Pitching Employee Suggestions and Ideas: Managerial Voice Propagation up the Hierarchy

Nancy L. Lam

Do middle managers propagate novel employee communication up the hierarchy? This paper investigates characteristics of the employee, employee input and the work environment that can facilitate or impede managerial propagation of employees’ improvement-oriented voice up the hierarchy. In particular, this study examines the effects of novelty and feasibility of employee improvement-oriented voice, credibility of speaker and time pressure on the likelihood that managers will propagate suggestions and ideas to upper management. Results from a field study with a sample of working middle managers suggest that novelty of voice, speaker credibility and time pressure can affect managerial voice propagation up the hierarchy. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Key Words: Managerial voice propagation, employee voice, time pressure and novelty of improvement-oriented voice

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.21102/jbpr.2015.12.102.05