Nudging in organizations: How to avoid behavioral interventions being just a façade

•Nudges are viewed as universally effective, but their actual impact is heterogeneous and context-specific.•Organizational nudges are ill-defined concepts that lack robust, long-term evidence of impact.•Managers often use nudges based on anecdotal success.•The qualitative study supports the need for rethinking organizational behavioral interventions.•Continuous experimentation is advocated to refine and validate organizational nudges. The utilization of nudging—behavioral interventions aimed at influencing the actions of employees or clients—has gained traction in organizations due to its perceived universal efficacy and cost-effectiveness. However, this paper presents a critical view, arguing that the success of a nudge is significantly influenced by a specific context, challenging the notion of it being a universal solution for organizational behavior modification. This paper highlights three primary concerns: the absence of a comprehensive behavioral change framework; an overemphasis on immediate effects and ad hoc successes at the expense of changing deep-seated motivations, decision-making capabilities, or organizational processes; and a tendency among managers to rely on anecdotal beliefs rather than robust evidence. The paper offers a framework for understanding these challenges and proposes organizational policies (training of managers and continuous organizational experimentation) to implement effective nudging strategies. This framework’s validity is supported by evidence from semi-structured interviews and focus group with industry professionals.