Upward Defiance in Organizations: Management Lessons from the Battle of Blair Mountain

Abstract

Based upon an analysis of 30 historic narrative accounts of mutinies, Coye, Murphy, and Spencer (2010) recently extended voice theory to clarify the ontological status of the concept of upward defiance. They proposed a conceptual framework, based on dimensions of perceived injustice to organizational members and barriers to voice, to locate the construct of mutiny in relation to voice theory, thereby enhancing comprehension of defiance in modern organizations. Mutinies, however, can also occur outside of a maritime milieu. One such example is the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain, which was the largest armed uprising in the United States since the Civil War. We examine this significant insurrection with a practical lens to 1) provide support for and extend Coye et al.’s (2010) upward defiance framework, 2) illustrate the process of escalation to hostility, and 3) offer organizational managers guidance on appropriate steps to interrupt the extreme escalation of member resistance.