Tuning into the Life Cycle of Voice: Voice Emergence, Adoption, and Decline into Silence

Abstract

Voice—employees’ discretionary communication of ideas or identification of potential problems—is a key driver of innovation, enhanced productivity, and greater status for voicers. With the benefits of voice well-documented, nascent inquiry has begun to elucidate essential elements of the voice lifecycle—i.e., its emergence, adoption and implementation, and eventual decline into silence. The proposed symposium features four empirical papers that address novel and theoretically interesting aspects of the voice lifecycle. Related to voice emergence, we examine the effects of power dynamics in leader-follower dyads on constructive and destructive forms of voice, as well as the relationship between misfit and voice. Related to the adoption of voice, we consider the effects of the perceived novelty and usefulness of creative ideas on their perceived cost and adoption by managers. Related to the decline of voice into silence, we consider the potentially detrimental effect of silence on employees’ ruminative thinking and subsequent negative behavior. Taken together, our symposium offers an expanded view of the voice lifecycle. When Voice Takes Constructive Rather Than Destructive Forms in Leader-Follower Dyads Presenter: Jing Wu; BI Norwegian Business School Presenter: Subrahmaniam Tangirala; U. of Maryland Presenter: Pengcheng Zhang; School of Management, Huazhong U. of Science and Technology Here’s to the Misfits: Investigating Whether Misfit Magnifies or Mutes Employee Voice Presenter: Nathan Black; U. of Iowa Presenter: Stephen Reid; U. of Iowa Presenter: Jennifer Nahrgang; U. of Iowa Presenter: Daniel Newton; U. of Iowa The Paradox of Creative Ideas: How Novelty and Utility Affect Adoption Differently Presenter: Wayne Johnson; Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Presenter: Elizabeth McClean; Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Keep It Unsaid but Can’t Let It Go: A Rumination Perspective on the Daily Effects of Silence Presenter: Junchao Li; Rutgers Business School Presenter: Lin Wang; Sun Yat-Sen U. Presenter: Chengquan Huang; U. of Florida Presenter: Crystal I Chien Farh; U. of Washington