Globalization, work place blogging and employee cynicism

While companies often consider blogs as an inbound marketing concept, individuals consider blogging as a branding concept through which they tell their tales and spread gossip. However, to scholars blogs are one of the best examples that market the age of presumption. Just like the other social media, the civil society or the third sector of the society is relying on blogs as source of information, as the prosumers tend to relay news better than the mainstream media. Citizen journalism is demonstrated by blogs because of their cost effectiveness both to the audiences and to the journalist (Bryne, &, Hochwarter, 2008, pp. 54–72).

In the corporate environment, employee cynicism and whistle blowing have also benefited from blogging. However, globalization seems to the driver of work blogging because as the world shrinks into a digital village, employee awareness is the new norm as they are more aware of their rights at the workplace. Many employees are now sharing their experience in the globalized world. Employee cynicism has two implications: power and control to the employee as they no longer have to die slowly at work because of injustices.

Richards, &, Kosmala, (2013) posits that gone is the age of oppressive organizational cultures and regimes with the coming of blogs and social media.

 Thorough employee cynicism is considered more of Americanization especially with the increasing case of employee demonstration and negative blogging like in the case of Wal-Mart, and MacDonald. Employee cynicism is now a worldwide phenomenon because even the employees of multinational companies are increasingly becoming more outspoken about their company’s practices, and culture such that no organization in the UK, and a number developing economies can now force their employee to work against their will especially if they know something’s wrong.

While employee cynicism is increasingly considered in the negative light, it is quite clear that most organizations have conformed and many changes have been realised as a result of employee activism thanks to blogs. Many employees are whistle blowing and many organizations are increasingly becoming more careful of malpractices (Andersson, 1996, pp. 1395–1418). According to Bryne, &, Hochwarter (2008, pp. 54–72), workplace blogging is one of the best forums where employees can express their opinions to the management without fear of victimization. Employee can nowadays reject corporate culture initiatives through their workplace blogging. Employee cynicism may be impedance to organizational change because organizational culture initiatives are intended to colonize the employee identity. However, cynicism tends to thwart such culture change initiatives. The problem with such thinking is that it is myopic to consider employee cynicism as tactic of transgression.

Employee blogging is useless if cynicism is not allowed. Blogging is one of the most effective way by which employee overcomes corporate hegemony and identity colonization. Perhaps, organizations should accept workplace blogging and employee cynicism just as they have accepted change in the current global scape. Blogging is not only a media scape, but also a tool that can be wielded to realize individual and organizational aims. 

References

Andersson, L. (1996), ‘Employee Cynicism: An Examination Using a Contract Violation     Framework’, Human Relations 49, 11, 1395–1418.

Bryne, Z, &, W. Hochwarter (2008), ‘Perceived Organizational Support and Performance:        Relationships across Levels of Organizational Cynicism’, Journal of Managerial    Psychology 23, 1, 54–72.

James Richards and Katarzyna Kosmala, (2013). ‘In the end, you can only slag people off    for so long’: employee cynicism through work blogging. New Technology, Work and       Employment 28:1