From opportunity to threat: the non-linear relationship between voice frequency and job performance via voice endorsement

Abstract

How managers evaluate employees' ideas and when they endorse or reject them have always been concerns. Based on categorization theory, we theorize that middle managers with multiple responsibilities and limited resources tend to label excessive voices as threats instead of opportunities. We thus propose an inverted U-shaped relationship between voice frequency and voice endorsement that sequentially influences job performance. Further, perceived task interdependence, related to how an individual makes sense of issues in the team, will influence voice content and moderate the curvilinear relationship between voice frequency and job performance through voice endorsement. A three-wave time-lagged survey of Chinese firms, including 299 employees and 37 supervisors, provided convergent support for this theoretical model. Our research contributes to the voice literature by exploring how middle managers' limited resources and multiple responsibilities influence their voice evaluation process. This research thus has practical implications for both organizations and employees, as it suggests organizations allocate resources to facilitate managers' implementation of voice and provides suggestions for effective voice experience.