The Efect of Silence, and Voice Behaviors, On Citizenship, and Counterproductive Behaviors with Moderating Role of Organizational Identification

Abstract

At some instances, employees raise their voice while in other circumstances they remain silent. These behaviors affect task and non-task performance of employees. The purpose of this study is to evaluate how organizational silence and voice effect the ability of employees in displaying organizational citizenship and counterproductive work behavior. Furthermore, literature shows that organizational identification plays an important role in determining organizational non-task performance. To evaluate this phenomenon moderation effect of organizational identification were analyzed on the relationships of organizational silence and voice with organizational citizenship and counterproductive behaviors. The moderation effects were also analyzed between motives based sub-dimensions of organizational voice and silence, and individual and organizational based sub-dimensions of organizational citizenship and counterproductive work behaviors. This study was conducted on academic faculty of three public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan selected based on their respective organizational lifecycle stages. Results of the study show that organizational silence and voice negatively effects the ability of employees in displaying helpful non-task behaviors i.e. organizational citizenship behaviors. In contrast, they strengthen the display of harmful behaviors in employees i.e. counterproductive work behavior. The withdrawal and defensive motive based silence and voice has a negative relationship with organizational citizenship behavior and a positive relationship with counterproductive work behavior, while the prosocial motive based silence and voice promotes organizational citizenship behavior and prevents employee to display counterproductive work behaviors. Interestingly positive behaviors directed towards individual (OCBI) are also amplified with withdrawal and defensive motive based silence and voice while repressed by prosocial motive based of silence and voice. xviii Organizational identification was found positively related with organizational citizenship behavior while negatively related with counterproductive work behavior, organizational silence and organizational voice. When employed as a moderating variable the analyses resulted in four primary models. In model 1 and 2, organizational identification strengthened the negative relationship of organizational silence and voice with organizational citizenship behavior. On the contrary, in model 3 and 4 organizational identification dampens the positive relationship of organizational silence and voice with counterproductive work behaviors. Relationships between the sub-dimensions of the dependent and independent variables were also tested for the moderation effects of organizational identification resulting in 24 secondary models displaying varied results. This study provides an insight into the relationships between the variables of social exchange theory and the impact of different levels of identification on these relationships. In this study for the first time organizational silence, voice, citizenship, counterproductive work behaviors and organizational identification were studied together in a mutual relationship. Furthermore, literature is scarce about the said variables being investigated under the methodology employed in this study. Finally, these relationships have been tested at second level analysis by presenting and reporting relationship between the sub-dimensions of the variables. This study hence not only provides a detailed and comprehensive investigation and managerial implication itself but also encourages further wide-ranging investigations into the dynamic interconnections of voice, silence, citizenship and counterproductive behaviors.