The Effect of Organizational Democracy on Organizational Cynicism: A Research in Balkh City, Afghanistan

Abstract

Purpose – One of the phenomena forming the foundations of the concept of organization is expressed as organizational goals. Effective realization of organizational goals and achieving competitiveness for the organization require certain indicators. It is of great importance for organizational managements to listen to the opinions of their employees in order to guide them in this direction. Organizational democracy is defined as a system where power is collectively given by individuals, and decisions are made through discussion. Organizational cynicism, on the other hand, describes the negative feelings that employees harbor towards the organization. In this context, this research aims to determine the impact of organizational democracy on organizational cynicism. Design/methodology/approach – In this research, evaluated within a quantitative research design, the variables of organizational democracy and organizational cynicism included in the envisaged research model have been incorporated into the study with their dimensions widely accepted in the literature. Descriptive statistics for both dependent and independent variables were applied in the study, followed by confirmatory factor analysis and correlation analysis for the scales. Subsequently, a structural equation model was constructed. In the context of the research model, data from 294 participants serving in the Belh city of Afghanistan were analyzed and interpreted. Findings – The findings reached at the end of the research indicate that an increase in organizational democracy reduces employees' perception of organizational cynicism. Additionally, one of the results presented in this study is that organizational democracy also reduces the sub-dimensions of organizational cynicism, namely affective and cognitive cynicism. Discussion – The findings indicate that in organizations nourished by an organizational democracy climate, organizational cynicism tends to be replaced by positive phenomena. Additionally, the organizational democracy climate influences employees' perceptions about the organization.