UNICEF: Caught in a Hypocrisy Loop

Dr. Julia K. Hagn

doi:10.5771/9783845282718

Summary

On the basis of an in-depth study of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), this book sheds light on the phenomenon of unintended yet undesirable institutionalisation processes in organisations. The separation of rhetoric and action, known as organised hypocrisy, is both a valuable and dangerous tool for organisations. While it serves to ensure organisational survival, it also causes fragmentation, ultimately leading to a hypocrisy loop that an organisation cannot escape. The consequences are highly detrimental to its internal workings and its external performance. Thus, the study disproves the assumption that organised hypocrisy is per se functional to an organisation. By revealing the dynamics that occur if rhetoric and action are separated for many years, the model the book develops also bridges a gap in the literature on sociological institutionalism, which lacks a plausible theory on institutionalisation processes in organisations. Moreover, the book also provides unique insights into the work UNICEF does.

Search publication

Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2018
Publication date: 19.01.2018
ISBN-Print: 978-3-8487-3947-9
ISBN-Online: 978-3-8452-8271-8
Publisher: Nomos, Baden-Baden
Series: Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik
Volume: 18
Language: English
Pages: 270
Product type: Book Titles

Titelei/Inhaltsverzeichnis No access Pages 1 - 14
Zusammenfassung No access Pages 15 - 18
1. Theme of the Book No access
2. The Relevance of Research on International Organizations No access
3. The Explanatory Power of the Sociology of Knowledge No access
4. The Case of Institutionalized Organized Hypocrisy at UNICEF No access
5. Methodological Approach No access
1. 1. The Concept of Organized Hypocrisy No access
  2. Promise and Limits of Sociological Institutionalism No access
  3. 1. Research Findings No access
    2. The Puzzle of Persistent Organized Hypocrisy No access
  4. Conclusion No access
2. 1. The Achilles' Heel of the Concept of Organized Hypocrisy No access
  2. The Dialectic Interplay of Structure and Agent No access
  3. 1. Routinization No access
    2. Objectivation and Internalization No access
    3. Sedimentation No access
  4. 1. The Struggle for Reality Construction No access
    2. The Loop Effect No access
  5. A Circular Model of the Institutionalization Process No access
  6. Conclusion No access
1. 1. 1. Fulfilling Basic Needs with Shrinking Resources No access
    2. Emergence of a New Norm No access
  2. 1. A Massive Campaign for Child Survival No access
    2. The Trouble with Rights No access
  3. Inconsistencies in Talk and Action No access
  4. Diffusion of the Rights Norm No access
  5. Conclusion No access
2. 1. The Struggle to Redefine Organizational Reality No access
  2. The Quest for Unity: An Approach Rife with Tensions No access
  3. Implementing the Rights Approach in the Field No access
  4. UNICEF's World Threatened by Fragmentation No access
  5. Internalization of Organized Hypocrisy No access
  6. Conclusion No access
3. 1. Changes in the Aid Architecture No access
  2. 1. Results-based Management No access
    2. The Status of Rights in the Diagonal Approach No access
  3. 1. Sedimentation of Organized Hypocrisy No access
    2. Continuing Fragmentation No access
  4. Organized Hypocrisy as Standard Behavior No access
  5. Creation of a Myth No access
  6. Conclusion No access
1. Understanding Organized Hypocrisy at UNICEF No access
2. Consequences of Institutionalized Organized Hypocrisy No access
3. Prospects for Future Research No access
4. Milestones of and for UNICEF from 1978 to 2012 No access
Bibliography No access Pages 251 - 270