Hypocrisy

Conceptual Overview

Hypocrisy is a response to a world in which values, ideas, or people are in conflict—a way in which individuals and organizations handle such conflicts. It is a way of trying to satisfy some demands by talk or decisions and others by action. For instance, a company could try to satisfy environmental concerns by producing visions or plans or make decisions about environmental protection while satisfying demands for profitability by continuing to use polluting production[Page 624] processes. To act consistently with what is said and what is decided would be to satisfy one interest while leaving the others completely unsatisfied.

According to standard administrative wisdom and traditional decision theory, management talk and decisions in one direction increase the likelihood for organizational action in the same direction. Situations of conflicting demands make it often easier to act in one direction if either the talk or the decision indicates the opposite, that is, the likelihood of an action decreases the more it is talked about and the more often clear decisions are made about it. Its likelihood increases if what is said and decided is in opposition to it. Talk and decisions in one direction compensate for actions in the opposite direction and vice versa. Talk, decisions, and actions are not “de-coupled” or “loosely coupled” but “coupled,” although in a way other than is usually assumed.

Critical Commentary and Future Directions

Hypocrisy may be used as a conscious strategy by managers for whom the legitimacy of an organization is important. But organizational hypocrisy also arises without anyone having intended it. For example, a decision about a certain action can be the very impetus for the opponents to make active resistance that prevents the implementation of the action. And it is not unusual to set goals in areas where the organization is weak, in areas in which it has not succeeded in satisfying a certain interest through action. Such goals are, by definition, examples of hypocrisy, for they express what is not being done, but the purpose of setting goals may be the opposite of hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy is meaningful only if people value not only organizational actions but also organizational talk and decisions. Modern organizations produce a great deal of talk and decisions. Organizations are seldom secretive about their visions, programs, and important decisions; on the contrary, they are often published. Modern corporations have communication departments that specialize in explaining the what and why of current strategies and decisions to external and internal parties. Politics revolves, to a large extent, around ways of talking and of presenting decisions. And organizations rarely need to go begging for attention—mass media interest is high for organizational planning, strategies, programs, opinions, and decisions. Talk and decisions generally reach wider audiences than actions do.

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