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“Do external factors (i.e. social drivers) nurture individuals' sensitivity (i.e. personal drivers) towards Corporate Hypocrisy and vice versa?” : A study on companies’ actions and individuals’ responses

Organizations are working to develop a good image for themselves towards society.However, the practice of corporate hypocrisy is referring to the opposite. Companies thatshow a discrepancy between words and actions claim to be something they are not.Previously, most focus has been on the institutional side regarding corporate hypocrisy.However, more recent academic research has focused on the effects that influence corporatehypocrisy and the individual's perception of it. Moreover, there is an explicit need toinvestigate the power dynamics of these drivers. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the balance between personal and socialdrivers and whether one is always dominant or if there can be situational switches. This isachieved by answering the research question: Do external factors (i.e. social drivers) nurtureindividuals’ sensitivity (i.e. personal drivers) towards corporate hypocrisy and vice versa?This study will give insight into the individual's perception of corporate hypocrisy and howit is built by examining this question. Thus, we analyzed eight individuals from sevendifferent countries to obtain a diverse response. Further, this study used a qualitative researchapproach in which eight semi-structured interviews were conducted, and the empirical datawas later derived through the use of a thematic analysis. With the application of both the Corporate Social Responsibility Framework (CSR) and Self-congruity Framework, it has been found that both social and personal drivers can be dominantin different situations. However, the analysis further found that an additional driver can bedictating both previous drivers. This was identified to be "the level of affectedness". Thismakes it reasonable to suggest that companies should put additional focus on such drivers asthey may decide how a company is viewed by the public. On a societal level, these researchfindings suggest that it can be valuable to understand the origin and drivers that form anotherperson's opinion, which in turn could contribute as a building block to a society andworkforce that is coloured by equality and inclusion.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-226644
Date January 2024
CreatorsWerwick, Niklas, Lust, Dennis
PublisherUmeå universitet, Företagsekonomi
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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