I remember this story but I can't remember the specifics and my queries to google have maximum SEO keywords. So if someone remembers and can fill in my blanks please and thank you.
There was this CEO who was brought onto a failing US retail company. His big idea to save the company was to foster internal competition. His logic was if the free market was the most efficient way to structure a society then doing that internally in a company would make it more efficient. The company cratered for entirely predictable reasons.
Who was the CEO who was the company? Am I completely making this up?
It's not quite the same thing, but John Birt, Director of the BBC in the 90s, made departments charge each other instead of working together as one company. So the renowned Radiophonic Workshop had to close because other departments hired cheaper outside studios instead and they couldn't make enough profit to keep going.