art 8 vol V is 1.rtf

Abstract

©2 20 00 05 5--2 20 00 09 9 Q Qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve e S So oc ci io ol lo og gy y R Re ev vi ie ew w V Vo ol lu um me e V V I Is ss su ue e 1 1 w ww ww w. .q qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve es so oc ci io ol lo og gy yr re ev vi ie ew w. .o or rg g 1 15 52 2 Q Qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve e S So oc ci io ol lo og gy y R Re ev vi ie ew w Cynicism in the Indian I.T. Organizations: An Exploration of the Employees` Perspectives Abstract Cynicism is described as a mind-set characterized by hopelessness, disappointment, and disillusionment, and is also associated with scorn, disgust, and suspicion. This strong negative attitude has infiltrated Indian I.T organizations, and is believed to be responsible for unfavorable organizational consequences, even though, hardly any studies have explored the causes and concerns of employee cynicism about their organizations in the Indian context. The present research centers around two qualitative case studies through in-depth interviews with seventy two participants undertaken in western India to investigate the causes and concerns of employee cynicism towards employer organization. Findings of the study indicate that workplace perceptions significantly influence organizational cynicism, which is largely influenced by poor leadership, organizational politics, decisive culture, accessibility of benefits and un-met expectations. As these findings have important organizational implications, I recommend for further studies on cynicism in the future. Keywords Cynicism; Employee; Organization; Information technology; Culture Employer employee relationships, in India, have been fundamentally transformed over the last thirty years. In the eighties and nineties, Indian organizations have had growth opportunities domestically, and faced tremendous competition from global competitors outside India. In this munificent setting, researches on employee attitudes have focused on understanding the "commitment" of employees to their employers. Researchers have focused on employees' "citizenship behaviors," which scholars attribute to employee efforts exceeding © ©2 20 00 05 5--2 20 00 09 9 Q Qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve e S So oc ci io ol lo og gy y R Re ev vi ie ew w V Vo ol lu um me e V V I Is ss su ue e 1 1 w ww ww w. .q qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve es so oc ci io ol lo og gy yr re ev vi ie ew w. .o or rg g 1 15 53 3 organizational inducements. The nineties and early two thousands have seen a dramatic change in the notion of employee-organization relationships. This has been specifically due to the boom in the Indian Information Technology (I.T) industry. Rampant mergers, acquisitions, quality initiatives, and reengineering programs have often resulted in mass layoffs, euphemistically labeled "rightsizings", "downsizings," and organizational restructurings. Unethical corporate leadership, corporate shortsightedness and greed have further contributed to employee negativity. As a result, many employees have begun to reexamine corporate life and the worth of corporate loyalty, leading to the development of cynical attitude towards employing organization. Organizational cynicism (OC), which has been defined as 'a negative attitude toward one's employing organization, comprise three dimensions: (1) a belief that the organization lacks integrity; (2) negative affect toward the organization; and (3) tendencies to disparaging and critical behavior toward the organization that are consistent with these beliefs and affect It is argued that organizational cynicism has only increased in recent years This strong negative attitude permeates India's corporations and is currently blamed for a multitude of unfavorable organizational outcomes. Thus, cynicism in the Indian context is recognized as a growing problem in the workplace that calls for immediate and detailed attention. Though large number of studies with relation to organizational cynicism has been done internationally (e.g. see Hence, this study intends to delve the experiences and reports on discrepancies in the employees' expectations of the world of work and the reality of the I.T organization and/or work leading to the development of cynical attitude towards employing organizations. It tries to explore the causes and concerns of cynicism from the employees' perspective in the Indian context. We start this study with a brief review of research in the related area. © ©2 20 00 05 5--2 20 00 09 9 Q Qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve e S So oc ci io ol lo og gy y R Re ev vi ie ew w V Vo ol lu um me e V V I Is ss su ue e 1 1 w ww ww w. .q qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve es so oc ci io ol lo og gy yr re ev vi ie ew w. .o or rg g 1 15 54 4 Literature Review The word cynicism has its roots in the ancient Greek cynics. The two cynics most often mentioned are Antisthenes and Diogenes of Sinope. The cynics held individual wisdom to be the highest virtue, and were often known to question and criticize the values of the majority, as well as laws and customs Cynicism literature has been varied and rather scanty In the organization sciences, two major lines of research into work-related cynicism have appeared. One has concentrated on the development and function of cynicism during the work career, particularly in occupational socialization processes. In their first work encounters, students and starting professionals frequently experience a series of unmet expectations and unexpected events, causing what is aptly referred to by A second line of research has focused on cynicism among employees responding to certain adverse organizational circumstances. Similar to occupational cynicism, unmet or frustrated expectations as well as unexpected organizational characteristics or events are the key element. This form of cynicism, referred to as employee cynicism or organizational cynicism (OC). While cynicism is often attributed a negative bias, many authors concur that cynics may also represent the "voice of conscience" for the organization and, thereby, question the suitability of poor strategic choices in the organizational context The presence and effects of cynicism in the workplace, as well as the need for knowledge related to the causes and effects of organizational cynicism, long have been recognized and initial conceptualizations have been offered Concept of Organizational Cynicism Dean et al. (1998) conceive of organizational cynicism as an attitude, thereby adopting a 3-dimensional cognitive, affective, and behavioral structure of the cynicism construct. The cognitive dimension, referred to by Dean et al. (ibidem: 346) as "cynicism being thought and experienced through cognition" is expressed as denial of the sincerity of the organization Some amount of research has also tried to explore the consequences of cynicism. Most frequently mentioned are affective and behavioral consequences, such as a decrease in organizational commitment, motivation and job satisfaction Research Design and Methods Due to the exploratory nature of the research question, and the number and complexity of factors contributing to employees' attitude towards organizational cynicism, this study was done using a case study format Theoretical Framework The research described here was based upon social constructivism. The interest of social constructivism is to discover the ways social reality and social phenomena are constructed. Social constructivism states that knowledge is actively constructed by each individual and that this process is socially mediated Participants Since the recruitment process involved a request for voluntary participation, it was difficult to accurately predict the number of staff who would participate in this study; as many as ninety employees from both the organizations were approached. However, seventy two participants agreed to volunteer. The participants were employed as Project Managers, Team Leaders and Executives in these organizations operating in Pune and were selected via randomized quota sampling to reflect a mix of age, positions, genders and experience with organization. At both the organizations, 36 interviews each were conducted. Across the two cases, the majority of the respondents were males (53%). © ©2 20 00 05 5--2 20 00 09 9 Q Qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve e S So oc ci io ol lo og gy y R Re ev vi ie ew w V Vo ol lu um me e V V I Is ss su ue e 1 1 w ww ww w. .q qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve es so oc ci io ol lo og gy yr re ev vi ie ew w. Data Collection The data was obtained from seventy two in-depth interviews with individual participants over a period of 6 months. Conducting in-depth interviews with people who have direct, first hand experience with the phenomenon of interest is believed to be the most effective way to gather such data (Patton 2002). Varied experiences leading to cynical behavior towards employing organization were studied in a nonmanipulative and non-controlling method with no preconceived constraints on what the outcomes of the research should be. Interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide, which served to guide but not govern the discussion. Questions were open-ended in order to provide participants with the opportunity to fully explain their experiences. Individual interviews were conducted either at a restaurant situated near the participant's organization or at his home or also in a private area, often chosen by the participant. Interviews generally lasted one hour, were tape recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Participants were made aware of the recording and transcribing procedures prior to their involvement with the study. After the interviews, memos and notes were written about questions, impressions, and feelings researcher had during the interviews. For the in-depth interviews, availability of the informants were checked, and after mutually deciding the time and date, meetings were held. In order to maintain the confidentiality of all recorded material, appropriate safeguards were taken to ensure that this material is protected. At the conclusion of the individual interviews, participants were asked to allow the researcher to contact them for follow-up © ©2 20 00 05 5--2 20 00 09 9 Q Qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve e S So oc ci io ol lo og gy y R Re ev vi ie ew w V Vo ol lu um me e V V I Is ss su ue e 1 1 w ww ww w. .q qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve es so oc ci io ol lo og gy yr re ev vi ie ew w. .o or rg g 1 15 58 8 verification of the transcription and interpretation of the data. The anonymity of the participants was protected by referring to each participant only as a participant. The first five minutes of each interview were devoted to developing trust and creating an informal atmosphere. Data collection stopped at the point of "Theoretical Saturation", the point in data collection at which no new themes or insights are revealed Data Analysis Analysis of the data was done following the procedure recommended by Clustering is used to better understand a phenomenon by grouping and then conceptualizing objects that have similar patterns (Miles and Huberman ibidem). It is the activity of conceptualizing the grouped data that takes clustering one step further in analysis than simply noting patterns. In the present study, clusters were employed around events such as experiences leading to the development of cynical attitude. After clustering was employed to group variables together logically, analysis in the present study was taken one step further. Subsuming particulars into more general classes is a conceptual and theoretical activity (Miles and Huberman ibidem). By employing this technique, fewer classes of variables are obtained as a precursor to attaining theoretical coherence. Finally, the process of analyzing and interpreting data in the present study progressed to interpreting the results in light of existing theory in the field. In addition to verifying much of the existing theory in the field, further insights are also offered by the research in the form of recommendations to parties engaged in early work adjustment. Trustworthiness Qualitative researchers endeavor to achieve what Lincoln and Guba (1985: 290) call trustworthiness in their work. They have framed the notion of trustworthiness as a question: "How can an inquirer persuade his or her audiences that the research findings of an inquiry are worth paying attention to?" They have presented four © ©2 20 00 05 5--2 20 00 09 9 Q Qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve e S So oc ci io ol lo og gy y R Re ev vi ie ew w V Vo ol lu um me e V V I Is ss su ue e 1 1 w ww ww w. .q qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve es so oc ci io ol lo og gy yr re ev vi ie ew w. .o or rg g 1 15 59 9 criteria for the purpose of evaluating the goodness and rigor of qualitative work. The criteria are credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. Credibility, or truth-value, as defined by Additional approaches to establishing creditability included collecting data through personal in-depth interviews, and using non-leading questions during the interviews to facilitate the expression of rich data by the informant. Audiotaping the interviews, using one interviewer to collect the data and one trained transcriptionist for transcribing the audiotapes and comparing transcribed data with the audiotapes to ensure accuracy, also aided in establishing credibility. Transferability, parallel to external validity, addresses the issue of generalization in terms of case-to-case transfer. The findings of this study may or may not be transferable to certain other settings. Dependability was assured through planning a suitable research methodology to address the specific question posed by the study. This methodology was undertaken it in a rigorous manner as planned. To establish Confirmability, rich and thick description of the setting, program, participants, procedures, and interactions were provided so that readers could understand the specified boundaries and parameters of this study. In addition, participants were allowed to read and confirm interview transcripts. Findings Discussion with the participants indicates that the cynical attitude towards employing organizations developed amongst the employees due to the negative experiences while being associated with the organization. Analysis of the data uncovered varied reasons which led to the development of cynical views amongst the participants. Analysis of the interviews uncovered five main reasons behind cynicism in the organization: Poor Leadership, Organizational Politics, Decisive Culture, Accessibility of benefits and Un-met expectations. To help the readers to understand the various themes in a better way, direct quotes are used for illustration. © ©2 20 00 05 5--2 20 00 09 9 Q Qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve e S So oc ci io ol lo og gy y R Re ev vi ie ew w V Vo ol lu um me e V V I Is ss su ue e 1 1 w ww ww w. .q qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve es so oc ci io ol lo og gy yr re ev vi ie ew w. .o or rg g 1 16 60 0 Theme 1: Poor Leadership The first theme that emerged from the discussion was with reference to "Poor Leadership", which led to the development of cynical attitude amongst the employees about their organization. Poor leadership could be understood as may be abusive, passive, aggressive, or punitive, and leaders may simply lack appropriate leadership skills. Poor leadership could be evidenced within the organization in different forms like "workplace harassment" (e.g., Rospenda 2002), "emotional abuse" (e.g., Discussion with the participants revealed that they had experienced poor leadership quality within their reporting heads. An example is quoted as under: Leaders in our organization set wrong examples. Our manager never comes to office on time. However he expects us to be at our desk before time. Quiet often, he takes the rules and regulations for granted and violates them….. But when anyone of us makes such mistakes, he immediately starts talking about discipline and its importance in life. Another respondent quotes her views as under: I feel sorry to say that our leader is of passive nature. She is not capable enough to take any decision on her own. …for every small thing, she discusses the matter with the delivery head and then passes the decision to us. She always tries to play a safe game and whenever something wrong happens, she immediately says that it was not her decision and indirectly puts the blame on her superior. With such people at a senior level, I don't know how long this organization is going to survive. Leadership issues were found to be one of the major causes amongst the employees leading to lower motivation level; ultimately leading to the development of cynical attitude amongst the employees. Theme 2: The Perceived Political Threat Meaning of politics in an organization could be conceptualized as the exercise of power to negotiate different interests among members while maintaining one's interests in certain organizational issues. In this regard, the perceived political threat refers to the impact that the employees have in their mind when they realize that something "wrong" is happening which they are not able to understand. Such situation is created due to the politically disturbed environment prevailing in the organization. It particularly refers to the psychological hassle that goes on in the mind of the employees while working in such an environment. In a politically disturbed situation, people seemed to be quiet scared and threatened. They were very well able to sense some danger but could not pinpoint it: Quiet often I have faced a situation where though I realized that things are not the way they appear, still it's pretty difficult to make out what's going around. Things become even more complicated and threatening when we © ©2 20 00 05 5--2 20 00 09 9 Q Qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve e S So oc ci io ol lo og gy y R Re ev vi ie ew w V Vo ol lu um me e V V I Is ss su ue e 1 1 w ww ww w. .q qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve es so oc ci io ol lo og gy yr re ev vi ie ew w. .o or rg g 1 16 61 1 realize that our curiosity to know, enquire or comment on that matter may bring unwanted problems for us. The perception of working in such an environment has also found to be affecting the participants psychologically: Often, such an environment in the organization has given unnecessary tensions to me. Many times, I feel scared and really do not understand what to do. Most importantly, many a times, I am not able to make out as what is actually going around and that too what for. I get really disturbed because of this and am not able to sleep at night. Respondents shared that they not only had to go under immense stress and pressure under such a situation but also they did not know what to do. According to them, it was an invisible attack, which they could only sense but could not do anything, but suffer. This made them feel even more uneasy and scared. Some of the participants agree to the fact that such people, who are involved in organizational politics, get a kind of label and are known for that. Being involved in politics had developed mixed feelings amongst the participants against the players: Look… I know that "Roy" (name changed) is a useless fellow…. what does he do other than sitting at the boss's chamber and gossiping useless things for hours. Most of the time, I do the work, which he is supposed to do. Still I have to support him and be in good terms as when I am in need of getting some help, which too out of the way… he is the only person who can help. He has that capability. Such experiences led to the development of cynical behavior amongst the employees. These employees were found to be helpless and victims of the prevailing politics within their organization. This not only created fear in the minds of the employees ultimately leading to a high amount of mental stress. Theme 3: Decisive Culture Every organization wishes to be called as a value based organization, having an open and transparent culture. However, how far the organization is actually value based and is open in terms of its cultural aspects, is an area of concern; leading to the generation of the next theme i.e. "Decisive Culture". Discussion with the participants reveals that the organizations talk a lot about the prevalence and promotion of Open culture and being a value based organization. However, while working with the organization, the employees experience the decisiveness of the prevailing culture. An example is quoted as under: The buzz word of today's organizations is to talk about 'value based organization', 'ethics', 'corporate values', …etc…Our operations manager always talks about 'following the value system at all times'….BUT actually this does not happen every time. At critical times, when he finds that it is difficult for him to get a business from the client, in joint consultation with the top management, he uses all means to get the project …. At that time he has only one thing in mind…i.e. to get the business by any means. Another respondent quotes as under: © ©2 20 00 05 5--2 20 00 09 9 Q Qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve e S So oc ci io ol lo og gy y R Re ev vi ie ew w V Vo ol lu um me e V V I Is ss su ue e 1 1 w ww ww w. .q qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve es so oc ci io ol lo og gy yr re ev vi ie ew w. .o or rg g 1 16 62 2 We have an open door policy in this organization where anybody can approach the management and point the prevailing inefficiencies and give recommendations for improving the same. However, my experience in this organization has