"entirely attributable to a complete lack of any competent management"
Not entirely. You've got to attribute some responsibility to whoever wrote it.
I don't agree.
Whomever hired him for the job was problem number #1. They didn't specify that they wanted the code and documentation in English when they hired a presumably polish developer.
The manager who totally failed to provide any oversight or supervision and then didn't even glance at the documentation handed in is problem #2.
The manager who agreed the code and documentation was of acceptable quality and then allowed the program to go live is problem #3.
If at any point the code or documentation had have been glanced at then it would have noticed that it wasn't in English. While they still had the developer, a few hours work with find and replace with the presumably multi lingual developer could have translated the variable names to English making it much more supportable and they could have asked for an English set of documentation.
One of the core principles of management is delegation. This manager has not delegated at all. He's utterly abdicated responsibility, a problem has occurred as a result and he's then trying to shift blame onto the developer. This is inexcusable and unacceptable management incompetence.
If you don't have time to supervise yourself to an acceptable standard because you've got to many staff then you create junior managers, also known as foremen/team leaders who you get to supervise their staff so you only have to keep an eye on a few people. You don't just cross your fingers and hope everything will work out ok!
Biting the hand that feeds IT
