N the "bad apple-bad barrel" analogy, the bad barrel refers to

It alludes to a few people dependably get things done in their own particular self-intrigue, paying little respect to authoritative objectives or acknowledged good guidelines; they are once in a while called "rotten ones." However, associations now and then turn out to be "terrible barrels" themselves, not on the grounds that the people inside them are deceptive but rather on the grounds that the weights to survive and succeed make conditions that reward exploitative conduct.