Research On Employee Cynicism About Organizational Change

Organizational cynicism is an extremely negative attitude which is widespread and easily ignored in organizations. The rapid development of information technology and the widespread application of network technology in recent years has accelerated organizational changes, which in turn makes organizational cynicism more prominent. This thesis introduces the origins of the concept of cynicism and reviews the literature from several disciplines on this concept. Then it analyses the five forms of organizational cynicism, namely Personality cynicism, Societal/institutional cynicism, Work cynicism, Employee cynicism and Organizational change cynicism, and the composing of trust, affect and behavioral tendencies towards an organization by using different theories. The importance of studying employee cynicism about organizational change and the relationship between cynicism and organizational changes are also discussed in this thesis. In addition, the thesis presents two main studies from the results of practical cynicism tests. Study 1 was conducted with 84 employees from several organizations undergoing various changes and Study 2 with 26 employees from a single organization undergoing restructuring changes. The results of these tests were analyzed in an attempt to reveal some causes of organizational cynicism and to establish the relationship between cynicism and job satisfaction. The studies show that organizational cynicism is an overall negative attitude that can be general or specific. Its main characteristics are the suspicion of others' motives and a belief that the organization lacks integrity. Employee cynicism about organizational change can affect organizational change, but it is not really to resist the changes. And it is also different from doubts about changes. The level of employee cynicism is inversely related to job satisfaction. Finally, the thesis proposes some possible ways of handling employee cynicism in organizational changes. The work presented in this thesis will hopefully provide a useful source of reference for managers of organizations undergoing organizational changes as well as researchers in the academic community.