If Donald Trump loses, a Brand fails, & an Academic can't deliver, who is to blame?

Frankly I am amused when I hear Sean Hannity say the blame for a Trump loss should be heaped on Cruz and others. Sean's got it dead wrong. If Trump loses, it will be Trump who is to blame. In fact if Trump loses, it will be the Icarus Paradox rearing up all over again!

Its the weak who point fingers at others. Agreed, there may have been the external enablers, but failures ultimately must be pinned on those who make the decisions. For example, instead of gunning after Cruz, Trump can focus on his real opponent. If he doesn't and it costs him, its squarely his fault. In the marketplace, if a brand can't exact consumer patronage, blame the marketer and every other business function responsible for the brand. Now I am not shunning failure, I am only 'justly' pinning the blame. All marketer mishaps are in the end failures of marketing decision making. In theory we'd say the marketer messed up on decisions taken on the marketing mix variables. Either they got the product wrong, or the price, or the communication, or distribution and retailing, and so on.

Now what's true for marketers, businesses, and Donald Trump is true for academics too. If as an academic I fall short in the classroom, despite all external enablers to that failure, the blame must be mine and mine alone. I got it wrong.

Period.

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