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Speaking Up, Remaining Silent: The Dynamics of Voice and Silence in Organizations
Author(s) -
Morrison Elizabeth Wolfe,
Milliken Frances J.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of management studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.398
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1467-6486
pISSN - 0022-2380
DOI - 10.1111/1467-6486.00383
Subject(s) - stern , silence , sociology , library science , management , media studies , history , art , computer science , economics , aesthetics , ancient history
Within organizations, people often have to make decisions about whether to speak up or remain silent whether to share or withhold their ideas, opinions, and concerns. In many cases, they choose the safe response of silence, withholding input that could be valuable to others or thoughts that they wish they eould express. Researchers have referred to this as employee silence (Morrison and Milliken, 2000; Pinder and Harlos, 2001). There are many different types of issues that people in organizations are silent about and many reasons why people may elect to be silent. An employee may keep quiet about unethical practices that he or she has observed, for example, out of fear of being punished. Members of a group may choose to not express dissenting opinions in the interest of maintaining consensus and cohesiveness in the group. Thus, silence can be caused by fear, by the desire to avoid conveying bad news or unwelcome ideas, and also by normative and social pressures that exist in groups.