Does Violent Language Teach Businesses To Play Dirty?

culled from:ceo.com

Steve Jobs was once heard saying, “I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong, I’m going to destroy Android because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.”

A new study published in the Journal of Business Ethics examined the effects that violent rhetoric had on the ethical decision making of a company’s employees.

We’ve heard the adage “all’s fair in love in war.” This phrase exemplifies the findings of the study, which observes that peacetime ethics are commonly thought of as differing from ethics during times of war.

Many business leaders use war and battle metaphors to inspire their teams to achieve their goals. War rhetoric is relatable and paints a vivid picture of the kind of success you are hoping to achieve. As the study points out, metaphors drastically shape how people think about social interactions and make social judgments.

However, CEOs who use violent language in the workplace need to be aware of the implications it carries. The study shows that employees at competing companies are more likely to lower their standards and make less ethical decisions after being threatened with violent language. Those CEOs who use violent rhetoric end up
motivating
rival employees to play dirty.

Participants in the study were asked to read a business case study followed by a paragraph excerpt from the CEOs address. Between participants the excerpt was manipulated to include violent language—words such as “war,” “fight” and “battle” in some, while others used non-violent language. Participants were then asked several questions to measure ethical behaviors.

Researchers found that when the source of violent rhetoric was the rival CEO, employees were significantly more likely to post fake negative reviews and ratings about the competition.

Surprisingly, the study found that when an employee’s own CEO uses violent rhetoric, those employees are less likely to make unethical decisions. Either way, the research shows clear evidence that violent rhetoric influences ethical decision-making—for better or for worse.