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This paper’s objective is to provide a systematic literature review of the contextual factors affecting downward communication from supervisors to subordinates in the audit environment. In addition, this review identifies emerging research themes and directions for future research.

I accomplish this review’s objectives by leveraging communication literature to establish a framework to identify and synthesize contextual factors affecting downward communication in the audit environment. The review identifies 50 published articles in the last 20 years from leading accounting and auditing journals.

This study consolidates research findings on downward communication under two primary contextual factors: (1) message and (2) channel. Findings indicate that empirical research examining communication in audit is fragmented and limited. Studies examining the message focus heavily on its content and treatment in the areas of feedback, nonverbal cues, and fraud brainstorming, and a handful of additional studies examine the effectiveness of the channel in these areas. Additional research is needed to understand a broader set of supervisor–subordinate communication practices, including those that are computer-mediated, and their effect on subordinate auditors’ judgments and behaviors in the contemporary audit environment.

Much of the audit literature examining communication to date is topic-versus construct-based, making it difficult to see how the research findings relate to one another. This review is the first to synthesize the literature to provide academics recommendations for a way forward, and inform practitioners of communication practices whereby supervisors can be trained to improve audit quality.

In this research, the authors examine the relationships between findings from several potentially‐related literature streams including a prescriptive body of communication theory involving supervisor‐subordinate communication, contingency ideas involving use of coaching/directive vs counselling/participative leader communication styles, and leader‐member exchange (LMX) theory from the management literature. LMX suggests that supervisors may afford differing treatment, and thus possibly use different communications tactics, with subordinates in higherquality exchange relationships than with those in lower‐quality relationships. This literature, however, leaves unresolved whether supervisors should treat employees differently. In contrast, much of the communication literature has emphasised development of “best” practices which, presumably, should be used with all employees. In this research the authors consider whether there are consistencies between leader communication practices and the perceived quality of the leader‐member exchange. They report evidence that employees perceive differences, especially in the level of participation‐related communication, depending upon whether they believe they are in a higher‐ or lower‐quality LMX relationship. Moreover, they find weak evidence for congruence between supervisor and subordinate perceptions of the quality of the exchange and no significant evidence that similarity of the dyad influences the quality of the exchange.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the structure of leader communication style in the context of organizational change. In doing so, the authors intend to shed more light on how leaders can effectively communicate change projects to their subordinates, which is viewed as the key to implementing change initiatives.

This paper builds an integrated conceptual model for understanding leader’s communication style and subordinates’ commitment to change. By analyzing subordinates’ different fears of change, the paper further proposes a multidimensional structure of leader communication style in the context of change. The authors then develop a scale to measure these different dimensions and test the relationship between the proposed communication style and subordinates’ affective commitment to change.

Leader communication style in the context of change is found to be composed of five dimensions: hope orientation, reality orientation, subordinate orientation, support orientation, and enforcement orientation. A cross-level field study of 31 teams and 194 members shows that hope orientation, subordinate orientation, and support orientation are positively associated with subordinates’ affective commitment to change.

This paper identifies a new structure of leader communication style that will lead to a richer understanding of how leaders communicate to their subordinates in the context of change. It also contributes to the leadership literature by implying effective ways of communicating change projects.

With a focus on millennial employees, this study investigates how employees engage in two types of employees' communicative behaviors (ECBs), that is, their voluntary communicative efforts to acquire and circulate tasks and managerial information (i.e. scouting) and to share and discuss positive and negative aspects of their organization with internal members (i.e. internal megaphoning). Through the lens of social exchange theory (SET) and symmetrical communication model, this study examines the effects of inclusive leadership and internal communication on active information behaviors of employees within their companies.

An online survey was conducted with fulltime millennial employees working across various industry sectors in the US.

Symmetrical internal communication influenced by inclusive leadership enhances employees' scouting behavior as well as positive internal megaphoning behavior. Positive and negative internal megaphoning with supervisors increases the scouting behavior of employees, whereas negative internal megaphoning with peers does not have a significant effect.

This study is among the first attempts to examine the effectiveness of leadership and strategic internal communication on millennial employees' diverse types of communicative behaviors.

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between information overload and employees' workplace anxiety in the context of enterprise social media (ESM).

This study built a theoretical model to analyze the relationships among employees' perceptions of information overload on ESM, supervisor-subordinate instrumental and expressive ties on ESM and workplace anxiety. PLS-SEM was used to test the model through 219 questionnaires collected online.

The results revealed that information overload on ESM plays a positive role in employees' workplace anxiety. Supervisor-subordinate instrumental ties based on ESM can weaken the relationship between information overload and employees' workplace anxiety, but expressive ties can strengthen the positive relationship between information overload and workplace anxiety.

Little is known about whether information overload on ESM will affect employees' workplace anxiety and how leaders can mitigate this effect through ESM. Hence, this study developed a theoretical model and conducted an empirical study to open up a research opportunity to examine the relationships among information overload on ESM, supervisor-subordinate instrumental and expressive ties on ESM and employees' workplace anxiety. The study also has the potential to guide organizations in fine-tuning their social media usage strategies.

Diversity in the workforce has become a demographic reality across the globe. There has been some debate amongst academics and practitioners over how to deal with employee diversity. Many agree that organizations should aim to manage diversity rather than simply value it or rely on affirmative action policies. Proposes that improvements in supervisor‐subordinate communication will assist organizations toward the goal of managing diversity by promoting integration and equality in the workplace. Recommends two strategies for accomplishing better supervisor‐subordinate communication: managing personal growth and mentoring. The former may be implemented successfully in the short term while the latter takes a long‐term focus. Concludes that in order for any managing diversity program to succeed, managers and supervisors need to demonstrate their commitment to the program and to communicate the relevance, importance and benefits of such programs to all employees throughout the organization.

Recently, ethical leadership has become a widely studied research topic. Simultaneously, many studies have begun to emphasise the role of interpersonal communication competence (ICC) in successful leadership. However, there has been little discussion on the links between ethical leadership and leaders’ ICC. To address this research gap, this study aims to compare and combine the research traditions of ethical leadership and leaders’ ICC. The study is based on two literature reviews examining (a) ethical leadership (substudy 1; N = 27) and (b) leaders’ ICC (substudy 2; N = 18). The research questions are as follows: (a) How are the requirements of leaders’ ICC noticed in the literature of ethical leadership? (substudy 1) (b) How are the requirements of ethical leadership noticed in the literature of leaders’ ICC? (substudy 2) The findings reveal that (a) studies in ethical leadership rarely pay attention to leaders’ ICC and (b) studies in leaders’ ICC do not often discuss ethical aspects of ICC, at least explicitly. While a larger sample would have been preferred, the study contributes to previous research by addressing a research gap between ethical leadership and leaders’ ICC and suggests integrating these research traditions to better understand the nature of ethics and ICC in leadership. By promoting novel interdisciplinary research perspectives, the study provides a foundation for further research and development of (a) a competence-based approach to ethical leadership and (b) an ethics-focused approach to competent leadership communication.

Following the call of DeNisi and Smith Sockbeson (this issue) to integrate the literatures on feedback and feedback-seeking, the authors propose to view feedback and feedback-seeking as behaviors falling on a conversation continuum ranging from telling subordinates something about their behavior (feedback) to listening. The authors develop a model according to which listening creates a special type of supervisor–subordinate relationship (an I–thou experience), which in turn allows subordinates to recognize faults and strengths in their behavior as to facilitate performance improvement, without the costs of formal feedback.

Theory development and narrative research review.

Feedback and feedback-seeking are communication behaviors emitted by a supervisor, or a subordinate, that can be conceptualized as points on a continuum ranging from telling (i.e. supervisor or subordinate giving feedback), through question-asking (i.e. supervisor’s or subordinate’s feedback-seeking), to listening (e.g. supervisor or subordinate listening to one another).

Under many circumstances, listening can address organizational needs much better than feedback.

The feedforward interview in Listening Circles can be used to enhance performance at work.

Shifting the attention from feedback to listening by managers and researchers could facilitate a host of positive outcomes including better performance, lower burnout, higher job satisfaction and less extremism.

This paper shows that listening is found on the other pole of feedback (telling) and exposes the benefits of considering listening, and not only telling.

Atendiendo a la llamada de DeNisi y Smith Sockbeson (este número) para integrar las literaturas de feedback y búsqueda de feedback, ofrecemos algunas aportaciones teóricas que extienden el estudio del fenómeno en cuestión. Nuestro objetivo con esta contribución es la de señalar formas más efectivas, aunque largamente ignoradas, de mejorar la comunicación supervisor-subordinado, y el rendimiento resultante.

Sugerimos dos cambios teóricos a la hora de aproximarse al feedback y la búsqueda de feedback: viéndolos como un proceso de comunicación relacional (diádico), y ampliando los comportamientos de comunicación para incluir la escucha. A continuación revisamos los resultados existentes para evaluar nuestra teoría.

Nuestra teoría sugiere que el feedback y la búsqueda de feedback son comportamientos son parte de un continuo que va desde el decir a los subordinados algo sobre su comportamiento (feedback) hasta la escucha. Con esta visión, la escucha crea un tipo especial de relación supervisor-subordinado conocido como experiencia yo-tu, mientras que el feedback es más probable que genere una experiencia yo-eso, en la que el supervisor trata al subordinado como un objeto. La experiencia yo-tu, por el contrario, permite a los subordinados reconocer las debilidades y fortalezas de su comportamiento sin necesidad de un feedback formal. Además, el modelo teórico especifica condiciones de contorno. Específicamente, los beneficios de escuchar (a) se manifiestan principalmente cuando supervisor y subordinado forma una relación sobre una base segura, y (b) se ven comprometidos cuando las partes se relacionan de forma insegura.

La revisión de la literatura confirma los beneficios de escuchar, en relación al feedback y el feedback buscado, pero sugiere que el papel del estilo de relación es más complejo que el planteado en el modelo teórico.

Teóricamente, explicamos porqué el feedback, y en menor medida el grado de feedback buscado, crean problemas de comunicación que evitan que el rendimiento mejore. En la práctica, señalamos algunas técnicas para escuchar al empleado, tales como los círculos de escucha, y la entrevista de feedforward, que pueden mejorar la comunicación y en definitiva el rendimiento.

Feedback, Búsqueda de Feedback, Escuchar

Papel Conceptual

Atendendo a chamada de Denisi e Smith Sockbeson (este número) para integrar as literaturas sobre feedback e a busca do feedback, oferecemos propostas teóricas que expandem o estudo do fenômeno considerado. Nosso objetivo nesta proposta teórica é apontar mais eficácia, embora amplamente ignorada, de maneiras para melhorar a comunicação supervisor-subordinado e o desempenho resultante.

Sugerimos duas mudanças teóricas na aproximação do feedback e da busca do feedback: visualização do feedback e da busca do feedback como processos relacionais (diádica) de comunicação, e ampliando os mecanismos de comunicação para incluir a escuta. Revisamos os resultados existentes para avaliar nossa teoria.

Nossa teoria sugere que o feedback e a busca por feedback são comportamentos que fazem parte de um continuo que surge ao dizer aos subordinados algo sobre seu comportamento (feedback) para ouvir. Com essa visão, a escuta cria um tipo especial de relacionamento supervisor-subordinado conhecido como experiência eu-você, enquanto o feedback provavelmente gera uma experiência eu-isso, em que o supervisor trata o subordinado como um objeto. A experiência eu-tu, por outro lado, permite que os subordinados reconheçam as fraquezas e os pontos fortes do seu comportamento sem a necessidade de feedback formal. Além disso, o modelo teórico especifica as condições de contorno. Especificamente, os benefícios de ouvir(a) são manifestados principalmente quando supervisor e subordinado formam um relacionamento em uma base segura, e (b) comprometida quando as partes estão inseguramente anexadas.

A revisão da literatura confirma os benefícios de escutar, em relação ao feedback e o feedback procurado, mas sugere que o papel do estilo do relacionamento é mais complexo do que aquele proposto no modelo teórico.

Teoricamente, explicamos por que o feedback, e em menor medida o nível de feedback procurado, cria problemas de comunicação que impedem a melhoraria do desempenho. Na prática, nós apontamos algumas técnicas para escutar o subordinado, tal como círculos de escuta, e a entrevista de Feedforward, que pode melhorar a comunicação e finalmente o desempenho.

Feedback, Busca de feedback, Escutar

Papel conceitual

The purpose of this paper is to identify associations amongst organizational justice, supervisory justice, authoritarian culture, organization-employee relationship quality and employee turnover intention.

An online survey (n=300) was conducted in South Korea.

Organizational justice and supervisory justice are positively associated with organization-employee relationship quality, while authoritarian organizational culture is negatively associated with it. In addition, there is a positive association between authoritarian organizational culture and turnover intention. Organizational justice and organization-employee relationship quality are negatively associated with turnover intention.

This study contributes to the lack of research on organization-employee relationship quality as a predictor of employee turnover intention and a mediator between authoritarian organizational culture and turnover intention.

Using the Leader‐Member Exchange (LMX) model as a guide, this study examined the relationship between the quality of information exchange between an employee and his or her immediate supervisor and the intention to file grievances. One hundred twenty‐five unionized automotive employees completed a measure of quality of information exchange and responded to eight vignettes representing hypothetical work situations. Employees rated each vignette in terms of their intention to file a grievance if faced with that situation. It was hypothesized that employees who perceived a high quality information exchange relationship with their supervisors would be less likely to file grievances than employees who perceived a low quality information exchange relationship. When the intent to file measure was aggregated across all vignettes, the hypothesis was supported When the vignettes were categorized into three different types of grievance situations through a principal components analysis, quality of information exchange was related only to grievance filing over issues pertaining to time at work. Implications of these findings for both employee grievance research and grievance prevention are discussed.