Cynicism about Organizational Change: An Attribution Process Perspective

2004 ◽  
Vol 94 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1421-1434 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Wanous ◽  
Arnon E. Reichers ◽  
James T. Austin
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Practical Implication ◽  
Organizational Leaders ◽  
Average Correlation ◽  
Utility Company ◽  
Mba Program ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Process Perspective ◽  
Attribution Process ◽  
Situational Attribution

The underlying attribution process for cynicism about organizational change is examined with six samples from four different organizations. The samples include hourly ( n = 777) and salaried employees ( n = 155) from a manufacturing plant, faculty ( n = 293) and staff ( n = 302) from a large university, managers from a utility company ( n = 97), and young managers ( n = 65) from various organizations who were attending an evening MBA program. This form of cynicism is defined as the combination of Pessimism (about future change efforts) and a Dispositional attribution (why past efforts to change failed). Three analyses support this definition. First, an exploratory factor analysis (from the largest sample) produced two factors, one composed of Pessimism and the Dispositional attribution items and the second of the Situational attribution items. Second, the average correlation (across several samples) between Pessimism and Dispositional attribution is much higher (.59) than the average correlation between Pessimism and Situational attribution (.17). Third, scores on two different trait-based measures of cynicism correlate highest with the Dispositional attribution component of cynicism. A practical implication is that organizational leaders may minimize cynicism by managing both employees' pessimism about organizational change and employees' attributions about it. Specific suggestions for how this might be done are offered.

scholarly journals Sensemaking and identity management amidst major organizational change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Madeline Pringle
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Identity Management ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Organizational Leaders ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Management Processes

Organizational change is inevitable and its impacts will affect all members, albeit to different degrees. These changes also bring about uncertainty, especially as it pertains to one's organization-based identities. However, when studying change and identity, organizational communication scholars have often missed studying the interplay of one's many organization-based identities and how these are made sense of and managed amidst major organizational change. This thesis employs a phronetic-iterative methodology to analyze 16 semi-structured interviews with U.S. graduate students to understand how they have made sense of and managed their organization-based (i.e., graduate student, teaching assistant/instructor, department, university) identities after the COVID-19-induced transition to fully online education in Spring 2020. Analysis of this data suggested that participants used two types of ideal self discursive resources to make sense of and manage these identities, while also experiencing their sensemaking and identity management processes in two distinct stages. Additionally, participants revealed the importance of organizational places as it pertained to making sense of this change and its impacts. With these findings, this thesis extends theoretical work surrounding sensemaking, identity, and place, especially as it pertains to organizational change and providespractical recommendations for organizational leaders in academia to assist some of their highly impacted and identity-precarious populations--graduate students.

From entity to process: toward more process-based theorizing in the field of organizational change

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Wenzel ◽  
Jochen Koch
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Step Procedure ◽  
Process Perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to make a case for more process-based theorizing in the field of organizational change. Design/methodology/approach To emphasize the importance of a process perspective on organizational change, this paper challenges the prevalent theorizing approach that treats organizational change as entity and argues that process-based theorizing can help researchers gain a better understanding of organizational change. Findings To direct future research toward more process-based theorizing, this paper proposes a systematic four-step procedure for the analysis of qualitative data that helps researchers theorize organizational change from a process perspective. Originality/value Overall, this paper contributes to theorizing efforts in the field of organizational change by offering a reflective account on the challenges that entity-based theorizing entails, strengthening the position of process-based theorizing in light of these challenges and providing an outlook on how scholars can develop theoretical insights on organizational change from a process perspective.

scholarly journals Organizational learning in the theory of organizational change

2006 ◽  
Vol 51 (171) ◽  
pp. 7-31
Author(s):  
Nebojsa Janicijevic
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Organizational Development ◽  
Organizational Transformation ◽  
Change Theory ◽  
Organizational Adaptation ◽  
Cognitive Structures ◽  
Organizational Changes ◽  
Process Perspective

The concept of organizational learning has been presented and placed within the referential frame of the organizational change theory. It appears that organizational changes shows to be a wider concept than organizational learning, since every learning includes change, but every change does not necessarily include learning. Organizational learning presents a particular type of organizational change, one which comprises creation and utilization of knowledge, includes changes of both cognitive structures and behaviors of organizational members, and necessarily is normative by its nature. The referential frame of the theory of organizational change is based on the classification of organizational changes and put together all theories into four perspectives: organizational development, organizational transformation, organizational adaptation and process perspective. It can be concluded that the concept of organizational learning is eclectic one, since it includes all types of organizational changes and encompasses all mentioned perspectives of organizational changes. .

Predictors of Internet Usage for Work Tasks

2011 ◽  
pp. 24-43
Author(s):  
Lyndal Stiller-Hughes ◽  
Ivan T. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Internet Usage ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Organizational Leaders ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Success Criteria ◽  
Work Tasks

Introducing and capitalizing on the Internet for business gain is engulfing modern day business thought. Yet little is available to guide the decisions of organizational leaders on issues around workforce usage. This chapter begins to close the gap by presenting the findings of a new empirical study, which specifically targets the factors associated with Internet usage for work tasks. A framework is presented to help organizations manage the usage of the Internet. It contains both person and situation factors which are associated with higher Internet usage. This work is based on the view that implementation of the Internet into the workplace is analogous to other forms of organizational change, in that people form a key success criteria.

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AS DETERMINANT OF EMPLOYEE-BASED ANTECEDENTS TO ORGANIZATIONAL CYNICISM

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 881-886
Author(s):  
Wisnu Prajogo ◽  
Heni Kusumawati ◽  
Nikodemus Hans Setiadi Wijaya
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Organizational Change ◽  
Practical Implication ◽  
Affective Response ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Organization Culture ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Organizational Cynicism

Purpose of study: Organizational cynicism happens when employees show their distrust in their organization. Most research about organizational cynicism focuses on the influence of organization cynicism to employee attitudinal outcomes (absenteeism, counterproductive work behaviour, etc) and performance outcomes. This research focuses on exploring the antecedents of organizational cynicism: organizational based antecedent and employee-based antecedents. Supportive organization culture is the organizational based antecedent that is predicted to influence employee affective response to organizational change and job satisfaction, and the subsequent effect to organizational cynicism. Methodology: 221 teachers from several private and state-owned schools were chosen by the purposive sampling method that participated in this research. Hypotheses testing were conducted using structural equation modeling using the AMOS program to test the simultaneous relationship testing among variables. Result: This research found several findings. First, a supportive organizational culture has a positive influence on job satisfaction. Second, supportive organization culture has a positive influence on employee affective response to organizational change. Third, employee affective response to organizational change has a negative influence on organizational cynicism. Fourth, contrary to hypotheses, job satisfaction has a positive influence on organizational cynicism. Applications of this study: The practical implication of this research is each organization should create a supportive organizational culture since it has an indirect negative effect on organizational cynicism through employee affective response to organizational change. Novelty/Originality of this study: Despite the importance of organizational cynicism, only a few researchers examined antecedents of organizational cynicism. This research will contribute to examining the influence of supportive organizational culture on job satisfaction and employee affective response to organizational change, and their effect on organizational cynicism.

For love or money: investigating the love of money, Machiavellianism and accounting students’ ethical perception

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-220
Author(s):  
Alif Maggalatta ◽  
Desi Adhariani
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Practical Implication ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Ethical Perception ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Love Of Money ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
The Love Of Money ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explain the effect of love of money and Machiavellianism on ethics perceptions of accounting students. The knowledge attained from this study will allow lecturers and academicians to improve the methods used for teaching ethics in accounting by evaluating the impact of two factors. Design/methodology/approach This research uses survey and quantitative analysis. The data were collected by distributing offline and online questionnaires to students in a university in Indonesia. Findings The results show that both the love of money and Machiavellianism negatively affect ethical perception. Gender as one of the control variables is found to have a significant association with the love of money, Machiavellianism and ethical perception of accounting students. Research limitations/implications The practical implication of the research is the need to inform students on the negative impact of the love of money and Machiavellianism on ethics, as well as the required steps to overcome such negative impact by inserting ethics-related materials in several accounting courses. Originality/value Accounting students represent future accountants and highly ethical accountants will protect the profession and society from harmful consequences of unethical accounting and business practices.

Transformational Leadership vs Change Self-Efficacy and Its Impact on Affective Commitment to Change

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 13-18
Author(s):  
Denvi Giovanita ◽  
Wustari L. Mangundjaya
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Organizational Change ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Affective Commitment ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Commitment To Change ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Result Show ◽  
Leadership And Change

Objective - It is essential for organizations in 21st century to evolve with time. In this regard, both the management and employees of an organization play an essential role in the implementation of change. One way of determining the success of organizational change is by identifying the employees' commitment to change. This research aims to identify the effect of transformational leadership (organizational factors) and employees' change self-efficacy (individual factors) on effective commitment to change, to identify which of those two factors has a more significant effect on affective commitment to change. Methodology/Technique - The respondents of this study are employees in the finance sector. The data was collected using commitment to change, change self-efficacy and transformational leadership inventories. The data was analyzed using multiple hierarchical regressions. Findings – The result show that both transformational leadership and change self-efficacy have a positive and significant effect on affective commitment to change. Furthermore, change self-efficacy proved to have a more significant effect on affective commitment to change compared to transformational leadership. Based on these results, organisations may wish to further focus on the development of change self-efficacy of individuals. Novelty - This study can be used by HR practitioners when dealing with organizational change, as a guide to improving the success of such change. Type of Paper - Empirical. Keywords: Affective Commitment to Change; Change Self-Efficacy; Leadership; Organizational Change; Transformational Leadership. JEL Classification: M10, M19.

Talent development in the digital age: a neuroscience perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter McFarland ◽  
David Jestaz
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Practical Implication ◽  
Talent Development ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Workforce

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest a relationship between talent development and organizational change, and to invite more research on this topic. Design/methodology/approach – This is a viewpoint of the authors and not a research paper. It is designed to stimulate thinking and research. Findings – There are no findings. The paper suggests that the expanded use of talent development interventions may improve workforce engagement in organizational change and invites more thinking and research. Research limitations/implications – It is not a research piece, a viewpoint only. Practical implications – One practical implication of future research is to better understand the link between neuroscience, talent development and change if any. Social implications – Several indicators– including Gallup’s most recent Global Workforce Study are suggesting profoundly low levels of employee engagement globally. One reason suggested in sheer volume and complexity of organizational change. In effect, people may be overwhelmed. Better understanding how to engage people generally, and specifically during times of large-scale organizational change may contribute to both the working lives of people and to overall organizational performance. For this reason, more research is needed. Originality/value – The link between talent development and organizational change has, for the most part, not been explored in the research literature. The potential value of brain science in informing this link has not been explored either. For the most part, the connections discussed here are original and, with rigorous research, could inform employee engagement and organizational change.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document