eCommons

 

Driving Proactivity In Organizations: A Comparison Of Approaches To Increase Improvement-Oriented Voice

Other Titles

Abstract

Leaders rely on other organizational members to speak up with ideas for improvement, or to alert them to relevant information they may not otherwise see. Various factors predict whether or not individuals speak up with ideas for improvement, including personality (LePine & Van Dyne, 2001), beliefs about voice (Detert & Edmondson, 2011), and contextual factors like leadership and climate (Detert & Burris, 2007; Tangirala & Ramanujam, 2012; 2008). Despite myriad studies on the antecedents of speaking up, a critical question related to voice behavior in organizations remains largely unanswered - namely, whether and through which processes voice can be sustainably increased. Assessing the levers and process for change will allow for a more precise comparison of the drivers (i.e., beliefs, contextual effects) of voice behavior. Exploring whether and how voice can be increased also has important implications for innovation and improvement in organizations. To address this question, I conducted a field experiment in an Indian IT consulting company whereby I led interventions designed to target three antecedents to voice: ability (i.e., issue selling skills), beliefs about voice, and leader behaviors. Preliminary results suggest that targeting employees' ability to speak up creates significant change in in employee- and manager-rated voice. Additionally, these findings suggest that having the ability to speak up helps employees feel that it is more worthwhile and safer to do so. In this dissertation, I examine my theory of change in voice, describe the field experiment, and offer my findings. Finally, I draw conclusions and implications for driving improvement and innovation in organizations through employee voice.

Journal / Series

Volume & Issue

Description

Sponsorship

Date Issued

2014-05-25

Publisher

Keywords

Employee Voice; Organizational Behavior; Leadership

Location

Effective Date

Expiration Date

Sector

Employer

Union

Union Local

NAICS

Number of Workers

Committee Chair

Collins, Christopher J.
Collins, Christopher J.

Committee Co-Chair

Committee Member

Detert, James Roland
Diciccio, Thomas J
Detert, James Roland
Burris, Ethan

Degree Discipline

Industrial and Labor Relations

Degree Name

Ph. D., Industrial and Labor Relations

Degree Level

Doctor of Philosophy

Related Version

Related DOI

Related To

Related Part

Based on Related Item

Has Other Format(s)

Part of Related Item

Related To

Related Publication(s)

Link(s) to Related Publication(s)

References

Link(s) to Reference(s)

Previously Published As

Government Document

ISBN

ISMN

ISSN

Other Identifiers

Rights

Rights URI

Types

dissertation or thesis

Accessibility Feature

Accessibility Hazard

Accessibility Summary

Link(s) to Catalog Record