Scandals are pervasive in many areas of human life. Organizational leaders are human, and sometimes they are involved in scandalous issues that affect the organization. We propose a characterization of scandals that explicitly considers the potential benefits of scandals for transgressors. Even if scandals are frequently considered as undesirable for the targets or transgressors, we develop four rationales by which scandals can be beneficial for the scandal targets. First, scandals can propel the individual and the organization or cause into the limelight and generate a low cost publicity that can serve the interest of the target, e.g., by increasing the visibility and salience of a given issue or getting the right-to-explain what happened with great mass media coverage. Second, scandal targets can decide to serve as altruistic or egoistic scapegoats. Third, scandal targets can use scandals to divert attention from more serious issues. Fourth, scandals can constitute a way to disadvantage competitors or foes who would be more harmed than the initial self-inflicted target. Moreover, for each rationale, we suggest some conditions of its success. Anecdotal evidence and real-world examples are also provided to illustrate and support these rationales.

中文翻译：

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丑闻的战略用途

丑闻在人类生活的许多领域无处不在。组织领导者是人，有时他们会卷入影响组织的丑闻。我们建议对丑闻进行描述，明确考虑丑闻对违规者的潜在好处。即使丑闻经常被认为对目标或违法者不利，我们也提出了四个理由，使丑闻对丑闻目标有利。首先，丑闻可以推动个人和组织或事业成为众人瞩目的焦点，并产生可以为目标利益服务的低成本宣传，例如，通过提高特定问题的知名度和显着性或获得解释权大规模媒体报道发生了什么。第二，丑闻目标可以决定充当利他主义或利己主义的替罪羊。第三，丑闻目标可以利用丑闻来转移对更严重问题的注意力。第四，丑闻可以构成一种使竞争对手或敌人处于不利地位的方式，他们会比最初的自我伤害目标受到更大的伤害。此外，对于每一个理由，我们都提出了一些成功的条件。还提供了轶事证据和现实世界的例子来说明和支持这些基本原理。