Bad Management Danger Signs

The good news for investors and employees is that there are firms and industries where focus on shareholders still does exist.

For one, there's the brutal of the world of finance.

To take just one example, Goldman Sachs(GS Quote) has seen its stock almost triple over the last five years, even taking into account the recent dip for the credit crunch and subprime mess.

Goldman is exceptional in some ways, but in others it is reflective of the general health of an industry dedicated to making money and providing returns to their owners, the shareholders.

In Wall Street's glass and marble towers, there is little place for operations that don't consistently make money. Units that don't produce are pruned, and workers are fired until profits flow once again.

It's a daily knock-down, drag-out fight in the industry. Workers get hired and fired all the time.

But that has actually been very healthy for both shareholders and employment in the industry.

As the market continues to bounce up and down, investors looking for a sense of where to put their money would do well to look at the attitude of the companies' management teams and for these danger signs.