[lenazegher]

> I wonder if it actually goes one step deeper -- the fact that employees are willing or feel justified in lifting flats of free soda is the first indicator that the company is screwed

I would guess it's got more to do with size than anything else.

When you're in a startup with 50 people and you know the guy who orders the office groceries by name, very few people would start taking home crates of soda. Such an act would have observable consequences (no soda for your team-mates, or office grocery bill goes up very noticeably and you feel like you're ripping off everyone else).

If you work in an office building of 5,000 people, taking home crates of soda doesn't have observable consequences in the same way. Perhaps the office grocery bill goes up 0.5% or one of your teammates has to walk 20 yards to the next fridge over to grab a soda, but from your perspective the effects are marginally indistinguishable from 0. It becomes "wrong" in abstract principle rather than "wrong" in observable effects.