From Hire to Liar: The Role of Deception in the Workplace
ISBN: 9781501729881
Platform/Publisher: JSTOR / Cornell University Press
Digital rights: Users: unlimited; Printing: chapter; Download: chapter
Subjects: Business ethics; Organizational behavior; Deception; Work ethic; Private investigators;

In this rigorous examination, anthropology and sociology professor Shulman studies more than 30 different workplace environments to reveal the various methods and rationales behind employee deception, from "Subterranean Education and Training" to "Deception as Social Currency" to "Goofing Off and Getting Along." Shulman opens his report with a detailed analysis of private detectives and their use of deception as "official work," classifying a number of strategies which he methodically uncovers in typical office permutations-including a litany of usual suspects such as "exaggerated resumes, exploitative bosses, self-interested shirking, collusion against disliked collegues [and] lying to clients." Shulman explains the utility, purpose and effect of "informal deception" on workplace ethics and productivity in great detail, including plenty of on-site interviews with employees and managers, making this a highly informative but at times overwhelming volume. Those workers with an academic mind will find much to consider here, but readers looking for a user-friendly guide to office deception will have to look elsewhere. (Dec.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

David Shulman is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at Lafayette College.


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