Determinant Factors of Employee s Cynicism towards Specific Change and its Relationship with Intention to Resist Change in the Polytechnics System in Malaysia

Employee s cynicism towards organizational change or known as change-specific cynicism refers to the tendency of employees to be cynical about any changes introduced by their respective organisations. This study examines the roles of trust in management, organizational identification and participation in decision makingjactors in influencing employees cynicism when dealing with organisational change. It also assesses the relationship between change-specific cynicism with intention to resist changes. A total of 263 teachers working in the Polytechnics in Malaysia have been chosen as sample in this study. Thefindings of this study state that there are two factors that negatively influencing change-specific cynicism; trust in management and participation in decision making. Result of the present study also shows that there is a positive relationship between change-specific cynicism with the intention to resist change. Theoretical and practical implications of the study details as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.