Rumors in the Workplace Affecting Organizational Change Readiness

Rumor psychology: Social and organizational approaches.

Organisational rumour mongering and informal knowledge transfer share common characteristics. They both rely on informal social groups for communication. Uncertainty caused from changing environments leads to increased activity in both. The process of rumour mongering involves discussing content. Implicit in the informal knowledge transfer process is the same. Although they share characteristics, rumour and informal knowledge transfer are treated differently. The former is seen as negative and destructive while the latter is a positive influence. This paper reports on an empirical pilot study carried out at a university to see if organisational rumour contributes toward informal knowledge transfer. The discussion focuses on the challenges encountered and limitations of researching a sensitive area such as rumour.

Journal of Arts and Humanities, 2013

Available online July 2013 The study aims to provide understanding on the way people understand rumours at their workplace from the other person's perspective. Specifically, this study examines the factors that influence the conception of rumours. Using purposive sampling and the researchers as the instrument, this study found that the conception of rumours in workplace are caused by several factors and these factors are categorised into rumour context and functions reliant and rumour content reliant. Rumour context and functions reliant comprise of ambiguity, making sense of unclear issues, threat management and self-image enhancement. Rumour content reliant includes instrumentally relevant and communicated information statements, not so sure, it is a matter of assumption and as a mode of transmission and structure. This study also found that frustration is a foundation to rumour's gateway. The findings in this study highlight the widespread, yet remarkably under-researched practice in organisational behaviour in relation to informal communications.

Public Relations Review, 2002

An integrated model relating workplace rumor activity, belief, and accuracy is proposed and tested. Senior VPs of Communications from a sample of Fortune-500 corporations and CEOs of established public relations firms were surveyed regarding rumor episodes that they had experienced. Results confirmed previous research on the role of uncertainty, anxiety, and belief in rumor activity. In addition, a reduced sense of control mediated the effects of uncertainty on anxiety, and anxiety mediated the effects of importance on rumor activity. Evidence was found for the roles of group bias in how strongly a rumor is believed. Rumor activity was also implicated in the formation of more accurate rumors. The significance of these results for rumor theory and for Public Relations practitioners is presented.

Universal Journal of Educational Research, 2018

The aim of this research is to develop an "Organizational Rumor Scale" for educational organizations based on teachers' views on organizational rumors. In accordance with the scale development phases, first, the literature was reviewed and theoretical information was itemized, and then the items were revised based on the opinions of experts in the field of educational sciences and the opinions of the teachers. The final 24-item scale form was applied to a study group consisting of 322 teachers working in 25 primary schools in the city center of Diyarbakır, Turkey. The data were analyzed by statistical analysis. For the validity and reliability analyzes, anti-image correlation matrix, item total correlation, explanatory factor analysis, reliability analysis of internal consistency, correlation between dimensions and confirmatory factor analysis were performed. The values in the findings of the scale are within the acceptable limits and competent according to the criteria accepted in the literature. Taking into account the validity and reliability analysis of the scale, it has been decided that the "Organizational Rumor Scale" is a valid and reliable scale to evaluate the organizational rumors in schools. The scale consists of three dimensions (getting information, socialization and cynic effect) and a total of 24 items.

One of the most critical engagements of organizational managers is to establish their staffs’ commitment in regard with work, values, and beliefs of their organization. They also come across a couple of chief behavioral challenges in terms of organizational staffs. These include organizational rumors and organizational silence which effect organizational commitment of the staffs. Present research found the relationship between organizational silence and organizational commitment and a thorough international literature was scrutinizes and studied in this field. Accordingly, among all distributed questionnaires in Provincial Municipality Organization of Qom, 50 questionnaires were used for the analysis. The results indicated that, through controlling the organizational rumors, the organizational silence possesses a meaningful and reversal influence over organizational commitment. Also, without controlling the rumors, the influence of organizational silence over organizational commitme...

Public Relations Review, 2000

Seventy-four experienced public relations professionals serving top global corporations were surveyed to investigate types of organizational rumors, their prevalence and effects, effectiveness of rumor management strategies, and associated psychological and situational variables. Results showed that harmful rumors are commonplace, especially during organizational change. The majority of rumors were internal in nature and were most likely to be about personnel changes, job security, or job satisfaction. External rumors were most likely to consist of hearsay of concern to the general public, such as those rumors affecting the organization’s reputation and those about product/service quality. Rumors incited a variety of effects, most of which were rated as somewhat severe. Three distinct dimensions of rumor effects emerged: external ramifications (e.g., bad press), internal attitudes (e.g., lowered morale), and internal behaviors (e.g., increased absenteeism).Numerous strategies were rated as highly effective in preventing and neutralizing harmful rumors. Two broad approaches, composed of strategies that structured (i.e., gave boundaries to) uncertainty and strategies that focused on enhancing the efficacy of official comments, emerged. Implications for PR professionals are discussed and include anticipating rumors as the norm, monitoring effects in three different dimensions, and proactively creating two-pronged rumor prevention and management action plans that structure uncertainty and enhance formal communications.Nicholas DiFonzo, Ph.D., is assistant professor of Psychology at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY ([email protected]); Prashant Bordia, Ph.D., is lecturer at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.

The Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate, 2000

Human Resource Management, 1998

Ineffective strategies of communicating about organizational change (e.g., corporate restructuring, mergers, downsizing) are earmarked by the presence of pervasive rumors that flourish in a climate of uncertainty. Using 15 structured field interviews with management and public relations personnel from multinational corporations, this article posits that successful programs of change communication hinge upon the proper management of uncertainty associated with change. Two detailed case studies are highlighted as opposing illustrations of change communication tactics that succeeded and failed. Effective change communication campaigns tend to reveal rather than conceal, reduce uncertainty through collective planning, and proactively establish and maintain trust. 1. .. the key element distinguishing effective communication strategies is the proper management of uncertainty. NICHOLAS DIFONZO earned a Ph.D. in social and organizational psychology from Temple University, Philadelphia, and is currently assistant professor of psychology at Rochester Institute of Technology. He teaches courses in industrial/organizational psychology, judgment and decision-making, and inferential statistics. His interests include a variety of issues related to the study of rumor, including organizational rumor management, the accuracy of rumors, and how groups use rumors in sensemaking, as well as the use of dynamic computer simulation environments in training and research.

Group & Organization Management, 2014

Two studies that examined the role of revenge in rumor transmission and involved working adults as participants are reported. Study 1 used hypothetical scenarios to manipulate organizational treatment of an employee and the believability of a rumor. Participants had higher intention to transmit a harmful rumor when the organization broke job-related promises (i.e., breached the psychological contract) and revenge motivation mediated this relationship. Believability of the rumor had no effect. Study 2 used a field survey methodology and, controlling for social desirability, replicated the results for self-and peer-reported rumor transmission behavior. Study 2 also showed that participants' belief in negative reciprocity norm strengthened the relationship between breach and revenge motivation.

Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 2000

Effect of source honesty and appropriateness on effectiveness of rumor denial was tested. When the source was perceived as high on honesty, the denial was more successful in reducing belief and anxiety associated with the rumor. Source appropriateness (operationalized as a combination of source knowledgeability and status) did not have a main effect on belief or anxiety reduction. Honesty and appropriateness had an additive effect, such that the denial was most successful in reducing belief when the source was perceived as high on both honesty and appropriateness.

This research investigates the role of gender dynamics in rumor-spreading within the Department of Export Agriculture in Sri Lanka. The study explores how rumors and false speech spread quickly in this department, particularly among female employees. It examines how women are often involved in generating stories based on trivial or unverifiable information, which are then conveyed to higher-ranking officials. Additionally, the study looks at how these rumors influence workplace relationships, hierarchy, and decision-making processes within the Department of Export Agriculture.

International Journal of Management & Information Systems (IJMIS), 2013

The purpose of this paper is to review recent trends as they relate toorganizational change and how these trends have affected the overall workenvironment. Over the years, UnitedStates corporations have successfully done well financially. However, due to downsizing initiatives andthe outsourcing of products and services to other countries in order to staycompetitive, United States firms have been forced to do more, but with lessresources. Bullying in the workplace hasbeen around for several years; however, employees are being pushed to do morefor less with unrealistic work expectations.Workforce bullying has become an epidemic of mass portions, which hasled to dysfunctional organizations and inappropriate behavior among employers/employees. At the end, recommendations will be made to promotepositive work environments while contributing to organizational changeinitiatives.

Group & Organization Management, 2010

This article examines the key themes surrounding gossip including its contexts, the various outcomes (positive and negative) of gossip, as well as a selection of challenges and controversies. The challenges that are highlighted revolve around definitional issues, methodological approaches, and ethical considerations. The authors' analysis suggests that the characteristics and features of gossip lend itself to a process-oriented approach whereby the beginning and, particularly, end points of gossip are not always easily identified. Gossip about a subject or person can temporarily disappear only for it to resurface at some later stage. In addition, questions pertaining to the effects of gossip and ethical-based arguments depend on the nature of the relationships within the gossip triad (gossiper, listener/respondent, and target).

Dinamika Ilmu

This research aims to determine the techniques for effective management of organizational rumor and gossip in schools. Rumors are informal conversations circulating among the employees of the organization towards an event. Gossips are informal evaluative speech about people who are not present there. Rumors and gossips are common informal conversations, which should be managed by school administration. In this term, this research investigates the ways of managing them. The study is a phenomenological qualitative research carried out by conducting semi-structured interviews with 33 teachers in Diyarbakır, Turkey. The data were analyzed by using content analysis technique and some themes and categories were created. According to the research results, school administration should organize some informative seminars on awareness, communication and values in order to reduce the harmful aspects of rumor and gossip. The school administration should adopt a transparent management approach, e...