Preventing Cancer: Organizational Lying, Bullshitting, and Deceiving

ONDRÁČEK, Tomáš. Preventing Cancer: Organizational Lying, Bullshitting, and Deceiving. In CaL2019: Cognition and Lying. 2019.

Basic information

• Original name: Preventing Cancer: Organizational Lying, Bullshitting, and Deceiving
• Authors: ONDRÁČEK, Tomáš (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: CaL2019: Cognition and Lying, 2019.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Presentations at conferences
• Field of Study: 50204 Business and management
• Country of publisher: Czech Republic
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: BoA
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14560/19:00111764
• Organization unit: Faculty of Economics and Administration
• Keywords in English: lying; organizational theory; deceiving

Abstract

“Our product can prevent cancer,” “You will be fit and healthy without any effort,” “We did react swiftly,” “We do consider our customers first,” these are just some general examples of problematic statements made by organizations in their advertising or communication towards a public audience. Similar statements were labeled as lies made by organizations. In some cases, organizations were fined, and it was forbidden for them to use these statements further. Organizations also tried in several instances to dismiss accusations of lying as misunderstandings or re-labeled given communications as unsuccessful campaigns. Many experts consider honesty as the primary principle of organizational communication to the public; some of them even directly say to managers: do not lie! Thus, what is a lie in the organizational context? How to define a lying done by an organization? The definition of lying usually deals with a person as a human individual. However, an organization can be seen as a person too. It has its rights and duties. It also poses knowledge and behaves in a certain way as a social player. In this manner, organizations also communicate, and it might use deceptive strategies regarding its stakeholders. Thus, questions arise: Are today’s approaches to lying and bullshitting applicable to lying and bullshitting done by an organization? How can we distinguish between a lying organization and a lying member of an organization? What conditions have to be met to determine that an organization is lying?