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The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between empowering leadership and employees’ constructive voice behavior in the present organizational dynamics. The authors propose a moderated mediation model to investigate the relationship between empowering leadership, employees’ core self-evaluation, psychological safety and constructive voice.

The authors collected survey data from a sample of 282 service executives across Indian organizations. This study uses SPSS Process macro (moderated mediation model) to analyze the data collected. Additionally, the authors have used moderation graph to elucidate the interaction effect.

The results suggest that empowering leadership positively affects employees’ constructive voice behavior. Supporting results were observed for the mediating impact of psychological safety between empowering leadership and constructive voice, and moderating role of core self-evaluation between empowering leadership and psychological safety.

The small sample size limits the study from drawing generalizations. Other potential limitations are discussed, too.

Significant impact of empowering leadership on voice behavior highlights the importance of style of leadership adopted; a 360-degree appraisal of leaders can be conducted to identify proper empowering leaders. The moderating role of core self-evaluation implies that employees who perceive themselves competent may only offer constructive suggestions even if they work in a psychologically safe environment.

This paper is the first to explore the relationship between a new form of leadership style, empowering leadership and employees’ constructive voice behavior, and is, thus, relevant for employers who expect their employees to contribute in the form of ideas, suggestions and concerns towards the growth of the company.

Promotive and prohibitive voice behavior is essential for effective team performance and organizational sustainability. However, the existing literature is limited on the role of team voice in predicting employee voice behavior. The authors proposed that team members' voices serve as a cue for engagement in felt obligation for constructive change, which sets the path for employees' engagement in promotive and prohibitive voice behavior. This study further proposed that supervisor expectation for voice may alter the relationship between team voice and felt obligation for constructive change of employees. The authors' proposed model is based on social information processing theory.

The data were collected from 313 telecommunication sector employees and the companies supervisors through a multi-source time-lagged design. Linear regression analysis and the Preacher and Hayes Process for mediation and moderation were used to test the proposed hypothesis.

The results support the direct effect of team voice on promotive and prohibitive voice behavior, and the indirect effect of team voice on promotive voice behavior through the mediation of felt obligation for constructive change was also supported. However, mediation of felt obligation for constructive change between team voice and prohibitive voice behavior was not supported. The results also support the moderation of supervisor expectation for voice between team voice and felt obligation for constructive change.

Findings of the study may help organizational practitioners and managers about the value of promotive and prohibitive voice behavior for better team functioning through team voice. The study also highlights the importance of supervisor expectations for voice to strengthen the association between team voice and felt obligation for constructive change among employees. Both dimensions of voice behavior, i.e. promotive and prohibitive voice, are crucial for improved organizational functioning and preventing the organization from harm and loss. Organizations should create environments high on voice behavior to remain competitive and meet the challenges of dynamic business environments.

This paper aims to uncover the impact of leader’s personality traits, agreeableness conscientiousness and neuroticism, on employee’s constructive voice behavior via proposed sequential mediating impact of the empowering leadership and leader–member exchange (LMX).

The proposed model was examined by using the data collected from 262 service executives based in an Indian private sector, using the partial least square structural equation modeling method. This study uses SPSS Process macro (serial mediation model) to analyze the data collected.

Results of the study indicated the positive association of agreeableness and conscientiousness with empowering leadership, while neuroticism was found to be negatively related. The results also provided support for the mediating effect of the LMX between empowering leadership and constructive voice behavior. Further, the authors theorized and verified the sequential mediation model proposing the indirect effect between leader’s personality traits and constructive voice.

Self-reported measures were used for data collection which suffers from the limitation of socially biased responses. Lack of large sample size inhibits us from drawing widely accepted generalization.

The authors suggest that consideration of the personality traits might assist and help organizations in choosing empowering leaders. This assumes importance as notable indirect impact of empowering leadership on constructive voice (promotive voice and prohibitive voice) has been observed. The findings also suggest the nurturing quality that LMX plays an important role in facilitating constructive voice.

This study is first of its kind in understanding the mediating mechanism between empowering leadership and constructive voice. This study further explored serial mediation (i.e. empowering leadership and LMX together) between leader’s personality and constructive voice.

Although online social networks (SNs) (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram) have been used by employees for various work- or non-work-related motives, there has been lack of research on the use of such networks in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to draw on commitment theory and the tricomponent attitude model to explain the role organisational commitment plays in predicting the work-related use of online SNs and the mediating role a constructive employee voice may have in this relationship.

The research was conducted among the employees of seven different companies within seven different industries. The validity of the measures and structural models was evaluated using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

The results indicated that organisational commitment promotes employees’ work-related use of online SNs directly and also indirectly via the mediating role of a constructive voice.

This study is among the few studies which have used the tricomponent attitude model to investigate employees’ behaviour in the workplace, in particular work-related use of online SNs. In terms of theory, this study contributes to expanding the boundaries of knowledge as SNs are considered a challenge in contemporary organisations. Organisations can convert this challenge from a potential threat to an actual opportunity by reinforcing “organisational commitment”.

The purpose of this paper is to build a moderate mediation model to delineate the effects of leader humility on employee constructive voice behavior based on conservation of resources theory and crossover of resources model. Specifically, when a leader behaves with humility, the followers will be more likely to feel they receive psychological resources from their interactions with the leader (i.e. relational energy), and thus engage in more constructive voice behavior. In addition, this energizing effect only occurs when the leader is perceived as having higher apparent sincerity by their subordinates.

The research hypotheses of this study were empirically tested using multi-timepoint and multi-source (i.e. supervisors and subordinates) survey data in China. Study 1, based on data from 449 subordinates and 88 immediate supervisors, was conducted to test the proposed mediation effect. Study 2, based on data from 185 subordinates and 50 immediate supervisors, was conducted to replicate the findings of Study 1 and test the integrated model.

The results of Study 1 support the proposed mediation effect that leader humility positively predicts followers’ constructive voice behavior via boosting followers’ relational energy. The results of Study 2 replicate the findings of Study 1 and further indicate that leader humility is only positively related to perceived relational energy when a leader is perceived as having higher apparent sincerity by their subordinates.

This paper provides detailed instructions for business practitioners. First, given that employee constructive voice behavior is related to employee relational energy and is beneficial to organizations, leaders are encouraged to behave with humility when interacting with their subordinates. Second, from the perspective of human resource management, well-designed training programs can be used to help leaders to develop leader humility. Third, the findings of this paper call attention to a potential risk for humble leaders. Organizations should educate leaders on the potential negative consequences of false humility and encourage leader humility that will appear in leaders’ sincerity.

Overall, drawing on conservation of resources theory and crossover of resources model, this paper reveals that boosting relational energy is a mechanism via which humble leaders can shape employees’ voice behavior. Second, by examining the moderation effect of apparent sincerity of leaders from followers’ perspective, this paper suggests an actor–recipient perspective to identify the boundaries of the energizing mechanism. Third, the findings of this paper add to the knowledge on voice research by highlighting an additional source of energy for employee constructive voice behavior.

Analysis of employee voice has focused on the reasons and managerial issues regarding the available environment to speak up. The purpose of this paper is to understand the effect of management attitude on employee voice with the mediating effect of individual’s perceived psychological safety (PPS). Besides, the role of job satisfaction (JS) and being individualist/collectivist as moderators over the effect of psychological safety on employee voice are analyzed.

The authors constructed a framework based on Maynes and Podsakoff’s (2014) view that identifies four different types of voice behavior (supportive, constructive, defensive and destructive). In total, 286 questionnaires were collected from employees working in telecommunication industry.

Based on analysis, positive management attitude facilitates supportive and constructive voice (CV) and reduces destructive voice (DESV). PPS mediates the relationship with management attitude and DESV. JS level facilitates supportive CV and reduces DESV. Collectivism level of employees moderates PPS and DESV. Path analysis results showed a similar model for mediation effect of safety, and showed a better model fit and explanation for trust mediation between LMX and supportive, constructive and DESV. Supported assumptions would be discussed-based social exchange theory and signaling theory.

The sample is relatively small which limits the external validity of the findings.

Results revealed the managerial attitude over employee voice through perceived work environment (psychological safety) and trust.

This study is one of the first that integrates not only constructive but also DESV into the model.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model of the processes through which approach and avoidance motivation influence constructive and defensive voice behavior, with the moderating role of workplace ostracism and contingent self-esteem.

The paper is conceptual and quantitative study should be conducted to explore the propositions proposed in this paper.

This paper proposes that approach motivation is positively related to constructive voice while avoidance motivation is positively related to defensive voice. In addition, workplace ostracism and contingent self-esteem/importance of performance to self-esteem (IPSE) are examined as two moderators of the motivation-voice behavior relationship.

By understanding employees’ different motives underpinning the voice behavior explained in this paper, it may be easier for management to take measures to facilitate constructive voice and abate defensive voice. Organizations may wish to formulate policies and regulations and to foster a climate to prevent ostracism from happening. Programs designed to develop employees with high IPSE may be implemented.

Most of empirical work on voice has focussed on employee voice behaviors with positive attributes. This paper adopts approach and avoidance motivation as two antecedents, and grounded in self-regulation theory, exploring both positive and negative types of voice behavior. This paper also examines how negative interpersonal behavior such as ostracism affects voice behavior, and provide insights on upside of contingent self-esteem.

The purpose of this paper is to find how leader humility affects employees’ constructive voice behavior toward supervisor (speaking up) and coworkers (speaking out) from an identification-based perspective, and seeks to verify the effectiveness of leader humility in the Chinese context.

Data were collected from 325 employees in four Chinese companies with two phases. In the first phase, the participants were asked to report the leader humility, their identification of their relations with the supervisor, and their identification with their organization. In the second phase, they were asked to report their voice behaviors toward their supervisors and coworkers.

The results indicate that leader humility strongly predicts both employees’ voice behaviors of speaking up and speaking out. Results further suggest that relational identification with the supervisor explains why leader humility promotes employees speaking up, while organizational identification explains why leader humility promotes employees speaking up and speaking out.

Managers with humility can successfully shape employees’ relational and organizational identifications, which in turn encourage their voice behaviors toward supervisors and coworkers. Hence, behaving humbly in working places could be an effective way for managers to promote organizational cohesion and creativity.

Although leader humility attracts much attention in both academia and practice, researchers have been primarily focusing on conceptual development and measurement issues, and empirical studies are rare. This is the first research connecting leader humility and employee proactive behaviors. Moreover, it takes an in-depth analysis of the constructive voice behaviors by differentiating them based on their targets.

This study aims to examine the moderated-mediation effects of employees’ Islamic work ethic (IWE) on their promotive and prohibitive forms of constructive voice behaviors through the integrated frameworks of social identity theory and self-consistency theory.

Using two-source data collection from employees and supervisors, data were collected from 217 participants working in various companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. After initial data screening, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test for the factorial validity of the used measures with AMOS. The hypothesized relationships were tested in the PROCESS macro for SPSS.

The results of this study supported the integration of social identity theory with self-consistency theory in explaining the indirect effects of employees’ IWE on their promotive and prohibitive forms of constructive voice behaviors through the mediation of moral identity. Furthermore, this study also indicated that the indirect effect was conditional on the employees’ perceptions of perceived voice opportunity, which significantly moderated the relationship between their moral identity and their prohibitive voice. However, no such effect was recorded for promotive voice.

This study is the first that explains how and when employees’ IWE leads them to exhibit promotive and prohibitive voice behaviors through the mediation of moral identity and the moderation of perceived voice opportunity. Thus, this study contributes to the IWE, moral identity and employee voice literature by addressing questions with useful theoretical and managerial implications for employees’ promotive and prohibitive forms of constructive voice behaviors in the workplace.

This study aims to examine the relationship between employees’ psychological contract breach and two types of voice behavior based on the social exchange theory. Additionally, the study explores the role of globally responsible business leadership in buffering the negative impacts of psychological contract breach on voice.

Survey data was collected from Chinese full-time employees and the final sample size is 337. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings indicate that psychological contract breach (PCB) has a positive and significant impact on employee aggressive voice behavior (AVB), while its relationship with constructive voice behavior (CVB) is not significant. Furthermore, globally responsible business leadership (GRBL) weakens the negative relationship between PCB and CVB, while strengthens the positive relationship between PCB and AVB.

The findings assist organizations in better recognizing the detrimental consequences of psychological contract breach. Second, the findings serve as a reminder to managers of the benefits of displaying globally responsible business leadership. Third, managers should recognize the complexities of globally responsible business leadership.

First, this study sheds new light on the impact of PCB on employees’ desirable and undesirable proactive behaviors by investigating how and when psychological contract breach affects two types of voice behavior. Second, the moderating role of GRBL further enriches our understanding of how to buffer negative effects of PCB and the desirable function of GRBL. Third, this study enriches the social exchange theory by investigating whether the leader−employee relationship will compensate for the failure of organization−employee relationship.