Analyzing the London ambulance service's computer aided despatch (LASCAD) failure as a case of administrative evil

Abstract

The 1992 failure of the London Ambulance Service's Computer Aided Despatch (LASCAD) system is well-known. This research suggests that it was not only a failure in a technical or methodological sense but that it was a case of administrative evil. Administrative evil is harm that well-meaning individuals unintentionally commit and remains hidden. Technical rationality and professional expertise create the system for this form of evil to occur. This paper discusses the notion of evil as it applies to organizational phenomena, describes the background and components of administrative evil, and examines the LASCAD case through the lens of administrative evil and the process of moral disengagement.