From an Uncoordinated Cacophony to a Coordinated Harmony: An Integrative Theory of Collective Voice

Scholars have exhibited enduring enthusiasm for voice and increasingly recognize the value of collective effort in the voice process. Despite this attention, research on collective voice remains fragmented across the organizational behavior and industrial relations traditions of voice, resulting in a problematic theoretical landscape marked by significant divergence regarding the nature, predictors, and outcomes of collective voice compared to aggregated forms of individual voice. To distinguish the coordinated nature of collective voice from aggregated individual voice, we leverage resource mobilization theory to propose an integrative theory of collective voice. Our integrative theory delineates open corporate opportunity structure, structural interdependence, and psychological safety as antecedents that drive employees’ opportunity, motivation, and ability to coordinate collective voice, respectively. Our theory then addresses a key trade-off of collective voice, which, compared to aggregated individual voice, is more likely to increase organizational effectiveness as well as organizational factionalism. Finally, we specify structural (i.e., centralization) and content (i.e., promotive voice and prohibitive voice) contingencies that shift these paradoxical effects. Our integrative theory has important implications for voice research and resource mobilization theory, unlocking future research directions to further expand our understanding of collective voice.