VOICING BY ADAPTING AND INNOVATING EMPLOYEES - AN EMPIRICAL-STUDY ON HOW PERSONALITY AND ENVIRONMENT INTERACT TO AFFECT VOICE BEHAVIOR

This article reports two studies exploring how cognitive style prefere nces for adaption-innovation affect the likelihood that employees will voice ideas for organizational change toward their supervisors. As hy pothesized, Study 1 demonstrates that innovatively compared to adaptiv ely predisposed police officers are less likely to voice conventional ideas and more likely to voice novel ideas for solving work-related pr oblems. Besides a replication of these findings, Study 2 shows how wor k satisfaction and the quality of the supervisor as voice manager shap e the impact of adaption-innovation on employee likelihood to voice. T hat is, compared to innovators, adaptors are more likely to voice conv entional ideas when they are dissatisfied rather than satisfied with w ork and perceive their supervisors as effective rather than ineffectiv e voice managers. On the other hand, innovators compared to adaptors r eport greater likelihood to voice novel ideas when they are satisfied rather than dissatisfied with work and perceive their supervisors as e ffective rather than ineffective voice managers. Theoretical and pract ical implications of the findings are discussed.