Abstract

Since voice's introduction to the management literature, scholars have sought to answer the question "why do employees choose to speak up?" As the field has begun to consider voice at the collective (e.g., team) level, scholars have primarily investigated how leaders and power structures within teams impact team decisions to speak up. However, solely focusing on the role of power differences within teams ignores the important influence that social status differences among team members might have on team voice behavior. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is to take a more holistic approach to examining team structures as antecedents of team voice. I do this by testing how both power and status hierarchy steepness within teams influence team voice behavior through beliefs about when it is inappropriate to speak up based on power and status, a phenomenon known as implicit voice theories (IVTs). I begin by reviewing the literature on voice at the team-level and IVTs (Chapter 2). Then, I draw on the social hierarchy literature and social information processing theory to develop hypotheses linking power and status hierarchy steepness to team voice through team IVTs (Chapter 3). Prior to testing this theoretical model, I draw on status characteristics theory, expectation states theory, and the social hierarchy literature to develop IVTs related to status and create a scale to measure them. This status-related IVT scale was developed and validated in six stages across five studies (Chapter 4). Finally, I test my theoretical model in Chapter 5 using a sample of 68 organizational teams. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2023

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Whiting, Steven

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Business Administration

Degree Program

Business Administration; Management Track

Identifier

CFE0009758; DP0027866

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0027866

Language

English

Release Date

August 2028

Length of Campus-only Access

5 years

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Campus-only Access)

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