Does Supervisory Coaching Behaviour Reduce Salespeople’s Lies?

A Mathieu, C Pousa International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring 2011

Lying is pervading organizations and has a high economic and social toll. Lying among salespeople can be particularly dangerous, as they are at the boundaries of the organization and can affect many organizational outcomes. Traditionally, control systems have been used to reduce information asymmetry and the possibility of opportunistic behaviour (such as lying), and lately it was suggested that managers’ attitudes and role modeling could further reduce them. Building on the social exchange framework, we analyse relational exchanges between managers and subordinates, and we propose that managerial coaching can reduce subordinates’ lies. We present empirical evidence supporting our hypothesis and discuss significant theoretical and managerial implications.