Understanding and managing cynicism about organizational change

Change is all around, but many of its targets remain cynical about its impact and importance. Cynicism about organizational change often combines pessimism about the likelihood of successful change with blame of those responsible for change as incompetent, lazy or both. Data from a new empirical stu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Academy of Management perspectives 1997-02, Vol.11 (1), p.48-59
Main Authors: Reichers, Arnon E., Wanous, John P., Austin, James T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Corporate culture
Cynicism
Employee attitude
Employees
Executives
Failure
Impact analysis
Layoffs
Organizational change
Pessimism
Studies
Success
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Description
Summary:Change is all around, but many of its targets remain cynical about its impact and importance. Cynicism about organizational change often combines pessimism about the likelihood of successful change with blame of those responsible for change as incompetent, lazy or both. Data from a new empirical study, and from previously published research, suggest numerous factors that contribute to the development of such cynicism. These include a history of change programs that are not consistently successful, a lack of adequate information about change, and a predisposition to cynicism. Results also suggest that cynicism about changes has negative consequences for the commitment, satisfaction and motivation of employees.
ISSN:1558-9080
1943-4529
DOI:10.5465/ame.1997.9707100659