Publication: SAM Advanced Management Journal
Publication Date: 22-MAR-05
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Author: Philippe, Thomas W. ; Koehler, Jerry W.
Article Excerpt
Intuition and common sense suggest that hypocrisy in management--"do as I say and not as I do"--will have negative effects on employees. The same goes for inconsistencies between the organization's stated mission and values and management's actual behavior. Can these effects be measured? A statistical study based on 396 responses (out of 500) uncovered three key factors or constructs affecting perceived organizational hypocrisy: perceived management actions, perceived culture, and perceived rewards. Overall, a perception of organization hypocrisy correlated positively with an employee's intention to leave. Other results examined the separate effects of the three factors on two groups of employees--those intending to stay and those intending to leave.
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Hypocrisy in an organization has meaning to anyone who has encountered it. Organization leaders articulate behavioral expectations of others, but disregard their stated expectations in their own conduct. For example organizational leaders claim that "quality is job number one," but, then focus only on meeting productions schedules. Or, top executives insist on significant cost reductions while rewarding themselves lavishly.
Fernandez-Revuelta Perez and Robson (1999) refer to organizational hypocrisy as inconsistencies or disjuncture when "(a) talk results in informal agreements; (b) decisions result in formal discussions or policies which are recorded within the organizational hierarchy and usually enacted through written documents, including plans and budgets; and (c) actions where organization actors "do" as opposed to what they have formally agreed or informally said that they would do. The inconsistency between talk, actions, and organizational goals often reflects multiple and perhaps contradictory messages" (1999, p. 389). Fernandez-Revuelta Perez and Robson postulate that organizational hypocrisy is initiated when good decisions can be easily stated and not so easily achieved. Similarly, Spiegel (1999) describes a hypocrite as a person who espouses beliefs, words, and actions that are inconsistent with his or her other actions.
Although hypocrisy is often acknowledged as pervasive in an organization, its constructs and actual effects are not as clear. The primary purpose of this paper is to identify those factors or constructs associated with perceived organizational hypocrisy. The question we address is: What is important to organizational members (employees) when they assess hypocrisy behavior in their leaders? Numerous researchers have speculated that perceptions of organizational inconsistency have an affect on organizational members in terms of job satisfaction, absenteeism, commitment, and intention to leave (Jensen and Van Gilnow, 1985; Brussun, 1989; Philippe and Koehler, 2004). What remains to be answered is: "What constructs emerge when an organizational member perceives organizational hypocrisy." To determine the emerging factors of perceptions of organizational hypocrisy we first operationally defined the concept of perceived organizational hypocrisy, followed by the development of a survey instrument to facilitate a factor analysis. Further, we examine these factors relative to an organization member's intention to leave his or her position.
Definition of Terms
For the purpose of this study, "perceived organizational hypocrisy" is the voluntary behavior of an individual acting as an organizational trustee or a person who extols or makes a public proclamation or action that establishes a critical expectation in other organizational members. This is followed by a trustee's disregard for fulfilling the expectations. In a nutshell, perceived organizational hypocrisy is the perceived inconsistency between words, previous actions, and subsequent action of the organization's trustees. "Intention to leave" is defined as a thoughtful desire to exit the organization within one year.
Review of Key Concepts Affecting Perceived Organization Hypocrisy
Discussions of inconsistencies in the organization that relate to organizational hypocrisy were made salient in Argyris and Schon's 1974 work titled "Theory in Practice." Their concept of perceived organizational hypocrisy focused on the disconnection between the organization's espoused theory and its theory-in-use. Simply stated, organization management and members espouse beliefs, values, principles, etc., and give allegiance to them, but do not behave in accordance with them. There are inconsistencies between what the organization members say and what they do (Argyris and Schon, 1974, p. 6). This disconnect can be covert, obvious, implicit, or explicit.
Steven Kerr's (1975) classic article "On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B" illustrates the Argyris and Schon theory. Kerr describes practical issues of the use and abuse of rewards and other inducements to motivate people in organizations. He contends that a formal reward system should positively reinforce desired behaviors, not cause inconsistencies to be surmounted. For example, incentive-based compensation systems (Gomez Mejia and Balkin, 1992) and formal organizational norms of ethical conduct that reward violations of those norms are likely to cause perceived organization hypocrisy. These predicaments or conditions create and reinforce linkages between the organizational...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.
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