Prof. Andre Spicer Of Cass Business School Comments On The Death Of An Intern At Merrill Lynch

LONDON - Aug. 23, 2013 - PRLog -- Professor Andre Spicer of Cass Business School has highlighted the extreme hours culture of internships, and has questioned whether they are useful to business.

Commenting on the news that a summer intern at Bank of America Merrill Lynch was found dead in his apartment after seemingly working three consecutive nights, Prof. Spicer had this to say:

“The tragic death of a summer Intern at Bank of America's London office has thrown light on the extreme hours culture. Extreme hours are less about getting things done and more about showing commitment.

“The real reasons are cultural. All nighters are seen as a rite of passage. They show an intern is willing to push themselves beyond any reasonable limits at work. Long hours are part of the normal practice in many large professional service firms. But extreme hours are often reinforced by interns themselves who celebrate stories of heroic individuals who repeatedly work through the night.

“This case reminds us that large firms need to ask themselves just how productive and healthy long hours actually are. If large firms hope to be sustainable and attractive to employees, they need to tackle the extreme hours culture.”

Prof. Spicer has also written a piece for the major German newspaper Die Welt regarding this tragic news, displaying his international expertise in the business world.

Cass Business School’s Prof. Andre Spicer is part of the Faculty of Management, which offers a PhD programme (http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/courses/phd). Visit the Cass site to find out more about the range of postgraduate business degrees available at Cass Business School, including a Executive PhD (http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/courses/executive-phd) course for business professionals.