Deception and lies in business strategy

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of deceit as a business strategy. There is ample evidence in the mainstream media of deceitful strategies in business, yet there is a lack of discovery of deceit as a strategic tool in the mainstream literature.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper that first explains deceit and interprets the use of deceit as strategic tool in business using case vignettes as evidence. The paper puts forth a convincing case that there is enough evidence to substantiate our proposition that deceit is indeed part of the repertoire of tools utilised by some businesses.

Findings

The value of this paper is that it highlights why deceit is used strategically to achieve profit motives of businesses.

Originality/value

This paper attempts to fill a gap that exists in the extant literature and would especially benefit management practitioners and business academics in appreciating the use of deceit as a business strategy.

Citation

Chelliah, J. and Swamy, Y. (2018), "Deception and lies in business strategy", Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 39 No. 6, pp. 36-42. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBS-09-2017-0135