Introducing changes at work: How voice behavior relates to management innovation

This multistudy research examines the unit-level relationship between promotive voice behavior and management innovation. Study 1 utilizes multisource data from 62 work units and reports that willingness to discuss ideas mediates the unit-level relationship between promotive voice and management innovation. The results of Study 1 also show that the unit's available resources make the relationship stronger between promotive voice and willingness to discuss ideas. Study 2 employs a scenario-based design to constructively replicate and expand the results of Study 1, utilizing a sample of 100 working adults. The results of the second study also show that resource availability positively moderates the relationship between promotive voice and willingness to discuss ideas. Furthermore, Study 2 shows that the indirect effect of promotive voice on management innovation through willingness to discuss ideas is stronger when more resources are made available to the work units. This moderated-mediation effect is shown to be significant using two different operationalizations of management innovation. The implications for theory and practice are discussed.