The Walls Have Ears: The Impact of Selective Disclosure on Employee Evaluations

• DOI: 10.5465/ambpp.2021.13381abstract
• Publication Date: 2021-07-26T20:21:38Z
• Authors: Navya Pandit; Anne Jacqueminet; Christiane Bode
• Keywords: Materiality; Identification

Firms face increasing pressures from external stakeholders to be transparent regarding their environmental performance. To avoid backlash, firms oftentimes choose disclose only positive performance while downplaying negative impacts. Engagement in this kind of selective disclosure may have consequences for unknown hitherto. Although, prior literature has looked at the perspective stakeholders, little is known about how internal e.g. employees, evaluate same. This study aims explore conditions under which employees firm’s behaviour negatively. We find that firm-level material dimensions associated with employee evaluations. However, these evaluations are thwarted when occurs alongside harmful damage caused by firms. Based on organizational identification and cognitive dissonance, we theorize interpret materiality as a signal firm intention more contaminated damaging eliciting