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The Normalization of Deviant Organizational Practices: The Non-performing Loans Problem in China

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Abstract

Research on deviant organizational practices has demonstrated that normative and cognitive institutional forces contribute to making deviance acceptable. Data from a survey of 3,751 Chinese firms were applied to test the idea that a clearly articulated alternative identity is necessary if a firm is to resist the normalization of deviance. Widespread acceptance of delinquency in repaying loans was shown to make it more likely that a firm adopts that practice, but this normalization process is less likely for firms with a stronger anti-deviance identity.

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  1. Department of Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong SAR

    Jiatao Li & Carmen K. Ng

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  1. Jiatao Li
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Correspondence to Jiatao Li.

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Li, J., Ng, C.K. The Normalization of Deviant Organizational Practices: The Non-performing Loans Problem in China. J Bus Ethics 114, 643–653 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1710-6

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