Voice and silence have been employed in
organizational studies to shed light on how
individuals and groups achieve representation and
exert meaningful communicative influence within
organizations. However, scholars have tended to
treat the two concepts separately, since voice has
been defined as the opposite of silence. On the
basis of a review of relevant literature and a case
study of African-American faculty and staff at Texas
A&M University, I argue for a re-conceptualization
of voice and silence as thoroughly interrelated and
intertwined forms of strategic and communicative
interaction which denote either expressing or
withholding ideas, opinions or aspects of identity
in an active, purposeful and relational manner.
Voice and silence presuppose each other and social
actors present both voice and silence because they
deal with multiple issues and multiple levels at
different moments in time. Such a redefinition
provides conceptual benefits for future research,
and practical benefits for both organizations facing
diversity related problems, and minority groups
seeking representation and voice in organizational
settings.
Hinweis: Dieser Artikel kann nur an eine deutsche Lieferadresse ausgeliefert werden.
organizational studies to shed light on how
individuals and groups achieve representation and
exert meaningful communicative influence within
organizations. However, scholars have tended to
treat the two concepts separately, since voice has
been defined as the opposite of silence. On the
basis of a review of relevant literature and a case
study of African-American faculty and staff at Texas
A&M University, I argue for a re-conceptualization
of voice and silence as thoroughly interrelated and
intertwined forms of strategic and communicative
interaction which denote either expressing or
withholding ideas, opinions or aspects of identity
in an active, purposeful and relational manner.
Voice and silence presuppose each other and social
actors present both voice and silence because they
deal with multiple issues and multiple levels at
different moments in time. Such a redefinition
provides conceptual benefits for future research,
and practical benefits for both organizations facing
diversity related problems, and minority groups
seeking representation and voice in organizational
settings.
Hinweis: Dieser Artikel kann nur an eine deutsche Lieferadresse ausgeliefert werden.