Organizational silence

Reference paper:

Morrison, E. W., & Milliken, F. J. (2000). Organizational silence: A barrier to change and development in a pluralistic world. Academy of Management Review, 706–725.

Abstract:

(A 50-word quick summary from my understanding)

The study explains why the dominant response within many organizations is for employees to remain silent, referring to this collective-level phenomenon as 'organizational silence'. It explains both the processes (collective sensemaking) by which systemic silence develops, and forces (contextual variables) that both set this process in motion and reinforce it.

Quick Notes/queries:

(For my further delving)

Beliefs

• Do managers hold a belief that 'they need to be perceived as knowing best'? Is this belief different from the belief that 'they know best'? If the former belief is stronger than the latter, is it not in the manager's best interest to encourage voice to the extent that it enhances their perceived image of knowing best?
• How do implicit beliefs of management in the context of voice behavior vary across levels? Are the same beliefs stronger at upper levels as compared to lower levels? There is evidence that as people progress upward they are less likely to identify with subordinates? (Leiberman, 1956) Would this mean, for example, that top management, as compared to management at lower levels, has a greater fear of negative feedback and/or stronger belief that subordinates are untrustworthy and self-centered?
• How do employees' widely held fears and implicit beliefs of speaking up reinforce or attenuate factors leading to organizational silence? For example - in high power distance culture, employees might hold certain implicit theories about speaking up to someone above in the hierarchy.
• How can managers' implicit beliefs be overcome?

Middle management

• How do middle management's perceived need for upward voice and cues from top management that voice is not welcome interplay to influence voice behavior of their subordinates?
• Do employees, who are more cognizant that their upper management believes them to be self-centered and untrustworthy, attempt to change this belief? If so how do they do it? When they move up in the management levels do they simply become conduits of this belief?

Implications of silence

• How is decision quality affected by climate of silence? How does cultural context moderate this relationship? For example - To the Japanese, decision-making is about whether there is a need for a decision and what the decision is about, and it is in this step that they aim at attaining consensus. In the West, all the emphasis is on finding the solution (Peter Drucker). Given this cultural context, are Japanese management more likely to encourage voice in finding a solution (which they perceive as less important step in decision-making), whereas the West in defining the problem (which they perceive as less important step)? Alternatively, are Japanese managers more open to voice message of particular types (ideas and suggestions) while the West to other types (issues and concerns)?

Formal mechanisms

• How do prevalence of formal mechanisms for speaking up (such as task forces, committees, all-hands meeting and suggestion box) influence voice behavior? What are the consequences when such mechanisms are generally perceived to be mere appearances where voice is rarely acted upon?
• Similarly, how do prevalence of formal mechanisms for decision-making influence voice behavior? What are the consequences when such mechanisms are generally perceived to be mere appearances with true decision-making residing at the top?

Workplace crimes

• How is climate of silence related to workplace crimes? Are anti-organizational and nonaligned-organizational workplace crimes more likely in a climate of silence? How does organizational identification mediate the relationship between climate of silence and various types of workplace crimes?

Others

• How do individual level attributes moderate the effect of climate of silence on voice behavior? When are the individual level attributes more powerful determinant of voice behavior than organizational climate?
• How does manager's educational background impact voice behavior of subordinates? Do managers from financial/economic background, as compared to managers from other backgrounds, hold stronger beliefs that subordinate are self-centered and untrustworthy, and thereby discourage voice?
• How is voice behavior of subordinates affected when the cues from immediate supervisor are inconsistent with those from top management?
• Can voice behavior, similar to silence, be viewed as collective-level phenomenon? In certain organizations could voice behavior be more a product of forces outside of the individual actor?
• How is upward silence related to speaking out to colleagues? Is it likely that in situations where degree of upward silence is high, speaking out is more?
• How do forces external to organization affect the climate of silence? For example - consider the effect of external threats on organization. Research shows that a threat condition results in both restriction of information and constriction of control in an organization. In such conditions does silence become more prevalent? (Staw, Sandelands & Dutton, 1981)