ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE: AN ASSESSMENT OF TRUST AND CYNICISM
In the organizational science literature, organizational cynicism is generally considered to be conceptually distinct from organizational trust. This proposition, however, has not been adequately assessed. The present study attempts to distinguish these two constructs by utilizing organizational-level focused measures. Two surveys were administered about six months apart to members of a division that was undergoing change in a large federal agency. Data could be matched for 70 of the respondents on the two surveys. The results show that a measure of cynicism about change does not predict trust in coworkers or trust in work area managers, but does predict trust in division managers. These results do not conclusively demonstrate a distinction between the two constructs, however, they suggest that the constructs are related in a predictable manner. Finally, from the data obtained in this study of an organizational group undergoing change, it appears that trust of management is related to increased workgroup cohesion, and that trust is not due only to workforce cynicism. Instead, trust and cynicism may need to be addressed separately by management in order to most successfully implement change.
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Corporate Authors:
Federal Aviation Administration
Office of Aerospace Medicine, 800 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC United States 20591 -
Authors:
- Thompson, R C
- Joseph, K M
- Bailey, L L
- Worley, J A
- Williams, C A
- Publication Date: 2000-5
Language
- English
Media Info
- Features: References; Tables;
- Pagination: 12 p.
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Employee relations; Government employees; Managerial personnel; Organizations; Psychological trust; Surveys; Workplaces
- Uncontrolled Terms: Cynicism; Organizational change
- Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Aviation; Data and Information Technology;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00929921
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: DOT/FAA/AM-00/14
- Files: NTL, TRIS, USDOT
- Created Date: Aug 12 2002 12:00AM