Mina Irandegani; Naser Nastiezaie
Abstract
AbstractThe purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of organizational stroke on teacher’s organizational cynicism with mediating of organizational rumor. The research method is descriptive-correlative. The statistical population of the study was all primary teachers in Konarak city (Sistan ...
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AbstractThe purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of organizational stroke on teacher’s organizational cynicism with mediating of organizational rumor. The research method is descriptive-correlative. The statistical population of the study was all primary teachers in Konarak city (Sistan and Baluchestan province) in the academic year 2021-2022 (N=476), which were studied by random-stratified sampling (by gender) of 213 teachers through questionnaires of organizational stroke (Farajvand & Mesri, 2021), organizational cynicism (Kalagan et al., 2009), and organizational rumor (Dağli & Han, 2018). Correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data by using SPSS and Smart PLS softwares. Correlation coefficient findings showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between organizational stroke, organizational cynicism and organizational rumor. The results of structural equation model showed that the direct effect of organizational stroke on teacher's organizational cynicism is positive and significant. Also, the indirect effect of organizational stroke on teacher's organizational cynicism through mediation of organizational rumor is positive and significant. Thus organizational stroke not only directly increases the teachers' organizational cynicism but also can increase the organizational cynicism by increasing organizational rumor.Extended abstractIntroductionIf teachers become cynicism about the education organization and school, it will reduce their participation in the decisions and activities of the organization, because they do not trust and believe in the intentions and plans of the organization and management. As a result, they will not have a commitment to the goals of the organization. Teachers' non-commitment to the goals of the education organization and school also causes them not only to withdraw extra effort in order to achieve organizational goals, but also not to perform their official and organizational duties in an optimal way. This issue leads to inefficiency and ineffectiveness of educational organizations (Zohoorparvandeh & Shokrollahi, 2017). When teachers in the process of effective communication with communication barriers, lack of transparency, and lack of received information, and experience an organizational stroke, their suspicion towards the education organization and school increases. In a poorly managed school, rumors can demoralize teachers and staff and increase anxiety, conflicts, and misunderstandings. School administrators should be careful about gossips in the workplace, as it affects teachers and causes pessimistic behavior among them. Therefore, it is necessary to study this phenomenon in schools. Thus, the main purpose of the research is to investigate the effect of organizational stroke on teachers' organizational cynicism with the mediating role of organizational rumors.Theoretical FrameworkCynicism is among the attitudinal variables that have recently been discussed as the background of unethical behavior (Moghaddam & Mahmoudi Meymand, 2018). Cynicism is an attitude of disillusionment with society and organizations and mistrust towards others, and this negative attitude has permeated many organizations and is the main reason for many undesirable and negative organizational consequences and one of the problematic issues in the workplace (Mehrabi & Estiri, 2014). Cynicism is classified into three types: emotional cynicism, cognitive cynicism, and behavioral cynicism. Emotional cynicism includes emotional reactions such as irritation, anger, tension and anxiety. When the origin of these feelings is management behavior, it affects the commitment and motivation of employees. When employees believe that deception and personal gain are common in the organization, they feel cognitive cynicism. For example, cognitive mistrust is created when employees believe that the organization does not value their contribution and does not pay attention to them. Behavioral cynicism appears in the negative behaviors of employees; behaviors such as criticizing the organization, sarcastic jokes, suspicious interpretations of the organization's events, and pessimistic predictions of the organization's future indicate behavioral skepticism (Mete, 2013).Communication is one of the most important elements of the management process. The existence of effective and correct communication in the organization is always considered one of the important components in the success of management. It has been proved by experience that if correct communication is not established in the organization, the flow of affairs is disrupted and things become chaotic (Nasiri Valik Bani, 2017). In a kind of metaphorical view of the organization and management, effective communication has been likened to the "heart of management" through which information is transferred throughout the organization and feeds the cells of the organization, i.e. human resources. If the heart of management, i.e. effective communication, cannot deliver the flow of information correctly to the departments and members of the organization, the performance of that department or member will be disrupted and an organizational stroke will occur (Mottaghi & Asghari Sarem, 2013). The antecedents of organizational stroke include lack of openness, lack of consensus, lack of support, lack of individual similarity, negativity, lack of education, lack of skills; and its consequences include structural damage, psychological damage, behavioral damage, and social damage (Shajari, Asghari, Sarem & Samadi, 2021b).Rumor is a possible social phenomenon, and gossiping is a favorite activity for people in society, so that people volunteer to spread rumors with a significant frequency, and 65-90% of their conversations are related to rumors (Beersma & Van Kleef, 2011). Although experts have divided rumors into two types; positive and negative (Babaei Aghbolagh & Sattari Ardabili, 2018), many psychology and organizational behavior researchers consider rumors to have a negative function and organizational rumors to be a type of organizational disease (organizational syndrome) which is an inhibiting factor for advancing organizational goals and reduces the productivity of human resources (Khanifar et al., 2011).Research methodologyThe research method is descriptive-correlative in nature, and applicable in terms of purpose. The statistical population of the study consisted of 476 primary teachers in Konarak (Sistan and Baluchestan province) in the academic year 2021-2022. Based on Cochran's sampling formula and stratified random sampling (according to gender), 213 teachers were selected as samples. Questionnaires of organizational stroke (Farajvand & Mesri, 2021), organizational rumor (Dağli & Han, 2018) and organizational suspicion (Kalagan et al., 2009) were used. Also, correlation coefficient and structural equation model were used for data analysis using SPSS21 and Smart PLS software.Research FindingsThe first finding showed that organizational stroke has a positive and significant effect on organizational cynicism (β=0.21, t=2.03).The second finding showed that organizational stroke has a positive and significant effect on organizational rumors (β=0.54, t=9.53).The third finding showed that organizational rumors have a positive and significant effect on organizational cynicism (β=0.32, t=9.53).The fourth finding showed that organizational stroke has a positive and significant effect on organizational cynicism through the mediation of organizational rumors (β=0.172, t=4.62).ConclusionOverall, the findings of this study showed that organizational stroke has a positive and significant effect on teachers' organizational suspicion with the mediating role of organizational rumors. Therefore, it is suggested that the managers of educational centers should promote and encourage the establishment of correct and effective organizational communication for their teachers, create organizational structures that accelerate organizational communication, and eliminate any slowness and confusion in communication in order to prevent the organizational stroke phenomenon from occurring. The management of the organization must design effective communication channels in the organization so that communication and information are faced with the least possible damage. Also, educational managers should reduce the spread of organizational rumors and organizational suspicion of teachers towards the school and the education organization through strengthening the norms of feeling useful and productive and giving identity to teachers and stimulating them to participate more in various meetings and ceremonies in order to develop social networks of the organization, create higher trust between teachers and the management of the educational organization through establishing open communication and transparent, correct information and dissemination of good and bad news of the organization, continuous participation of teachers with senior managers and clear and transparent accountability of senior managers, transparent and objective assessment of performance. Finally, since informal networks and interest groups influence the spread of rumors and mistrust among teachers, it is suggested to the managers of educational centers to use them for the benefit of the interests and goals of the organization by infiltrating these groups. This research has limitations. Since this study was conducted on elementary school teachers of Konarak city (Sistan and Baluchistan province); generalizing the results to other teachers must be conducted cautiously. Therefore, it is suggested to conduct such a study on the teachers of other cities. Also, since the research method was quantitative, it is suggested to other researchers to conduct such studies in a qualitative or mixed method.
