Speaking Up in Groups: A Cross-Level Study of Group Voice Climate and Voice

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Morrison, Elizabeth Wolfe; Wheeler-Smith, Sara L.; Kamdar, Dishan
• 署名单位: New York University; Indian School of Business (ISB)
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/a0020744
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 183-191
• 关键词: EMPLOYEE VOICE; work group climate; MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS; employee extrarole behavior

摘要

Despite a growing body of research on employee voice defined as the discretionary communication of ideas, suggestions, or opinions intended to improve organizational or unit functioning the effects of shared or collective-level cognitions have received scant attention. There has also been relatively little research on voice within work groups. Our goal in this study was to address these important gaps by focusing on the effects of group-level beliefs about voice (i.e., group voice climate) on individual voice behavior within work groups. We conducted a cross-level investigation of voice behavior within 42 groups of engineers from a large chemical company. Consistent with our hypotheses, group voice climate was highly predictive of voice and explained variance beyond the effects of individual-level identification and satisfaction, and procedural justice climate. Also consistent with predictions, the effect of identification on voice was stronger in groups with favorable voice climates. These findings provide evidence that voice is shaped not just by individual attitudes and perceptions of the work context, as past research has shown, but also by group-level beliefs. The results also highlight the importance of broadening our conceptual models of voice to include shared cognitions and of conducting additional cross-level research on voice.