Abstract
Tourism industry consists of businesses that complement each other but show different characteristics. However, no matter how many different characteristics they have, the success of tourism businesses in an intense competitive environment is based on the employees they have. The attitudes and behaviors that employees develop towards their organizations, one of the basic determining factors of service quality, have the power to influence both organizations, customers, and other employees in a wide range. In organizational cynicism, employees exhibit negative attitudes and behaviors such as resentment, anger, and disbelief towards their organizations. In this context, this study focuses on studying cynicism, which is considered a negative employee behavior, in terms of tourism businesses.
TopBackground
The concept of cynicism, as a way of thinking and a way of life emerged for the first time in Ancient Greece in the 4th century BC (Brandes, 1997: 7; Dean, Brandes and Dharwadkar, 1998: 342: Thomas and Gupta, 2018). It is thought to have originated from the Greek word “kynikos” which means dog-like (Magee, 2004: 41; Dean, Brandes and Dharwadkar, 1998: 342). Diogenes, one of the cynical philosophers who had no property other than a bowl and a barrel he used for shelter and believed in the worthlessness of the world's property, explained this word by saying “I am called a dog because I fawn on those who give me anything, I yelp at those who refuse, and I set my teeth in rascals” (Magee, 2004: 40). At that period, cynicism refereed to a word that expressed criticizing the order and bringing the individual to the forefront. In this respect, cynics have shown that they are not a part of this life they are criticizing while criticizing the selfishness and political order of the people vehemently (Helvacı, 2013: 384).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Employee Cynicism: The attitudes of the employee in her/his feelings, impulses and behaviors as a result of her/his criticism against the organization which work for.
Attitude: A tendency that organizes the individual's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to objects, ideas, institutions, events, and other people.
Cynical: Not trusting or respecting the goodness of other people and their actions but believing that people are interested only in themselves.
Tourism Businesses: The business of providing services such as transport, places to stay, or entertainment for people who are on holiday.
Organizational Cynicism: The negative thoughts of the employee about the organization. Employee feel anger and hatred towards the organization, or all feelings and thoughts that the practices in organization are deprived of fairness and sincerity.
Behaviour: A movement that have a cause and a goal as a result of a particular influence and individual motives.
Occupational Cynicism: The negative attitudes of employees towards their occupations or customers.