Harmon, Joel

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Organization Management Journal Volume 13 Issue 3 Article 7 7-2-2016 The Impact of Perceived Corporate Hypocrisy on Employees in the Retail Industry Joel Harmon Fairleigh Dickinson University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.shu.edu/omj  Part of the Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, and the Organizational Communication Commons Recommended Citation Harmon, Joel (2016) "The Impact of Perceived Corporate Hypocrisy on Employees in the Retail Industry," Organization Management Journal: Vol. 13: Iss. 3, Article 7. Available at: https://scholarship.shu.edu/omj/vol13/iss3/7 LINKING THEORY & PRACTICEThe Impact of Perceived Corporate Hypocrisy on Employees in the Retail IndustryJoel HarmonCo-EditorManagement Department, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, New Jersey, USAThe Linking Theory & Practice section contains the article“Exploring U.S. Retail Employees’ Experiences ofCorporate Hypocrisy.” A great many companies havecome under criticism for behaving inconsistently withtheir promises, not acting according to their own policies,and even lying.What happens when a business is perceivedas “hypocritical”—when its actions don’t match its rheto-ric? In recent years, research into this question has mostlylooked at the negative impact on consumers’ and share-holders’ reactions of perceived corporate hypocrisy, andthe consequences (e.g., lost brand equity, sales, and prof-its). In this article, authors Saheli Goswami and Jung E.Ha-Brookshire offer a relatively rare piece of work explor-ing how employees experience corporate hypocrisy (CH),with potentially valuable theoretical and practical insights.To advance our understanding of CH, the authors con-ducted in-depth interviews with employees in theU.S. retail industry (one of the largest employment sectorsin the United States) to explore how they form their per-ceptions of CH and the impacts CH had on their feelings,behavior, and employment. They note that “people mighthave different sets of expectations toward and obligationsfor a corporation as an employee or as a consumer,” andthat “employees are in more vulnerable situations thanconsumers when it comes to responding to perceivedCH.” Thus, they speculate that employees will experiencedifferent consequences of CH than consumers typically do.From their interpretive analysis of 16 interviews, theauthors found that both the corporation and theirimmediate supervisors represented the company forthese study participants. Inconsistencies between thewords and actions of either resulted in these employeesperceiving them as hypocritical in nature. This per-ceived hypocrisy, in turn, seemed to be related to par-ticipants’ feelings and their overall employmentintentions. The authors note that “the consequencesof CH on employees, particularly the study participants,seemed much more severe than those on consumers, asthe study participants expressed their personal moralvalue compromise and voluntary employment termina-tion with visceral physiological responses.” Among thecommonly reported issues that drove participants’ per-ceptions of corporate hypocrisy and led them to feelskeptical, distrustful, threatened, and scared were favor-itism, biased penalizing, and inconsistent instructions.Despite acknowledged limitations, this article hassomething valuable to offer to researchers and managerswho are interested in CH. Theoretically, this study’s insi-der’s look at how immediate supervisors could also createcorporate hypocrisy, jeopardizing retail companies’ imageor reputation, seems to call for a new theory on the sourcesand effects of corporate hypocrisy that could be createdthrough daily activities and performance within corporatesettings. This would differ from existing literature focusingon consumer responses and reactions. In their discussion,the authors suggest many future research opportunities inthis area to gain a holistic picture of the employment andmanagement problems of the retail industry.From a practical perspective, the study’s findings indi-cate the importance of retail company managers or super-visors on sales floors, as they almost become the face of thecompanies for front-line employees who have limitedexposure to corporate management. Thus, the authorssuggest that retail companies might benefit from develop-ing responsible and respectable managers who encourage aconsistent work environment, and who are more commu-nicative and transparent in explaining the rationale behindany inconsistencies, instead of just implementing whatmay seem to be random changes. They urge hiring teamsto specifically consider these common issues while assign-ing candidates to store managerial positions. They assertthat in industries with high employee turnover, such as theretail industry, a focus on creating conditions that reduceCH perceptions among employees can reduce turnoverrates, increase organizational effectiveness, and improveorganization reputation.CONTACT Joel Harmon harmon@fdu.edu Management Department, Silberman College of Business, Fairleigh Dickinson University, 285 MadisonAve., Madison, NJ 07940, USA.ORGANIZATION MANAGEMENT JOURNAL2016, VOL. 13, NO. 3, 167http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15416518.2016.1222787© 2016 Eastern Academy of Management

The Impact of Perceived Corporate Hypocrisy on Employees in the Retail Industry

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The Impact of Perceived Corporate Hypocrisy on Employees in the Retail Industry

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