Principal–agent problem
Etymology
From principal, Latin principalis, "chief, first" (the party in charge), and agent, from Latin agere, "to do, to act" (the one acting on their behalf). The problem is the gap between the two: the agent does the acting but doesn’t fully own the consequences.
noun · /PRIN-sih-pul AY-junt PROB-lum/
The conflict that arises when someone hired to act on your behalf has interests of their own.
What it names
Why the contractor, broker, or manager acting "for you" may not act like you — a structural tension, not just bad character.
Example
Paying the recruiter per placement created a principal–agent problem — their incentive was to fill the seat, not to find the right person.
Related idea
Moral hazard is the risk-taking symptom; misaligned incentives is the plain-language diagnosis.