Dissension in the organization as it relates to control expectancies

The purpose of this study was to examine how employees’ strategies for expressing dissent relate to work locus of control expectancies. Employees (N = 280) completed measures of organizational dissent and work specific locus of control. Results indicated that employees reporting an internal control orientation used significantly more articulated dissent than either moderate or external control oriented employees. Additionally, findings indicated that external oriented employees used significantly more latent dissent than employees reporting either moderate or external control orientations did.     

Perceptions of conflict strategies and communication competence in task-oriented Dyads

Individuals in temporary task-oriented dyads or groups must manage conflict competently if they hope to be successful in reaching their goals. Thus far, however, research on the associations between conflict styles and communication competence has focused on acquainted dyads, such as relational partners and coworkers, rather than unacquainted dyads assigned to work on tasks. The present study tests the applicability of the competence model of interpersonal conflict to temporary task-oriented dyads. Dyads (N = 100) who had little or no relational history completed a simulated decision-making task that involved choosing two out of four employees to lay off in response to a company's need to downsize. Results indicate people generally perceived the solution-oriented strategy as appropriate and effective. Although people perceived their partners' use of the controlling strategy to be inappropriate, people rated themselves as more effective when they used the controlling strategy. People evaluated nonconfrontational strategies as particularly incompetent.     

Perceptions of conflict strategies and communication competence in task‐oriented Dyads

Individuals in temporary task‐oriented dyads or groups must manage conflict competently if they hope to be successful in reaching their goals. Thus far, however, research on the associations between conflict styles and communication competence has focused on acquainted dyads, such as relational partners and coworkers, rather than unacquainted dyads assigned to work on tasks. The present study tests the applicability of the competence model of interpersonal conflict to temporary task‐oriented dyads. Dyads (N = 100) who had little or no relational history completed a simulated decision‐making task that involved choosing two out of four employees to lay off in response to a company's need to downsize. Results indicate people generally perceived the solution‐oriented strategy as appropriate and effective. Although people perceived their partners' use of the controlling strategy to be inappropriate, people rated themselves as more effective when they used the controlling strategy. People evaluated nonconfrontational strategies as particularly incompetent.     

Investigating the relationship between superior‐subordinate relationship quality and employee dissent

The purpose of this study was to examine how subordinates’ perceptions of superior‐subordinate relationship quality (LMX) related to their strategies for expressing dissent. Employees from various organizations completed self‐report survey instruments. Results indicated that subordinates who perceived having high‐quality relationships with their supervisors reported using significantly more articulated dissent than subordinates who perceived having low‐quality relationships with their supervisors. Conversely, subordinates who perceived having low‐quality relationships with their supervisors reported using significantly more latent dissent than subordinates who perceived having high‐quality relationships with their supervisors.     

Sunday democracies: a mixed methods analysis of members’ perceptions of church authority and organizational dissent

Previous research has emphasized differences between churches and other types of organizations including the potential for leaders’ authority to be based on unassailable interpretations of Scripture and on divine callings. The present study examined members’ perceptions of church authority and the degree to which those perceptions affected their willingness to express dissenting opinions, a key feature of organizational democracy. Focus group participants described a fluid process as they negotiated how their voices would be heard in decision-making while simultaneously entrusting some decision-making to ordained leaders. That process sometimes involved seeing members’ voices as one expression of divine authority or compartmentalizing pastoral leadership to spiritual matters and democratic leadership to practical matters. Focus groups also emphasized the importance of church committees and transparency as integral practices for members’ voice in church decision-making. Surveys of a wider group of church members demonstrated that perceptions of democracy and divine authority influenced members’ willingness to express upward dissent, and to a lesser extent, lateral dissent. Results revealed how church members conceptualize their roles in decision-making, highlighting potential areas of conflict when leaders deviate from members’ expectations.     

Family Communication Patterns as Predictors of Organizational Dissent: A Replication Study

This study replicated a previous research project addressing connections between family-of-origin communication and organizational dissent expression. We predicted that family communication patterns (FCPs), specifically conversation and conformity orientations, would predict upward, lateral, and displaced dissent. As in the original study, significant findings emerged for upward dissent and conformity orientation. This replication study indicated family type as an inconsistent predictor of expressed dissent. Contrary to the original study, we found no evidence to support a connection between pluralistic family types and upward dissent. Finally, as an extension of the original study we analyzed effects of FCPs on displaced dissent, finding an inverse association with conversation orientation. Implications for future research are discussed.     

High School Athletes’ Relationships With Head Coaches and Teammates as Predictors of Their Expressions of Upward and Lateral Dissent

Athletes’ expressions of dissent are largely unrecognized, which limits coaches’ abilities to manage their teams and athletes’ abilities to voice themselves effectively. This study considers athletes’ roles on their teams, sport type, and relationships with coaches and teammates as predictors of upward and lateral expressions of dissent. Results gathered from 273 former high school athletes revealed a complex pattern of social interaction, whereby starting status and relationships with teammates directly predicted upward dissent and athlete–coach relationships indirectly predicted upward dissent. In contrast, only athletes’ relationships with coaches predicted their expressions of lateral dissent. These findings suggest that in order to promote functional patterns of athlete dissent coaches must build quality relationships with athletes, as well as climates that facilitate cohesion among athletes.     

Facing corrections in the workplace: The influence of perceived face threat on the consequences of managerial reproaches

The purpose of this study was to determine whether workplace reproaches differ in their level of perceived face threat and to examine the relationship between perceived face threat and a variety of outcomes. One hundred and four full‐time employees completed a survey asking them to describe in detail a time they were reproached by a manager. The survey included scales measuring perceived face threat, interactional fairness, anger, communicative competence, and satisfaction with the outcome of the incident. As predicted, we found that reproaches differ from each other in degree of perceived face threat. In addition, perceived face threat was negatively correlated with interactional fairness, communicative competence, and satisfaction with the outcome of the incident, and positively correlated with anger.     

Organizational Dissent as a Function of Organizational Justice

This study examined the relationships between perceptions of organizational justice and enacting organizational dissent. Participants were 107 full-time employees working in various organizations. Results indicated that employee perceptions of distributive and interpersonal justice negatively predicted latent dissent, while perceptions of informational justice positively predicted latent dissent. Perceptions of interpersonal justice were the strongest predictor of latent dissent. Perceptions of justice were not related to articulated or displaced dissent. Future research should continue to explore triggering agents of dissent in organizations.     

Autonomy and parent-child relationship satisfaction: the mediating role of communication competence

ABSTRACT

Research shows that autonomous individuals have greater psychological well-being and high-quality relationships. The present study, from a communication perspective, aimed to understand the dynamics between child autonomy, communication competence, and parent-child relationship satisfaction. Participants in this study were 169 parent-young adult child dyads. Results showed that autonomous children reported being more communicatively competent, and both themselves and their parents reported greater satisfaction. Further, mediation analyses showed that child autonomy was positively associated with children’s satisfaction with parents through their disclosure competence, and child autonomy was positively associated with parents’ satisfaction with children through child conflict management competence. Overall, the findings revealed that young adult child being autonomous was beneficial to both themselves and their parents.     

Exploring the relationship between workplace freedom of speech,organizational identification,and employee dissent

The purpose of this study was to examine how subordinates' perceptions of workplace freedom of speech related to their levels of organizational identification and their strategies for expressing dissent. Full‐time working adults from various organizations in the Southwest completed self‐report survey instruments. Results indicated that organizational identification as well as the expression of articulated dissent and latent dissent varied as a function of workplace freedom of speech.     

Attribution Theory in the College Classroom: Examining the Relationship of Student Attributions and Instructional Dissent

This study sought to expand knowledge on instructional dissent by establishing the relationship between student attributions of instructor behavior (attribution theory) and their own communicative behavior following a difference of opinion with an instructor. Student participants (N = 244) completed survey questionnaires regarding their perceptions of instructor's internality for a perceived disagreement and their own communicative behavior following the incident (i.e., expressive, rhetorical, or vengeful dissent). Results indicate that students’ attributions of internality are positively related to all three forms of dissent.     

Interpersonal communication motives and message design logic: exploring their interaction on perceptions of competence

Message design logic and interpersonal communication motives were conjointly studied to assess their interaction on receivers' perceptions of senders' competence. Two 8 (motive)×3 (message design logic) repeated measures ANOVAs indicated significant interaction effects for both effectiveness and appropriateness. Nevertheless, the effects of design logic and motive on perceptions of competence were not as expected for some situations. The results of the study fail to support past research suggesting that perceived effectiveness and appropriateness will be enhanced by using a more complex message design. In addition, no pattern emerged for the instrumental versus the ritualistic motivations in terms of the most competent message design.     

Public speaking procrastination as a correlate of public speaking communication apprehension and self‐perceived public speaking competence

In the present study, the relationship between public speaking procrastination and communication apprehension, and the relationship between public speaking procrastination and self‐perceived public speaking competence were investigated. A significant, positive correlation was found between public speaking procrastination and communication apprehension. A significant, negative correlation was found between public speaking procrastination and self‐perceived public speaking competence. The implications of public speaking procrastination for students and their instructors are discussed along with “anti‐procrastination “ pedagogical strategies.     

Examining the association of job tenure,employment history,and organizational status with employee dissent

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between temporal and structural components of organizational life (i.e., job tenure, employment history, and organizational history) and employee dissent. This was accomplished by comparing respondents’ reports about their tendencies to use varying strategies for dissent to their reports about present job tenure, number of full‐time employers, total years work experience, and organizational status. Structural equation models were used to examine the association between temporal measures (job tenure, number of full‐time employers, total years work experience), structural measures (organizational status) and dissent constructs. Findings indicated that articulated dissent use was associated with management status, whereas latent dissent use was associated with nonmanagement status, increases in present job tenure and decreases in number of full‐time employers and total years work experience.     

Cultural Competence and Institutional Contradictions: The Hydropower Referendum

This study explores a corporate campaign to pass a referendum to enable the development of a hydropower plant in a small Swedish community. In the changing institutional context that grounds this case, the organization needed to develop communicative practices that embodied “cultural competence,” a set of processes identified as critical for the legitimacy and success of business organizations in the emerging global/intersectoral environment. Findings suggest that the MNC's communication strategy captured important components of cultural competence. However, institutional contradictions impeded enactment of the strategy and resulted in delegitimizing paradoxical communication. The results indicate that organizational awareness of institutional change and culturally competent strategy are insufficient without special attention to contradictions and resultant communicative paradoxes embodied within a particular institutional context. The importance of a reflective communication approach that engages contradictions and tensions in the surrounding micro–macro institutional contexts is underscored.     

面向自主创新战略的企业知识管理研究

首先揭示企业核心竞争力、企业创新与知识管理三者的内在联系;继而系统概述我国企业自主创新战略的概念框架,围绕企业自主创新战略的实现,将企业知识管理活动抽象描述为动态循环的知识链模型,并借助理论模型和相关实证,分析不同创新策略下的企业知识管理特征与机制,归纳出企业面向自主创新战略的知识管理实务,由此提出在中国企业实施的几点建议。     

From exemptions to censorship: religious liberty and victimhood in Obergefell v. Hodges

This article analyzes the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, showing that a subset of the dissent constructed devout religious groups as victims to rearticulate power relations between the state, LGBT groups, and religious entities. This rearticulation is possible as a consequence of ambiguity in the legal concept of religious liberty, which is explored in depth. That ambiguity is employed to mount an argument against the decision, moving LGBT individuals from oppressed to oppressor of religious groups. The study contextualizes this inversion against the material and symbolic conditions of both the LGBT and devout Christian communities in the United States.     

Responses to Organizational Mandates: How Voice Attenuates Psychological Reactance and Dissent

Organizations sometimes create policies that restrict the decision freedom of their members. When doing so, they might create psychological reactance and dissent. This study examines whether providing voice into a decision can reduce the likelihood that those affected by the decision perceive it as imposing on their rights, can have negative emotional reactions to its adoption, and can want to engage in organizational dissent. Undergraduate students were randomly assigned to read scenarios in which a university committee decided to recommend that a university-wide, mandatory, comprehensive exit examination requirement be adopted after a student group either supported the requirement or opposed it. The results confirmed an indirect path between voice and dissent that flowed through perceived imposition on students’ rights and negative emotional reactions to the adoption of the requirement. The limitations of the study and implications of the results for theory and research are discussed.     

Affirming communicator style of supervisor and subordinate use of upward influence tactics: An analysis of nonmanagerial and managerial employees

This investigation focuses on how subordinates perceive their supervisor's affirming communicator style (i.e., friendly, attentive, and relaxed) and the upward influence tactics they select. Results demonstrated that: 1) both managerial and nonmanagerial employees are less likely to use hard influence tactics (i.e., assertiveness) when communicating with supervisors with an affirming style, 2) managerial employees are more likely than nonmanagerial employees to use hard upward influence tactics (i.e., coalition, upward appeal, and assertiveness), 3) nonmanagerial employees perceive supervisors who communicate with an affirming style as being more participative decision makers, and 4) both managerial and nonmanagerial employees are more satisfied with supervisors who communicate with an affirming style.