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Companies must maintain a certain legitimacy so that their aims and activities are supported by their environment. However, the environment contains groups with contradictory and irreconcilable interests. How can productive efficiency be ensured while respecting environmental interests? Nils Brunsson (1993; 2002) suggests a solution: organizational hypocrisy. The aim of this research is to study organizational hypocrisy and to understand its management. Two organizations coexist within any company: the action organization that coordinates informal actions and the political organization that produces legitimacy to satisfy the external environment. According to Brunsson, this split between the action and political organizations is made possible by organizational hypocrisy, which satisfies different groups’ interests within and outside of the organization. Companies need to act irrationally while appearing rational. We conclude that companies can satisfy both their organizational aims and their environmental values by managing hypocrisy, and decoupling the action and political organizational functions. Each one will satisfy a goal: environmental legitimacy for the political organization and economic legitimacy for the action organization.

  • organizational hypocrisy
  • decoupling
  • irrationality
  • action organization
  • political organization
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