Voice: Review and Integration

Reference paper:

Morrison, E. W. (2011). Employee Voice Behavior: Integration and Directions for Future Research. The Academy of Management Annals, 5(1), 373–412. doi:10.1080/19416520.2011.574506

Abstract:

(A 50-word quick summary from my understanding)

The article reviews and integrates existing organizational literature on voice. It throws light on how employees decide to speak up, types of employees who tend to voice the most, contextual factors that encourage voice, and implications of voice. It highlights areas for closer empirical investigation and deeper theory development.

Quick Notes/queries:

(For my further delving)

Dimensions of voice

• Can voice and silence co-exist? For example - an employee who witnesses unfair treatment of a peer may choose to just state the facts consciously withholding his opinion or suggestion of how it could be addressed. What factors influence such a behavior where voice and silence both co-exist?
• Are voice and silence best conceptualized as opposites (high level of one implies low level of another), rather than as orthogonal constructs? If so, how can levels of both voice and silence in an episode be measured? When is voice and silence likely to be absolute?

Target level attributes

• How do individual level characteristics (attitude, dispositions and demographics) of target affect voice behavior of source?
• How do constraints of cognitive abilities, time and attention of target impact voice behavior of followers?
• What kind of leadership style is likely to stifle follower's voice?
• How do emotions, moods and implicit beliefs of target affect voice behavior?

Source level attributes

• What individual level attributes (such as low personal control) could propel speaking up despite perceived low efficacy and perceived low safety?
• How does stereotype threat impact voice behavior of the individual in the stereotyped group?
• How do 'mobility aspirations' affect voice behavior? Are such employees less likely to voice concerns as compared to voicing ideas and suggestions?
• How do emotions, moods and implicit beliefs of source affect voice behavior?

Source-Target interactions

• How do differences in individual level attributes of source and target affect voice behavior?
• How does target's attributions (causal, value and constructiveness) affect voice behavior?

Perceived importance, urgency, sensitivity, efficacy and impact

• Does perceived efficacy also include expected outcome realization (along with whether target will listen and take appropriate action)?
• How do employees arrive at the potential importance, sensitivity and urgency of the information they have?
• Who do they consider as the frame of reference (self, co-workers, collective, organization and/or external stakeholders) when assessing the importance, urgency and sensitivity? How does this frame of reference affect the perceived importance and sensitivity?
• How do perceived importance, urgency and sensitivity affect voice behavior?

Message type

• How is voice behavior (on aspects such as antecedents, motivating factors and consequences) distinct based on the message type (opinion, idea, suggestion or concern)?
• What other alternative nuanced conceptualizations of voice are possible and helpful? For example - consider a conceptualization where message type is viewed on one continuum based on the extent of its utility to the collective/organization. In this continuum, 'problem sharing' could be conceived to be on the lower end of utility, followed by 'opinion' and 'suggestion', and 'idea' conceived to be on the other end of utility. This conceptualization is based on the premise that while organizations do benefit from data and information, they perhaps stand to benefit the most from the applied knowledge and wisdom of its members.

Decision-making

• Is silence the only alternative choice to voice? Could speaking out (as an alternative to speaking up), speaking up (as an alternative to speaking out), other OCBs (such as taking charge or helping), deferred voice (silence until a more perceived opportune context for voice) or exit be possible alternatives when the voice is perceived to be not acted upon or when the intended impact of voice is perceived to be not effected?
• How do employees arrive at who the appropriate target of voice is? Is the voice target necessarily the one who has the authority to take action implied by the voice or the one who has the perceived influence on someone else who has the authority to take the necessary action?
• How do emotions (apart from fear such as anger, apathy and despair) impact deliberate decision-making process of voice? Do they preclude cognitive process?
• How do culturally acquired beliefs short-circuit cognitive process of decision-making?
• How do stereotypes, prejudices and biases (for example - gender and racial) color the interpretation of voice behavior?

Tactics

• What voice tactics (such as framing, media, politeness, timing and influencing) are typically employed in organizations?
• Are some employees likely to share potentially important information in partial or in entirety with others (peers, subordinates or others in higher up) informally or formally before deciding to share it with the intended target? What are the motives for this 'early on' sharing? Is it intended to gather additional information or perspectives to strengthen the perception of importance, urgency, sensitivity, safety, efficacy and impact of the voice content? Is it a tactical step to mobilize additional support to enhance perceived safety, efficacy and impact of voice? What individual and contextual factors influence this 'early on' behavior? What are the negative consequences of such a behavior?

Communication media

• How, why and when does a voice source choose a particular medium (such as face-to-face, telephonic or computer-mediated) or combination of media for speaking up/out?
• How does various communication media relate to perceived efficacy and safety of voice?
• How do individual attributes, contextual factors and message type (promotive or prohibitive) influence the choice of the media for speaking?

Consequences of voice

• Are there any empirical studies on impact of voice on organizational (not just group or individual) performance and survival?
• How does voice impact actor's peers and relationship with peers?
• How does negative impact of voice acted upon impact future voice behaviors of the source and observers?

Others

• What are the driving motives for voicing on behalf of someone?
• How can primary driving motive of a voice be ascertained empirically?
• How different is voice as a group-level construct?
• How do conditions external to organization (or group) impact voice behavior of organization (or group)? For example - when the organization (or group) faces survival threat from its environment, does the voice behavior become more constricted?