Voice Flows to and around Leaders: Understanding When Units Are Helped or Hurt by Employee Voice.
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| Title: | Voice Flows to and around Leaders: Understanding When Units Are Helped or Hurt by Employee Voice. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Detert, James R.1, Burris, Ethan R.2, Harrison, David A.2, Martin, Sean R.1 |
| Source: | Administrative Science Quarterly. Dec2013, Vol. 58 Issue 4, p624-668. 45p. 2 Black and White Photographs, 1 Diagram, 4 Charts. |
| Subject Terms: | *Communication, Leaders, Employee participation in management, Human voice, Organizational citizenship behavior, Credit unions |
| Abstract: | In two studies, we develop and test theory about the relationship between speaking up, one type of organizational citizenship behavior, and unit performance by accounting for where employee voice is flowing. Results from a qualitative study of managers and professionals across a variety of industries suggest that voice to targets at different formal power levels (peers or superiors) and locations in the organization (inside or outside a focal unit) differs systematically in terms of its usefulness in generating actions to a unit’s benefit on the issues raised and in the likely information value of the ideas expressed. We then theorize how distinct voice flows should be differentially related to unit performance based on these core characteristics and test our hypotheses using time-lagged field data from 801 employees and their managers in 93 units across nine North American credit unions. Results demonstrate that voice flows are positively related to a unit’s effectiveness when they are targeted at the focal leader of that unit—who should be able to take action—whether from that leader’s own subordinates or those in other units, and negatively related to a unit’s effectiveness when they are targeted at coworkers who have little power to effect change. Together, these studies provide a structural framework for studying the nature and impact of multiple voice flows, some along formal reporting lines and others that reflect the informal communication structure within organizations. This research demonstrates that understanding the potential performance benefits and costs of voice for leaders and their units requires attention to the structure and complexity of multiple voice flows rather than to an undifferentiated amount of voice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] |
| Copyright of Administrative Science Quarterly is the property of Administrative Science Quarterly and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 92688565 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Voice Flows to and around Leaders: Understanding When Units Are Helped or Hurt by Employee Voice. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Detert%2C+James+R%2E%22">Detert, James R.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Burris%2C+Ethan+R%2E%22">Burris, Ethan R.</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Harrison%2C+David+A%2E%22">Harrison, David A.</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Martin%2C+Sean+R%2E%22">Martin, Sean R.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Administrative+Science+Quarterly%22">Administrative Science Quarterly</searchLink>. Dec2013, Vol. 58 Issue 4, p624-668. 45p. 2 Black and White Photographs, 1 Diagram, 4 Charts. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Communication%22">Communication</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Leaders%22">Leaders</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Employee+participation+in+management%22">Employee participation in management</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Human+voice%22">Human voice</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Organizational+citizenship+behavior%22">Organizational citizenship behavior</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Credit+unions%22">Credit unions</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: In two studies, we develop and test theory about the relationship between speaking up, one type of organizational citizenship behavior, and unit performance by accounting for where employee voice is flowing. Results from a qualitative study of managers and professionals across a variety of industries suggest that voice to targets at different formal power levels (peers or superiors) and locations in the organization (inside or outside a focal unit) differs systematically in terms of its usefulness in generating actions to a unit’s benefit on the issues raised and in the likely information value of the ideas expressed. We then theorize how distinct voice flows should be differentially related to unit performance based on these core characteristics and test our hypotheses using time-lagged field data from 801 employees and their managers in 93 units across nine North American credit unions. Results demonstrate that voice flows are positively related to a unit’s effectiveness when they are targeted at the focal leader of that unit—who should be able to take action—whether from that leader’s own subordinates or those in other units, and negatively related to a unit’s effectiveness when they are targeted at coworkers who have little power to effect change. Together, these studies provide a structural framework for studying the nature and impact of multiple voice flows, some along formal reporting lines and others that reflect the informal communication structure within organizations. This research demonstrates that understanding the potential performance benefits and costs of voice for leaders and their units requires attention to the structure and complexity of multiple voice flows rather than to an undifferentiated amount of voice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Administrative Science Quarterly is the property of Administrative Science Quarterly and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1177/0001839213510151 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 45 StartPage: 624 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Communication Type: general – SubjectFull: Leaders Type: general – SubjectFull: Employee participation in management Type: general – SubjectFull: Human voice Type: general – SubjectFull: Organizational citizenship behavior Type: general – SubjectFull: Credit unions Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Voice Flows to and around Leaders: Understanding When Units Are Helped or Hurt by Employee Voice. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Detert, James R. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Burris, Ethan R. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Harrison, David A. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Martin, Sean R. IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 12 Text: Dec2013 Type: published Y: 2013 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00018392 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 58 – Type: issue Value: 4 Titles: – TitleFull: Administrative Science Quarterly Type: main |
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