When bad news is sugarcoated: Information distortion, organizational search and the behavioral theory of the firm
研究了负面绩效信息被系统扭曲时，如何影响组织学习和未来绩效，发现高信息扭曲导致更差绩效，但低扭曲率在某些条件下可能比文献认为的更无害。
Most work in strategy and organization theory assumes that performance feedback is straightforward to interpret and truthfully reported. We raise the following question: How might the systematic distortion of negative performance information affect organizational learning and future performance? We formulate a model where (1) members do not always report the truth about what they know about their performance level, especially when performance is below aspiration and (2) their propensity to distort information is subject to social influence. We find that organizations that are characterized by a high level of information distortion tend to perform more poorly but that the effect of a low rate of sugarcoating may, in some conditions, be more benign than the literatures seem to suggest. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.