Organization and Strategy Seminar（2016-06）

Topic：How You Speak Up Matters: A Self-Enhancement Perspective of Leader’s Voice-Taking

Speaker: Lei Huang, AuburnUniversity

Time: Thursday, 30 June, 10:00-11:30 am

Location: Room 215, Guanghua Building 1

Abstract:

More than ever leaders are expected to encourage and act on their followers’promotive voice, which is suggested to benefit the organization via improvement-oriented ideas and suggestions. Yet prior research has produced mixed findings regarding how leaders react to voice. While voice can be informative to leaders, it sometimes discomforts or even hurts leaders as it challenges the status quo and can be hard to bear. Answering the call from Morrison (2011) to understand how the way voice is expressed can affect leader’s reactions to voice, in the present research we focus on the impact of followers’ framing of voice (i.e., positive framing vs. negative framing) on leaders’ varying reactions to voice. Drawing from self-enhancement theory, which posits that individuals seek to maintain a positive view about, while naturally avoiding information that could reflect negatively on, themselves, we propose that positive voice framing could arouse leaders’ self-improving reactions such as consulting with followers on work issues via more attention giving to voice, and that negative voice framing could trigger leaders’ self-protecting reactions such as defensively resisting voice via less attention giving to voice. We further explore three moderating conditions, including contextual effect (leader-member exchange), voicer effect (followers’ informal influence), and receiver effect (leaders’ leadership efficacy), that might shape leaders’ self-enhancing reactions to voice. Experimental data collected from 292 working professionals in China (Study 1) and field survey data collected from 363 employees working at a large internet solution and service company in the U.S. (Study 2) largely supported the proposed hypotheses. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Limitations of this study and future research directions are also offered.

Introduction:

Dr. Lei Huang is an Assistant Professor of Management in the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business at Auburn University (Alabama, USA). He received his PhD in Management from University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a concentration in organizational behavior and leadership. His current research focuses on proactive and prosocial personalities and behaviors, leadership and followership, and the dark side of personalities and workplace behaviors. His research has been published in journals such as Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Management, Applied Psychology, and Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. He has served on the editorial board of Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies.

//harbert.auburn.edu/directory/lei-huang/

Your participation is warmly welcomed!