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Honourable Members and Dishonourable Deeds: Sensemaking, Impression Management and Legitimation in the `Arms to Iraq Affair'

Andrew D. Brown

The University of Cambridge, a.brown{at}jims.cam.ac.uk

Matthew Jones

Department of Engineering and the Judge Institute of Management Studies at the University of Cambridge, m.jones{at}jims.cam.ac.uk

The general assumption of consonance between belief and action in individual and organizational behaviour has meant that relatively little attention is paid in the organizational literature to how individuals and organizations respond to allegations of belief/act discrepancy. In this article we identify three forms of response to such allegations, self-deception, hypocrisy and scapegoating, and suggest how they may be interrelated. It is proposed that these responses may be seen as important means whereby individuals make sense of events and present their actions to others. The argument is developed and deployed with reference to the British `Arms to Iraq Affair', which was the subject of detailed scrutiny through an extensive public inquiry. The principal research contribution of our article is to problematize the issue of belief/act discrepancy in a way which invites the juxtaposition of sensemaking and impression management concepts.

Key Words: hypocrisy • impression management • legitimacy • scapegoating • self-deception • sensemaking

Human Relations, Vol. 53, No. 5, 655-689 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/0018726700535003
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