caused by insufficient blood flow to the brain (e.g. from low blood pressure), so when you inadvertently assume a horizontal position, this naturally increases the blood pressure in the head and leads to regaining consciousness. Thus fainting becomes a self-stabilising or auto-correcting mechanism.
In a similar way, when a company goes into administration (or Chapter 11 in the USA), it is given some protection from creditors as a last-ditch attempt to recover from past losses and avoid bankruptcy. General Motors and Chrysler both went into Chapter 11 in 2009 but subsequently recovered. So did Delta Air Lines (2005) and United Airlines (2002). Let's see if the forthcoming metaphorical fainting (administration) of British Steel will save the company.
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| Fainting (Source: Wikipedia) |
