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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 Ferez 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...