UNICEF: Caught in a Hypocrisy Loop. The Institutionalization of Organized Hypocrisy at the United Nations Children's Fund

On the basis of an in-depth study of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) the book sheds light on the phenomenon of unintended, yet undesirable institutionalization processes in organizations. The separation of rhetoric and action, known as Organized Hypocrisy, is both a valuable and dangerous tool for organizations. While it serves to secure organizational survival, it causes fragmentation, ultimately leading to a hypocrisy loop that an organization cannot escape. The consequences are highly detrimental to its internal workings and its external performance. Thus, the study disproves the assumption that Organized Hypocrisy is per se functional to an organization. By unfolding the dynamics that occur if rhetoric and action are separated for many years, the model developed also closes a gap in the literature on sociological institutionalism that lacks a plausible theory of institutionalization processes in organizations. Moreover unique insights into the work of UNICEF are given.