An Examination of the Effects of Job Insecurity on Counterproductive Work Behavior Through Organizational Cynicism: Moderating Roles of Perceived Organizational Support and Quality of Leader-Member Exchange

Job insecurity can trigger cynical attitudes and ultimately lead to harmful behaviors in organizations under the current fast-changing business environment. Drawing on psychological contract theory, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between job insecurity and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) by focusing on the mediating role of organizational cynicism and moderating roles of perceived organizational support (POS) and leader-member exchange (LMX). The data used for the analysis came from a survey that targeted tourism-related industries in South Korea, and 296 responses were finally analyzed. We analyzed reliability, correlation, and mediation, and conducted confirmatory factor analysis, regression analysis, and moderation analysis using SPSS PROCESS macro v. 3.5, with AMOS v. 25.0. The key findings of this study are as follows. First, we found that job insecurity was positively related to CWB. Second, organizational cynicism mediated the relationship between job insecurity and CWB. Third, POS and LMX intensified the negative effects of job insecurity and organizational cynicism, affecting CWB. These results imply that employees with a high level of POS and LMX are likely to have opportunistic behaviors (e.g., abuse, absences, sabotage) by abusing the support and trust from their organizations. The implications for research and practice, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Cognitive functioning in non-clinical burnout: Using cognitive tasks to disentangle the relationship in a three-wave longitudinal study

Burnout is often characterized by cognitive deficits and it has been associated with depression and anxiety. However, it is not clear whether cognitive impairment is a burnout consequence or employees with poor cognitive skills are more prone in developing burnout. Moreover, the exact nature of the association between burnout and depression, and burnout and anxiety is still unknown. Depression and anxiety are also related to cognitive impairments but their prospective associations are not fully understood. The aim of the present three-wave longitudinal study was to investigate the causality between cognitive functioning, burnout, depression, and anxiety among non-clinical burnout employees. The cause-effect associations of burnout with depression and anxiety were also explored. Perceived family support as a protective factor against cognitive decline, burnout, depression and anxiety was examined as well. A wide range of cognitive tasks tapping different cognitive domains were administered to employees of the general working population. Burnout, depression, anxiety, and perceived family support were assessed with self-reported questionnaires. Present results suggest that visuospatial functioning deficits are a burnout consequence and they indicate the role of automatic processing skills and executive functions in burnout onset. Additionally, current findings support that burnout is differentiated from depression and anxiety but it is reciprocally associated with the two psychological phenomena. Lastly, current results support the inclusion of perceived family support as an intervention to help individuals who suffer from mental health and cognitive difficulties.

Paternalistic Leadership, Organizational Cynicism, and Intention to Quit One's Job in Nursing

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between paternalistic leadership, organizational cynicism, and the intention to quit one's job among nurses. The implementation part of the study was carried out with nurses working in a public hospital in the city of Mersin, Turkey. Data were collected in January 2018 from 215 participants and then analyzed. The analyses indicate that the dimensions of organizational cynicism and paternalistic leadership explained 41.8% of the variance for the intention to quit. In addition, there were negative and significant relationships between paternalistic leadership and dimensions of organizational cynicism. As the participants' perceptions of cognitive cynicism and behavioral cynicism increased, their intention to quit increased. In addition, as their perceptions of paternalistic leadership increased, their cognitive, affective, and behavioral cynicism decreased. This study will help managers of healthcare institutions better understand how paternalistic leadership is related to organizational cynicism and the intention to quit one's job.

The Role of Cynicism and Personal Traits in the Organizational Political Climate and Sustainable Creativity

Innovation, as the key concern of sustainable human resource management, is one of the motivators of the sustainable development of organizations. However, past literature believes that innovation may be hindered by the organizational political climate. Based on the self-determination theory, this study proposes a new perspective to transfer the effect of this climate on innovation through the mediating role of cynicism and the moderating role of personal trait regulatory focus. Findings from 341 seven-point Likert survey questionnaires of employees in a Chinese automobile enterprise revealed that: first, the organizational political climate (expect interpersonal relationships) negatively predicted radical creativity and incremental creativity; second, organizational cynicism mediates the negative relationship between the organizational political climate and radical creativity and incremental creativity; third, the mediating effect of the organizational cynicism relationship between the organizational political climate and dualistic creativity could be affected by the personal trait regulatory focus. This study fills the gap in the relationship between organizational political climate and innovation. Additionally, this study proposes several suggestions for the practitioners and further research.

Correlation between Machiavellian leadership and emotional exhaustion of employees

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to examine the impact of Machiavellian leadership and organisational cynicism on the emotional exhaustion of employees.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were collected from 463 employees of Slovenian municipalities. Surveys were used to collect Machiavellianism, organisational cynicism and emotional exhaustion data. Hypotheses were verified by means of three methods: the contingency table, χ2 test and Pearson coefficient.

Findings

Machiavellian leadership has an impact both on the presence of emotional exhaustion and organisational cynicism. According to the results, both Machiavellianism and organisational cynicism have a direct linear impact on the increase of emotional exhaustion.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of the research were formulated on the basis of a survey conducted according to a self-assessment online survey.

Originality/value

Even though the concept of Machiavellianism was developed 500 years ago, the existing literature suggests that it continues to be relevant in modern times, most frequently in terms of examining the way leaders establish their power and adopt (un)ethical leadership practices and the implications their behaviour has on their direct working environment. Only select authors have examined Machiavellianism in correlation with organisational cynicism and emotional exhaustion, with an emphasis on the public sector. Due to a lack of research conducted on the subject, the main research challenge was to establish actual correlations between the three factors above.

What’s organization knowledge management strategy for successful change implementation?

Purpose

In recent times, progression of technology and growing demands of customers have substantially influenced the services sector to introduce fast real-time mechanisms for providing up-to-mark services. To meet these requirements, organizations are going to change their end-user operating systems but success rate of change is very low. The purpose of this paper is to address one of the practitioners’ complaint “no one tells us how to do it” and uncovers the indirect effects of knowledge management (KM) strategies: personalization and codification, toward organizational change via organizational learning and change readiness. The current study also highlights how organizational learning and change readiness are helpful to reduce the detrimental effects of organizational change cynicism toward success of a change process.

Design/methodology/approach

Temporal research design is used to get the appropriate responses from the targeted population in two stages such as pre-change (Time-1) and post-change (Time-2). In cumulative, 206 responses have been obtained from the banking sector of Pakistan.

Findings

The results of the current study are very promising as it has been stated that KM strategies have an indirect effect on successful organizational change through organizational learning and change readiness. Moreover, change cynicism has a weakening effect on a change process and can be managed through effective learning orientation of employees and developing readiness for change in organizations.

Research limitations/implications

Change agents have to use an optimal mix of personalization and codification strategies to develop learning environment and readiness for change in organizations that are beneficial for implementing a change successfully. Moreover, change readiness and organizational learning in the context of change are equally beneficial to reduce organizational change cynicism as well.

Originality/value

This study is introducing a unique model to initiate a change with the help of KM strategies, organizational learning and readiness for change.

Detrimental effects of cynicism on organizational change

Purpose

– The purpose of this research is to investigate the detrimental effects of cynicism on organizational change. It presents an interactive and novel theoretical research model based on organizational cynicism. The study aims to determine the causes of cynicism and suggests remedies for it so that change may be implemented with the consensus of all stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

– This is an associational study that aims to test the hypotheses of linear relationships among the variables used in the proposed model. Data have been collected from 417 employees, working for three public sector organizations, by using self-administrated questionnaires. The model proposed in this research has been tested by using regression analysis in Amos 22. The interactive effects have been examined by using Aguinis’s (2004) multiple moderated regression.

Findings

– The results reveal that dispositional resistance increases the intention of an employee to exhibit withdrawal behavior and that organizational contextual factors have statistically significant relationships with employees’ withdrawal behavior and their job satisfaction. Moreover, the results of interactive effects are partially significant.

Practical implications

– The Government of Pakistan, the managements of public sector organizations and workplace unions can resolve the issues of cynicism and job insecurity by involving employees in decision making and by building trust in change leaders. Employees’ participation and their trust in change leaders can decrease their intentions to exhibit withdrawal behavior and lessen the occurrences of organizational cynicism. In addition, trust in change leaders can raise job satisfaction, while job insecurity can decrease the job satisfaction levels of employees.

Originality/value

– This research presents and examines a unique multiple interactive model of organizational cynicism. Until recently, a scant number of studies particular to Asian culture, have investigated the detrimental and interactive effects of cynicism on organizational change.

Cynical About Change? A Preliminary Meta-Analysis and Future Research Agenda

Cynicism about organizational change is often considered an important factor that influences employee acceptance of change initiatives. However, cynicism has been compared with several similar constructs with little conceptual or empirical differentiation. To provide a deeper understanding of change cynicism, we compare and contrast it with similar—yet distinct—constructs: organizational trust, resistance to change, and organizational cynicism. We begin with a narrative review of the conceptual distinctions and similarities among these constructs, followed by meta-analysis of the nomological network of change cynicism. In addition, we compare the nomological network of change cynicism with those of organizational cynicism and trust. We discuss the need for a refined conceptualization of cynicism and suggest new areas for future research.

The 9-item Bergen Burnout Inventory: factorial validity across organizations and measurements of longitudinal data

The present study tested the factorial validity of the 9-item Bergen Burnout Inventory (BBI-9). The BBI-9 is comprised of three core dimensions: (1) exhaustion at work; (2) cynicism toward the meaning of work; and (3) sense of inadequacy at work. The study further investigated whether the three-factor structure of the BBI-9 remains the same across different organizations (group invariance) and measurement time points (time invariance). The factorial group invariance was tested using a cross-sectional design with data pertaining to managers (n=742), and employees working in a bank (n=162), an engineering office (n=236), a public sector organization divided into three service areas: administration (n=102), education and culture (n=581), and social affairs and health (n=1,505). Factorial time invariance was tested using longitudinal data pertaining to managers, with three measurements over a four-year follow-up period. The confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the three-factor structure of the BBI-9 was invariant across cross-sectional samples. The factorial invariance was also supported across measurement times. To conclude, the factorial structure of the BBI-9 was found to remain the same regardless of the sample properties and measurement times.